28°32'N 84°21'E · 1,700 m
Signature · Annapurna → Mustang → Dolpo
Twenty days from the green gorges of the Marsyangdi, over the 5,416-metre Thorong La, across the high desert of Mustang and the roof of Dolpo.
The line begins where the Annapurna Circuit begins: in the deep green gorge of the Marsyangdi, climbing through oak and pine past Chame and Bhratang, onto the high shelf of Ghyaru and Ngawal — some of the finest riding in the region — to Manang, at 3,540 metres, beneath Gangapurna and Tilicho.
From Manang the trail grinds up past Yak Kharka to Thorong Phedi, and then, in the dark of a pre-dawn start, over the pass itself: Thorong La, 5,416 metres, prayer flags snapping in thin wind. What follows is the defining descent of the expedition — 2,600 vertical metres out of the alpine and into the rain shadow, where green Nepal gives way to the ochre canyons of Mustang.
Kagbeni is the gate. North of it the caravan routes run through sandstone country — mani walls, chortens, dry river crossings — climbing to a high camp under canvas and over a herders' pass into Dolpo, the least-visited district in Nepal. Chharka Bhot, Tinje, Saldang: villages that see fewer visitors in a year than Thorong La sees in a morning.
The final act runs beneath Crystal Mountain to Shey Gompa, then down to the turquoise of Shey Phoksundo, Nepal's deepest lake, before the long forested descent of the Phoksundo Khola and the mountain flight home from Juphal. It ends, as it should, with a slow day in Kathmandu and a table full of food.
Mangal Krishna Lama leads this tour. In 2022 he made the first solo mountain-bike traverse of the Great Himalaya Trail high route. It was 88 riding days from Kangchenjunga to Hilsa, over twenty-two passes above 5,000 metres, as his log shows. Before that he guided for ten years in Manang, Mustang and Dolpo. The guides who plan your trip are the guides who ride with you.
Surface mix · the days it appears on
140–150 mm travel · aggressive enduro tyres · dropper post essential · strong braking setup
Over a decade of reading these weather windows gets more complicated on a line that crosses three distinct landscapes in one push — the wet, green Annapurnas, the high desert of Mustang, and the higher, remoter country of Dolpo beyond it, each keeping its own season. We schedule around the window that is actually open across all three, and what follows is the honest account of each.
Recommended
Mar · Apr · May
March to May is one of the two recommended windows for the crossing — Thorong La and the col into Dolpo both need to be clear, and this is one of the two windows, alongside autumn, when they usually are.
Rideable
Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep
The Annapurna leg lies south of the crest and takes the monsoon rain directly; Mustang and Dolpo, on the far side, sit in its rain shadow and stay drier and rideable while the first days of the route do not. It is the quietest window for the remoter half of the line, where Dolpo sees very few visitors in any season, and the trade is the same readiness for road delays and changeable weather that applies everywhere we ride through it.
Recommended
Oct · Nov · Dec
October to December is the other recommended window for the same two crossings, on the settled far side of the monsoon — though as with every route we run, over a decade of watching the weather shift has taught us not to take a season for granted, on either side of Thorong La.
Rideable
Jan · Feb
January and February are harder here than on the shorter routes: a second high crossing of the same order as Thorong La, into a district with the fewest facilities of anywhere we ride, and both the cold and the wait for a clear pass are real. Riders taking this window should come ready for altitude, cold and a plan that bends to the weather — which is exactly how we run it.
Route profile
Tal 1,700 m · Chame 2,670 m · Manang 3,540 m · Thorong Phedi 4,540 m · Thorong La 5,416 m · Muktinath 3,710 m · Kagbeni 2,804 m · Sangta 3,800 m · High Camp 4,500 m · Chharka Bhot 4,300 m · Tinje 4,400 m · Saldang 3,620 m · Shey Gompa 4,320 m · Shey Phoksundo 3,611 m · Suligad 2,237 m
Day by day
Day 01
Arrive Kathmandu (about 1,400 m). Bikes are collected and the team assembles over a welcome dinner in the old city. Twenty days start here — best begun rested.
