Tehri Lake — boating and water sports on the reservoir of the Tehri Dam
Tehri Lake, the 52 km² reservoir of the Tehri Dam: boating, jet boats, water skiing and paragliding, April to June best, 39 minutes from New Tehri.
Uttarakhand2 itineraries
Tehri
Tehri and the Tehri lake: India's tallest dam at 260.5 m, boating and water sports on the reservoir, New Tehri, Chamba, Kanatal, Dhanaulti and Surkanda Devi.
Tehri is a lake that used to be a town. The old town of Tehri stood where the Bhagirathi met the Bhilangna. When the Tehri Dam rose, 260.5 m high and the tallest in India, its waters covered the old town, and its people moved up the hill to New Tehri, now the headquarters of Tehri Garhwal district. From Delhi it is about 314 km by road. Free-flow routing says 4.5 hours, and traffic and hill roads usually add several more.
Most visitors come for the Tehri Lake, the reservoir behind the dam, about 52 km² of water among forested hills. The district administration lists boating, jet boats, water skiing, banana and hot-dog rides and paragliding among its activities, and says April to June is the best season. The dam is also a giant battery: a 1,000 MW pumped-storage plant sends water back up from the Koteshwar reservoir below when the grid has power to spare.
The high road west to Mussoorie runs through the small hill town of Chamba, the village of Kanatal at about 2,600 m, the path up to the Surkanda Devi temple at about 2,756 m, and the pine forests of Dhanaulti. Copy the one-day lake plan or the two days with Dhanaulti, and read how to reach Tehri, the best time to go and things to do around Tehri.
Photos: Dr Vikramjit Kakati (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Goldi.negi (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Himalayanwarrior (CC BY 4.0) · Wander-earth (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Plans that include this
All Tehri itineraries →
One day at Tehri — the tallest dam in India and an afternoon on the lake
Day plan · First visit · Classic
A one-day Tehri plan: India's tallest dam in the morning and boating or water sports on Tehri Lake after lunch, both under 40 minutes from New Tehri. Copy it.
Best Apr–Jun · Oct–Nov
See the plan →
Tehri in two days — the lake, then the high road through Chamba and Kanatal to Dhanaulti
1 night · 2 days · Couples · nature
A two-day plan from Tehri: the dam and water sports on the lake, then the high road through Chamba and Kanatal to the Surkanda Devi path and Dhanaulti.
Best Apr–Jun · Oct–Nov
See the plan →Going together
No one has started a group going to Tehri yet. Start one and other travellers can ask to come along.
Places worth the drive
Tehri Dam — India's tallest dam, the lake behind it and the town beneath
Tehri Dam on the Bhagirathi: 260.5 m, the tallest dam in India, built 1978–2006 over the old town of Tehri, with a 1,000 MW pumped-storage plant. How to see it.
Dhanaulti — the pine-forest hill station between Mussoorie and Tehri
Dhanaulti at 2,286 m on the Mussoorie–Chamba road: the Amber and Dhara eco-parks, Surkanda Devi about 3 km away, Kanatal, and how far from Tehri and Mussoorie.
On the map
Open the Tehri map →The places a Tehri day reaches, with the road time from town. Each opens on the map with its plans and pages beside it.
Before you go
All articles →
Things to do around Tehri — the lake, the dam, Chamba, Kanatal, Surkanda Devi and Dhanaulti
Seven things to do around Tehri: water sports on the lake, India's tallest dam, Chamba, Kanatal, the Surkanda Devi temple, Dhanaulti and the Koteshwar dam.
How to reach Tehri and Tehri Lake — from Delhi, Rishikesh, Dehradun and Mussoorie
How to reach New Tehri and Tehri Lake: 314 km from Delhi, Rishikesh station 68 km, Dehradun airport 77 km, the high road via Dhanaulti, measured times.
Best time to visit Tehri Lake — the lake season, the monsoon and the snow on the high road
When to visit Tehri Lake: April to June for water sports, dry October and November, the July–August monsoon and winter snow near Kanatal. IMD figures.
Nearby destinations
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Questions people ask
How far is Tehri Lake from Rishikesh and Dehradun?
New Tehri is about 68 km and 138 minutes by road from Rishikesh station on our routing, and about 77 km and 156 minutes from Dehradun's Jolly Grant airport; Wikipedia gives 75 km from Rishikesh and 99 km from Dehradun. The lake's boating point is about 39 minutes from New Tehri.
What can you do at Tehri Lake?
The Tehri district administration lists boating, jet boat rides, water skiing, zorbing, banana, bandwagon and hot-dog boat rides, and paragliding on and over the lake. We have no verified operators, prices or timings, so ask at the lake. The district names April to June as the best season for it.
How tall is the Tehri Dam?
260.5 m (855 feet). By Wikipedia's count no dam in India is taller, and only twelve in the world are. It is a rock and earth-fill dam on the Bhagirathi, begun in 1978 and completed in 2006, and its reservoir covers about 52 km². More than 100,000 people were relocated.
Is Dhanaulti near Tehri?
Yes. Dhanaulti is about 39 km and 77 minutes from New Tehri on our routing, on the high road to Mussoorie, past Chamba, Kanatal and Kaddukhal, where the path to the Surkanda Devi temple starts. Wikipedia gives 40 km from New Tehri and 30 km from Mussoorie.
Photographs by Wikimedia Commons contributors (CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA), resized; each picture is credited on its own page.