Manikaran
town · 8 min from Kasol
3 nights · 4 daysFriendsClassicpacked
Kasol with friends — four days: a Tosh night, the Kheerganga walk, and Chalal to finish
A four-day Kasol plan for a group: a night in Tosh, the walk to Kheerganga and a night by the spring, down to Chalal, Manikaran on the way out.
Four days that put the valley's two best nights back to back: Tosh, the village on the shelf above the road-end, and Kheerganga, the meadow with the hot spring a day's walk up the other side. The plan goes up first while the legs are fresh, sleeps high twice, and comes down to Chalal and Manikaran to finish. Groups of four to eight manage it easily; the rooms and camps take groups on the day.
Every activity is a note, not a booking — the guide and the taxi are found at the Kasol counters, the camps at the top take you on arrival — and every price is the band we last checked. The road minutes are measured on the actual road.
Photos: Timothy A. Gonsalves (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Timothy A. Gonsalves (CC BY-SA 4.0) · ArjunChhibber01 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Diva gupta (CC BY-SA 4.0) · DPK70211 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Who this is for
Groups of friends who walk. The Kheerganga day is four hours up with a pack; the Tosh climb is an hour. Not for the monsoon, when the path slides, and not the plan for anyone who wants to sleep in a proper bed every night — the classic three days does that.
Day by day
Day 1
Straight up the valley to a night in Tosh
Drop into Kasol only long enough for cash and the counters, then the taxi to Barshaini and the hour's climb to Tosh. The village has the first night — terraces facing the snow and nothing to do after dark but talk.
- 11:00KasolCash for four days — there are no ATMs above Kasol and the ones here empty on weekends. The counters in the market arrange tomorrow's Kheerganga guide if you want one, typically ₹1,000–2,000 a day as of Sep 2026, and the taxi up, typically ₹800–1,500 one way to Barshaini.
- ↓ 37 min by road · 16 km13:00BarshainiThe road-end, 37 minutes from Kasol. The Tosh path leaves from the bridge; the taxi can come back for you the day after tomorrow.
- ↓ 13 min by road · 4 km14:30ToshAn hour up on a paved path to the village on its shelf. Rooms at the bottom of the village are typically ₹800–2,500 a night in season as of Sep 2026 and take groups; the old timber houses are at the top. The evening is the terrace and the last light on the snow.
Day 2
Down to the road-end and up the other side to the spring
An early descent from Tosh, then the long walk — Nakthan, Rudranag, the forest climb — to the meadow at Kheerganga for the night. The pool at dusk is what the day is for.
- 15:00Kheerganga Hot SpringDown from Tosh in forty minutes to the bridge at Barshaini — water and a packed breakfast from the dhabas there — and onto the Kheerganga path up the left bank. The walk: Nakthan, the last village, in an hour; Rudranag, the waterfall and shrine, at the halfway mark for lunch at the dhaba on the bridge; then a steady two to three hours through forest to the meadow and the spring pool. Camps and huts take a group on arrival, typically ₹500–1,500 per person with dinner as of Sep 2026. Dusk in the pool, dinner at the camp, and a cold night — warm layers for everyone.
Day 3
The descent, Kalga for lunch, and a bed in Chalal
An early soak, then down in three hours with Kalga as the lunch stop. The taxi from Barshaini back to Kasol, and the walk over the bridge to Chalal for a real bed and the river.
- 12:30KalgaThe pool before the day walkers arrive, breakfast, away from the top by nine and three hours down the path you came up. Then twenty minutes above Barshaini, the hamlet in the apple trees across from Pulga: a slow lunch on a terrace, and the last stretch to the road and the taxi.
- ↓ 44 min by road · 19 km15:30ChalalFrom Kasol, over the footbridge and twenty minutes along the river to the village. Rooms here for the last night; the cafés on the path for dinner, and the river to sit by.
Day 4
Manikaran, and the road out together
The gurdwara and hot springs at Manikaran, eight minutes up the road, then the bus or taxi down through Jari to Bhuntar. The spring tanks are the last soak of the trip.
- 09:00Gurudwara Sahib ManikaranHeads covered, shoes off: the langar hall, the tanks fed by the springs, the steam over the river. Free, and quiet before the day-trip buses arrive at eleven.
- ↓ a short walk10:30ManikaranThe lane across the bridge, the temple, and rice cooked in the spring water to try before the road.
- ↓ 27 min by road · 12 km12:00JariTea at the junction where the Malana road turns off, 19 minutes below Kasol; Bhuntar is about an hour further.
Getting there
Through Bhuntar, 32 km and about 70 minutes below Kasol, where the airport is and where every bus from Delhi, Chandigarh and Manali stops. Arrive by eleven to make Tosh in daylight; the overnight bus from Delhi lands in the morning and works. The last day ends on the road down, so an evening bus from Bhuntar suits.
Where to stay
Tosh for the first night — the guesthouses at the bottom of the village have rooms that take three or four. Kheerganga for the second, in a camp or a hut, cold whatever the month. Chalal for the third, across the bridge from Kasol, where a group can take the cafés on the path over for dinner.
Know before you go
- Cash for four days, drawn in Kasol on day one; nothing above it takes a card.
- Prices are bands checked in September 2026; camps, guides and taxis quote on the day and rise in May–June.
- Two litres of water each from Nakthan up; a warm layer and a hat for the Kheerganga night, even in June.
- Leave Barshaini by eight on day two — the forest climb is the hot part.
- Tell the Barshaini taxi when to come back; the signal above the road-end is unreliable.
- The Parvati is not for swimming, however hot the day.
If plans change
With a Malana day instead of Tosh: the Malana day out replaces day one and sleeps in Kasol.
A shorter trek: the Kheerganga three-day plan drops the Tosh night.
Add Manali: the Kasol and Manali five days moves up the Beas for the last two nights.
Places on this route
Other ways to do it
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See the plan →Questions people ask
Can a group of friends do Tosh and Kheerganga in four days?
Yes — Tosh is an hour's climb from Barshaini and Kheerganga four hours from the same road-end, so a night in each and a night in Chalal fit three nights exactly. The order in this plan goes up first and comes down to the river.
What does a four-day Kasol trip cost for a group?
Using the bands checked in September 2026: rooms are ₹800–2,500 a night in Tosh and Chalal and camps at Kheerganga ₹500–1,500 a head with dinner. Taxis are ₹800–1,500 a run to Barshaini, split among the group; dhaba meals are a few hundred rupees each. The gurdwara is free.
Is there an ATM above Kasol?
No. Kasol has the last ATMs in the valley and they run out over a weekend; Manikaran has one that is often empty by Saturday. Nothing above Kasol takes a card — the camps, the guesthouses in Tosh, the dhabas on the path. Draw cash for the whole stay on the first day, and a little more.