Apple trees on the slope above Barshaini with snow peaks behind

town37 min from Kasol1 h walk from the road

Kalga

Kalga is a wooden hamlet twenty minutes above the road-end at Barshaini, across the stream from Pulga: apple trees, a few rooms, and the Kheerganga path.

What it is

A hamlet of wooden houses in the apple orchards twenty minutes above the road-end at Barshaini, on the Kheerganga side of the river and across a stream from its twin, Pulga. A few guesthouses among the trees, terraces with the valley below, and the quiet that the road-end lacks. The Kheerganga path passes its edge, which makes it the walkers' first or last night.

Photos: Timothy A. Gonsalves (CC BY-SA 4.0) · ArjunChhibber01 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.

Getting there

From Kasol, 37 minutes by road to Barshaini — the valley bus ends there and a taxi is typically ₹800–1,500 one way as of September 2026 — then on foot: over the bridge and up through the orchards for about twenty minutes. No road, no vehicles; the guesthouses will carry bags from the bridge if asked.

The day

A slow lunch on a terrace is the usual reason to be here, on the way down from Kheerganga; a night is the better one. Pulga is a few minutes across the stream, with a deodar wood above it that makes an afternoon. From the hamlet's edge the Kheerganga path climbs into the gorge; sleeping here puts you on it at first light, twenty minutes ahead of everyone who slept in Kasol.

When to go

April to June and September to November. The orchards blossom in April and are picked in September and October, which is the hamlet at its best. The monsoon is wet and the path above slides; from December to February it is under snow, quiet, and mostly closed.

Around it

Pulga across the stream; Barshaini below; Nakthan and Rudranag up the Kheerganga path; Tosh on the far side of the valley from the same bridge. The Kheerganga plan stops here for lunch on the way down.

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Questions people ask

How do I get to Kalga?

By road to Barshaini, 16 km and 37 minutes from Kasol, then about twenty minutes on foot up through the apple trees on the Kheerganga side of the bridge. There is no road to the hamlet; bags are carried. Pulga is across the stream, a few minutes further.

Is Kalga or Pulga better to stay in?

They are twins — wooden hamlets in the orchards with a handful of guesthouses each and no road. Kalga is a few minutes nearer the road-end and the Kheerganga path; Pulga has the deodar wood above it that people walk to in the afternoon. Either is a quiet night; Tosh across the valley is the busier one.

Where does the Kheerganga trek start?

From the bridge at Barshaini, up the true left bank past Kalga to Nakthan and Rudranag. Sleeping at Kalga the night before puts you twenty minutes up the path at dawn, which is why some walkers prefer it to Kasol for the first night.