Day 02
Bikes are fitted and inspected, then the full briefing — the route day by day, the altitude profile, the weather, the plan for the two big passes. A short shakedown spin for the legs; the afternoon is yours in Thamel.
Day 03
drive
Drive Kathmandu → Tal (1,700 m). A long road day following the Trishuli and then the Marsyangdi upstream, past Besisahar where the Annapurna Circuit begins, to a stone village wedged into the river gorge. The tarmac ends here; tomorrow you ride.
Day 04
forest singletrack · rocky jeep tracks · packed dirt roads · loose gravel climbs · suspension bridges · short punchy descents
Ride Tal → Chame (2,670 m). The first day on the bike climbs steadily up the Marsyangdi through Dharapani, Bagarchhap and Timang, with the first big summits — Annapurna II, Lamjung Himal, Manaslu — rising over the trees. Hot springs wait near Chame.
Day 05
high-altitude singletrack · narrow mountain traverses · stone-paved village lanes · jeep tracks · fast alpine descents · loose gravel corners · short technical climbs
Ride Chame → Manang (3,540 m). Past the apple orchards of Bhratang and onto the high shelf through Ghyaru and Ngawal — some of the finest riding in the region — with a stop at Braga's cliff monastery before the trail drops into Manang beneath Gangapurna, Annapurna III and Tilicho.
Day 06
on foot
rocky footpaths · alpine meadows · glacier viewpoints · stone staircases · loose gravel · gentle village trails
A day to acclimatise at Manang (3,540 m). Walk high to the Gangapurna Lake viewpoint or towards Ice Lake and sleep low; there is time for an easy spin to keep the legs turning. Clean and inspect the bikes while you can — the last workshop is behind you now.
Day 07
ridden → hike-a-bike
rocky singletrack · narrow traverses · loose scree · technical switchbacks · gravel climbs · boulder-strewn · alpine hiking trails · extended hike-a-bike
Ride Manang → Thorong Phedi (4,540 m). Through Gunsang and Yak Kharka, where altitude becomes the day's real work — a steady grind beneath high rock walls to the foot of the pass. An early night; the alarm is set for the dark.
Day 08
hike-a-bike → ridden
high-altitude hiking trails · extended hike-a-bike · loose scree · rocky switchbacks · alpine singletrack · technical descents · dusty jeep tracks · desert trails · ancient stone village pathways
Ride Thorong Phedi over Thorong La to Kagbeni (2,804 m). A pre-dawn start for the pass at 5,416 metres, prayer flags hard in the wind, then the long drop into the rain shadow — green hillsides giving way to ochre canyon, past sacred Muktinath and down into ancient Kagbeni. The defining day, and 2,600 vertical metres of it.
Day 09
hard-packed desert trails · loose gravel climbs · rocky jeep tracks · narrow canyon traverses · dry river crossings · occasional exposed sections
Ride Kagbeni → Sangta (3,800 m). North along the old Nepal–Tibet caravan roads, under towering sandstone cliffs past mani walls and chortens — Mustang stripped back to rock, wind and the occasional walled village.
Day 10
ridden → hike-a-bike
remote tracks · high-altitude yak trails · loose scree · rocky traverses · narrow singletrack · alpine ridgelines · hike-a-bike · stream crossings (seasonal)
Ride Sangta → High Camp (~4,500 m). The trail leaves the last villages behind and climbs into one of the least-travelled corners of Nepal. The first night under canvas: tents pitched against rugged peaks, the support crew cooking, and no lights but your own.
Day 11
ridden → hike-a-bike → ridden
high-altitude alpine trails · loose scree crossings · narrow traverses · fast ridgeline descents · glacial valleys · dry river crossings · technical singletrack · extended hike-a-bike near the pass
Ride High Camp → Chharka Bhot (4,300 m). Over Nyalu La — or a neighbouring herders' pass, as the season dictates — the second of the expedition's two great crossings, then a long technical descent into Chharka Bhot, a village at the far edge of the road network.
Day 12
high-altitude double track · flowing jeep trails · rocky river crossings · hard-packed dirt · rolling valley trails · short rocky climbs · occasional loose gravel
Ride Chharka Bhot → Tinje (4,400 m). Classic Trans-Himalayan country: rolling double-track along the Barbung Khola, nomad camps and yak herds, and hours of riding without an engine anywhere in earshot.
