Dhorpatan

How do you get to Dhorpatan?

By road from Baglung via Burtibang, or by jeep from Beni via the Myagdi Khola. A seasonal airstrip just west of the valley exists, but road access is how almost everyone arrives.

Road conditions vary a lot by season. Allow a full day or more from Baglung and check the state of the road locally before setting out.

Dolpa is a few days' walk to the north around the western Dhaulagiri range, for those continuing on foot.

Foreign visitors pay an entry fee of NPR 3,000 for the hunting reserve.

What is Dhorpatan like?

An east to west valley of open meadow, forest and grazing land, with the Putha, Churen and Gurja Himal peaks to the north. It is quiet, rural and very lightly developed for tourism, with a few homestays and basic lodges.

Kham Magar herders bring large flocks up to these pastures in summer, and a small Tibetan refugee settlement has lived in the valley since the 1960s.

The flat, marshy meadows above the tree line, the patans, are the defining landscape and the grazing ground for blue sheep.

What is Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve?

A 1,325 square kilometre protected area across Rukum East, Myagdi and Baglung, ranging from 2,850 m to 5,500 m. It was established in 1983 and gazetted in 1987, and allows controlled trophy hunting of blue sheep and Himalayan tahr.

Wildlife includes blue sheep, snow leopard, Himalayan tahr, red panda and cheer pheasant, and the reserve is an Important Bird Area.

Visitor numbers have risen quickly, from about 3,000 in 2019/20 to over 37,000 in 2025/26, almost all of them Nepali. Foreign trekkers remain rare.

Things to do in Dhorpatan

1. 01

   Walk the patans

   Day walks across the open meadows above the valley, with the Dhaulagiri range to the north.

2. 02

   Wildlife spotting

   Blue sheep on the higher slopes, and with luck red panda in the temperate forest.

3. 03

   Tibetan settlement

   Visit the small Tibetan community that has lived in the valley since the early 1960s.

Frequently asked questions