Ghangaria

A small temple behind the Hemkunt Gurudwara, dedicated to Lord Lakshman (brother of Lord Rama).

A world heritage, listed since 2004, and among the natural wonders of the world. Beautiful waterfalls, landscapes and meadows at the feet of amazing snow peaks, famous for its endangered animals and endemic alpine flowers. The park itself is spread over an area of around 88 km², the valley is 8 km long and 2 km wide. The national park is surrounded by forests. During the rainy season, the whole valley turns into a naturally created beautiful garden, with different variety of colourful flowers. This valley is at 3,300–3,800 m. There are a few snow lakes and glaciers in the valley which increases the beauty of this place. It's famous for its excellent natural trekking trail, which is the home for many beautiful flowers like Cobra Lily, Blue Poppy and Brahmakamal. Flora includes orchids, poppies, primulas, calendulas, daisies and anemones. Fauna includes tahr, snow leopard, musk deer, red fox, common langur, bharal, serow, Himalayan black bear, and brown bear. Birds include the Himalayan Monal Pheasant. The valley was discovered by British mountaineer Frank Smythe in 1931, when he along with other mountaineers were descending from a successful expedition of Mount Kamet. He came back in 1937 to collect seeds and do research, and later wrote a book called The Valley of Flowers.

Surrounded by the seven snow covered peaks, Hemkunt is a holy lake for Hindus and Sikhs at 4,160 m. The pilgrimage site consists of Hemkunt lake and the associated Gurudwara. While in the latter you cannot stay over night, they still surprisingly serve chai and lunch (free) until around 2PM when they will start pushing you to hike down again. Many pilgrims take a dip in the lake, but the water here is freezing.

Wonderful valleys, and a mountain pass at 4,650 m. 31 km, medium–difficult, 2–3 days. It starts at Bhyudar, which is 11 km from Govindghat. Downloadable trail coordinates: GPX, KML.