Day 13
high-altitude jeep tracks · narrow alpine singletrack · rocky pass crossings · loose scree · fast ridgeline traverses · technical switchbacks · dry river crossings · flowing valley trails
Ride Tinje → Saldang (3,620 m). Over quiet Jyanta La and down a long, playful descent into Saldang — one of the largest villages in Upper Dolpo and a cultural heart of the district.
Day 14
ridden → hike-a-bike → ridden
high-altitude singletrack · rocky jeep tracks · loose scree · alpine meadows · river crossings · narrow traverses · technical switchbacks · short hike-a-bike near the pass
Ride Saldang → Shey Gompa (4,320 m). Climb towards sacred Crystal Mountain and Shey Gompa, set beneath towering red cliffs — butter lamps, low chanting, the smell of juniper incense.
Day 15
high-altitude singletrack · rocky traverses · alpine trails · loose gravel corners · flowing descents · stream crossings · stone village pathways · forested trails approaching Phoksundo
Ride Shey Gompa → Shey Phoksundo (3,611 m). Beneath the Kanjiroba Himal the trail turns a corner and the lake appears all at once — Shey Phoksundo, the deepest in Nepal, an impossible turquoise — with the descent finishing at Ringmo on its shore.
Day 16
on foot
A rest day at Shey Phoksundo (3,611 m). Walk up to the Thasung Tsholing Gompa above the water, or do nothing at all beyond wandering Ringmo and the lakeshore. The hard riding is behind you.
Day 17
ridden → drive
hard-packed trails · loose gravel climbs · rocky jeep tracks · narrow canyon traverses · dry river crossings · fast forested singletrack
Ride Shey Phoksundo → Suligad, then drive to Juphal (2,400 m). The Phoksundo Khola carries you off the high desert and down into forest — pine, cedar and juniper closing overhead for the first time in a week. The expedition begins to close.
Day 18
flight
Fly Juphal → Nepalgunj → Kathmandu. One of the most scenic mountain flights in Nepal, trading thin air for hot showers, good coffee and the noise of the city.
Day 19
A free day in Kathmandu. Sleep late, find a massage for the legs, drift between cafés and courtyards — and end the trip properly, over a long final dinner with the team.
Day 20
Departure from Kathmandu. Transfer to the airport and the flight home — three kingdoms and one long line behind you.
From the route
Rider questions
Most of it. The big passes are not — the final climbs to Thorong La and over into Dolpo are extended hike-a-bike with the bike on your shoulder — and a few high traverses ask for short pushes. The descents on the far side are why you carry it.
A 140–150 mm full-suspension enduro bike with aggressive tubeless tyres, a dropper post and strong brakes. Between Manang and Juphal the route is far from any bike shop, so spare hangers, pads and tubes travel with the support crew; setup details are confirmed when you reserve. Bikes can be hired in Kathmandu.
Lodges and teahouses for most of the route, hotels in Kathmandu at either end, and one night under canvas at a high camp around 4,500 metres on the crossing into Dolpo, with the support crew cooking.
Two crossings define the route. Thorong La, at 5,416 metres, is the confirmed high point. The crossing into Dolpo is of the same order, and the exact col is set by the season. Most of the middle week rides between 3,600 and 4,950 metres.
This is an expert-graded expedition. Nearly every riding day rates five of five for physical effort, and the route spends two weeks above 3,500 metres. Acclimatisation is built in — a rest day in Manang before Thorong La and another at Shey Phoksundo — but a deep endurance base is essential.
It is our most demanding — graded expert, twenty days with twelve riding days, and two great crossings, the 5,416-metre Thorong La among them, with extended hike-a-bike where the bike goes on your shoulder. It asks for real high-altitude fitness and confident technical descending.
The paperwork changes as the ground does — a conservation area, restricted areas and a national park on one line. Every permit the route needs is in the Included list below. All of it is arranged as part of the expedition and carried by your guide.
From Shey Phoksundo the route descends the Phoksundo Khola to Suligad, drives to Juphal, and flies via Nepalgunj back to Kathmandu — one of Nepal's most scenic mountain flights — with a rest day and a final dinner before departure.
