Chopta Chandrashila

The trek to Chandrashila Peak and Deoriatal Lake is a weekend trek in Uttarakhand. The trek offers the abundant treasure of nature, the soothing climate, mountain birds, dense forests with maple, trees of Oak and rhododendron, and the magnificent views of peaks like Trishul, Chaukhamba and Nanda Devi.

Chopta (2,680 metres), which is a part of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, is a small region of evergreen forests. Chopta is also the base camp of Trek to Tungnath (3680 meters) temple, which is the third temple of the Panch Kedar. The trail further extends to Chandrashila Peak which offers a great view to the splendid peaks of the Himalayas. Chopta is also a very good choice for bird watchers. Beautiful birds like Monal can be easily seen at Chopta-Deoriatal Trek. It is also home to other rare Himalayan species like Musk deer and Pika Mouse.

Tungnath is the highest and the oldest Shiva Temple. Tungnath is also the highest of the five Panch Kedar temples in the Tungnath Range.

Deoriatal (Deoriya or Devaria), is a beautiful lake at a distance of 3 km and can be easily trekked from the village of Sari, which is around15kms drive from Panger Campsite. Though to keep the lake and the surroundings clean, camps are not permitted near the lake, still trekking to the lake for a day visit is open. As per the stories of Mahabharat, Deoriatal is the where the Yaksha questioned the Pandavas. Some local stories also state that the lake was built by Bheem as by the instructions of Yudhishtar.

Trek Details:

• Pickup Point on Day 1- Haridwar Railway Station
• Departure time from Haridwar Railway Station on Day 1- 6am
• 2nd Pickup Point on Day 1- Rishikesh
• Pick up time from Mussoorie- 7 a.m.
• Drop Point on Day 4- Haridwar Railway Station
• Arrival time on Day 4 at Haridwar Railway Station- 6pm
• Base Camp- Chopta
• Distance from Dehradun to Chopta- 160 km
• The vehicle will be Tata Sumo, Bolero, or similar. It will be a tempo traveller for bigger group
• The cab is a 7-seater.
• The whole cab costs 6000/- from Haridwar.
• The tempo traveller charge will be 9000/-
• Trekkers may choose to travel by bus or local cab to reach Chopta.

How to reach:

Chopta is well connected and can easily be reached from Rishikesh which is at a distance of 162 km. Chopta can be easily reached from Rishikesh via Rudraprayag, Kund, Ukhimath or another route via Rudraprayag, Karnprayag, Chamoli, Gopeshwar is also a good option. The distance to Chopta from Delhi is only 450 km.

To reach Chopta pre-booked private Taxis are the best mode to reach from Rishikesh. Though if you are starting from Delhi, you can take an overnight journey from Delhi to Rishikesh and further take a Taxi. Though on the route to Chopta few buses are also available.

Weather and the temperature:

Chopta has a pleasant temperature of 10 deg C to 30 deg C from March to June. After which there is rainfall from the months of July to Sept. And from October onwards, Chopta starts witnessing mild snowfall and which significantly increases by every winter month. The temperature in the winter goes to even minus 15 deg C in the night and around 10deg C in the day time.

Best time to visit

The Trek is a beauty throughout the year except for the monsoon. But the best time to visit Chopta is the winters during the snowfall. The Place is completely covered with snow in the months of December- January, and February. The temperature at Chopta campsites can go up to minus 10 degrees. The temple of Tungnath, Chandrashila Peak is covered with snow in the winters. Deoriatal offers magnificent views of completely covered snow peaks. The snow surrounded lake surroundings are very charming.

Winter is the best time to visit Chopta. From June to September, the sky is cloudy and the mesmerizing views of the Himalayas are not available. In winters, the sky is crystal clear and the amazing panoramic views of the Himalayas make your trek worth it.