By road
~200 km from Rishikesh
North India · Uttarakhand
Chopta, Uttarakhand
Mini Switzerland on the Tungnath trail · ~200 km from Rishikesh
Getting there
By rail
Rishikesh, ~190-209 km (Haridwar, ~220-226 km, is a similar alternative)
By air
Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun, ~120-226 km
Best time to visit
March to June and September to November; snow-trek season in winter
Don't miss
Tungnath (highest Shiva temple)
Chandrashila summit
Deoria Tal
Things to do
Tungnath-Chandrashila trek
Deoria Tal camp
Birding for monals
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Varun Shiv Kapur · CC BY 2.0
What to pack
Trekking boots, layers, rain shell, torch for pre-dawn starts
A quieter corner
Deoria Tal's mirror of Chaukhamba at dawn
About Chopta
- Mountains
- Forest
Where it is
Chopta is a small meadow halt in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, at about 2,700 m in the Garhwal Himalaya, set among forests of rhododendron, oak and deodar within the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.
History
Chopta lies on the pilgrim path to Tungnath, one of the five Panch Kedar temples of Shiva, which tradition links to the Pandavas of the Mahabharata. For centuries its meadows were summer grazing grounds for shepherds, and it has since become a base for treks to Tungnath, Chandrashila and Deoria Tal.
People
The villages around Chopta are Garhwali, and Garhwali and Hindi are spoken; farming, herding and running guesthouses and dhabas for trekkers are the main livelihoods. In winter the Tungnath deity is carried down to the village of Makkumath.
Known for
- The Tungnath temple
- The Chandrashila summit
- Deoria Tal lake
- Rhododendron forests in spring
- The Himalayan monal and other birds
Did you know?
Tungnath, reached on foot from Chopta, stands at about 3,680 m and is one of the highest Shiva temples in the world.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.