Departures
Before you reserve
The detail a high-altitude expedition deserves — answered here, and talked through with you personally before your place is confirmed.
Every departure is led by experienced local guides who know this ground. Safety is more than equipment. It is close coordination with the villages, lodges and families along the route, and a local network that gets word and help moving fast. The pace is set by the slowest rider. Altitude is taken step by step. Where a tour climbs on the bike, there are nights at altitude before the high passes. Where a helicopter lifts riders high, they stay up only a short time and ride straight down. The rule on the mountain is simple: if symptoms do not ease, we go down. If a rider has to leave the mountain, the team arranges the rescue, and the rider's insurance pays for it.
These are graded rides at real altitude, with long days in the saddle and sustained descents. We talk through your riding history honestly before a place is confirmed. Be honest with us about how you ride; it helps us match you to the right trip.
Bring your own bike, or hire one from us. Hire is priced by the type of bike: a hardtail at $20–30 a day, a full-suspension trail or enduro bike at $50–80. An e-bike, at $100–150 a day, is by request: we arrange the logistics, charging and support included, where the route allows. We recommend the right type for each tour and for what you like to ride. If you fly your own, check your airline's rules for a bike box and declare the bike at customs in Kathmandu. Your bag, up to 15 kg, travels by vehicle, porter or mule while you ride. Spares and tools ride with the guides, and the kit list comes once your dates are set.
In Kathmandu and Pokhara you stay in comfortable city hotels; on the route, in family-run lodges — simple, warm, shared washrooms at altitude — with breakfast, lunch and dinner included, and a serviced camp on the nights a tour sleeps beyond the lodges. Tell us about any diet when you reserve; dal bhat, noodles, eggs and fresh bread are on every menu. Bring a bottle and a filter or tablets — your guide shows you where to refill.
Breakfast early, on the bike by eight, lunch in a village or on the trail, and at the lodge by mid-afternoon on most days — the light and the weather are kindest before noon. The vehicle or the mules carry the bags; your guide sets the pace to the slowest rider and briefs the next day over dinner. If you need a rest, you ride in the vehicle where there is a road, or walk with one of the team where there is not.
Insurance is a condition of riding: it must cover mountain biking at the altitudes on your route, helicopter evacuation and rescue, medical treatment, and trip cancellation and delay. We check every certificate before departure.
A 30 per cent deposit holds your place, and the balance is due two months before departure, by bank transfer — no card is entered here, and nothing is charged through this site. What happens if you have to cancel is set out in full in our booking terms. Read the booking terms →
We guide you through Nepal entry and arrange every permit your route needs — park or conservation-area entry for the ground it crosses, any local permit the valley adds, and a restricted-area permit wherever the route enters a restricted area. They are carried by your guide, not by you.
One scale for every tour and ride, set by the hardest riding and the altitude together. If you are unsure where you sit, tell us what you ride at home; a guide will say plainly whether a trip suits you.
Intermediate
Red trails in the UK and Europe, blue to black in North America
Three to five hours a day, with most climbs shuttled
You ride red trails with confidence and can do it again the next day.
You have not yet ridden off-road for several days in a row.
Advanced
Red to black trails in the UK and Europe, black in North America
Four to seven hours a day, descents of a thousand metres or more, and some carrying
You ride black trails cleanly, are comfortable on loose rock and steep switchbacks, and can push or carry a bike for an hour at altitude.
Steep, exposed or loose ground still makes you walk.
Expert
Black and double-black in North America; the hardest natural trails in the Alps
Six to nine hours a day, remote, with long hike-a-bike over 5,000-metre passes
You have done multi-day trips in the mountains, ride technical descents tired and cold, and have been above 4,500 metres before.
This would be your first trip at altitude.
Where a day is graded, it carries three scores, each out of five.
“He knows the mountain inside out, every little road, trail, bump — it's fascinating. … I loved the perfect balance between riding time and time to explore the cultural sites and towns.”
The per-rider price falls as the group grows. Everything listed below is included; the figure is confirmed in writing when you reserve, and nothing is charged through this site.
Group sizePer rider
Included
Not included