The Chisapani Nagarkot hike is a 2-day, one-night crossing of the northern rim of the Kathmandu Valley. You start at Sundarijal, about 15 km from the city, climb through Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park to the lodge village of Chisapani at about 2,150 m, and the next day follow the ridge to Nagarkot at about 2,175 m. Operators call it the Chisapani Nagarkot trek. We call it a hike: the ground is never technical, altitude sickness is rare at this height, and you sleep in a lodge with a door. Day 1 is 5 to 6 hours on foot and Day 2 is 6 to 7 hours over more than 20 km. Park entry, a licensed guide, the lodge, the meals on the route and private transport both ways are in the price.
Day 1 is the Sundarijal Chisapani trek, and it is the steeper day. We drive out from your Kathmandu hotel in 45 minutes to 1 hour, our guide buys your park ticket at the gate, and the Chisapani hike begins up a forest trail with stone steps in places and tangerine cloth ribbons tied to branches for markers. Lunch is at Mulkharka, a Tamang village where the valley opens out behind you. After lunch the trail climbs through oak and rhododendron forest to the ridge at Borlang Bhanjyang and drops to Chisapani. The distance is 10 to 12 km. You reach the lodge in the mid-afternoon, in time for tea and the evening light on the Langtang side.
Day 2 is the longer one, and it is the day we like better. The long Day 1 haul is behind you. From Chisapani the route runs through forest to a small lake, Nagamati Dhaap, then on to Jhule, where we stop for lunch (at Chauki Bhanjyang on some days, depending on pace). The afternoon rolls through terraced fields and villages, with tea at Kattike Bhanjyang and a last climb into Nagarkot. At Jarsing Pauwa, a village with a school and a bus stand, the track leaves the road. You finish at Nagarkot in the late afternoon and our vehicle drives you back to Kathmandu in 1.5 to 2 hours. Operators who sell a Chisapani Nagarkot trek 3 days long add the Nagarkot sunrise and the walk down to Changunarayan; that morning is the second day of our Nagarkot Hiking package, and we keep it there.
Day 1 runs inside Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park. Foreign visitors must walk with a nature guide, so ours is with you from the gate. The park entry is NPR 1,000 per person per entry and it is included. If two days is more hiking than you want, Nagarjun Hill Day Hiking climbs to Jamacho (2,128 m) in the same park in 3 to 4 hours, and the Day Hiking hub lists every short hike we run from Kathmandu.
We run it in spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November). Autumn gives the clearest mornings. In the monsoon the view closes and leeches come out on the forest trail, and in December to February the Chisapani lodge is cold enough that you will want a down jacket at dinner. Chisapani fills on weekends, so we book the lodge ahead and keep midweek dates where we can.
Cover photograph: the trail near Chisapani, by Acharya Bipin on Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
