Nangma Valley Trek

Americans often refer to the Nangma Valley as “the Yosemite of Pakistan.” It’s an appropriate moniker considering the majesty of the place, but might even undersell its verdant beauty. Here, twin 3,300-ft.-tall mountain ranges bracket a serpentine path that crosses braided streams, passes millenniums-old glaciers, and weaves through pastures dotted with free-grazing cows and apricot trees. It's found in Pakistan’s Baltistan province, a high-altitude region that’s also home to K2, the world's second-highest peak and the reason many adventurers travel here despite the climb being considered one of the world’s most dangerous. Stretching roughly 16 miles and gaining 5,070 feet of elevation, the Nangma Valley Trek is quickly emerging as an alternative hiking destination in the stunning Karakoram Mountain range—one that most moderately fit people could tackle. In 2024, Intrepid, a small-group adventure company, launched fully supported trips complete with guides, porters, cooks, and camping gear. (Other companies, like World Expeditions and Rocky Road Travel, offer treks in the Karakoram Mountains, though not on the Nangma Valley trail proper.) New interest in the path also provides safer work for porters, who might otherwise have to make more treacherous climbs for the same government-mandated per-diem pay. Pakistan waived tourist fees for visas requested before arrival last July, making the country and its staggering mountainscapes more accessible than ever.