Barshangarh Waterfall

What it is

The fall in the side valley east of Shangarh, named for the hamlet below it, and the walk most people staying in the Sainj valley do on their second morning. On the map it carried no name for years — only a mapper's note of its drop — which is roughly how well known it is outside the valley.

The walk

The path leaves the road past the meadow and climbs gently east, through deodar and apple terraces, by the hamlets of Goshti and Dharali, to Barshangarh. Mostly level, with the steep part saved for the last stretch before the water. It is lived-in country the whole way: orchards, cattle, houses with people in them.

What to bring

Boots, not trainers — the path is stones and roots and stays wet where the side streams cross. Water, because there is nowhere to buy any. Through the monsoon, socks against leeches, and the sense not to sit on wet ground.

Where it fits

It pairs with the meadow rather than competing with it: the two-day plan has the meadow on the first afternoon, and this is the obvious way to spend the second morning if the park's gate at Ropa is not what you came for. Stay at Shangarh itself or down at Neuli.

Plans that include this

All Sainj itineraries →

1 night · 2 days · First visitslow-travel

Two days in the Sainj valley — up to the meadow at Shangarh on the first afternoon, the park's gate and the river on the second

Two days in the Sainj valley: the meadow and temple at Shangarh on the first afternoon, the park's gate at Ropa on the second, with realistic drive times.

Best Mar–Jun · Sep–Nov

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2 nights · 3 days · walkerstrekking

Three days into the park from Sainj — the permit at Ropa, the walk up the river, and a night where the road has already ended

Walking into the Great Himalayan National Park from the Sainj side: the permit at Ropa, a homestay at Neuli, a day upstream on foot, and what to expect.

Best Apr–Jun · Sep–Oct

See the plan →