Most of the mythological stories and tales of the Indian subcontinent are based on the Garhwal region of the Himalayas. Even some Hindu scriptures go on to point out certain places of this region and tell us stories of how gods decided to reside here.

Once you are in this region, you will understand why of all the places, Gods would have chosen a setting so beautiful like this. Rightly so, this region is also called ‘Dev- Bhoomi’, or ‘The Land of Gods’. A place that’s in the lap of the mighty Himalayas, away from the rush and the crowd of the plains, with a scenic beauty so breathtaking that it will render you speechless and with an ambience that will melt any soul, it is a well-deserved place to be the home of Gods.

Welcome to Brahmatal trek. On your trek to a height of 12,600ft, the trek's trail takes you through a life-changing journey. With a calm soothing ambience and a burst of vibrant shades of colours in nature, against the backdrop of fresh white snow and the colossal mountains of the Himalayan ranges, you trek up the summit to experience a view of the mountain peaks that is so beautiful that it feels like a spell has been cast on you.

 

The entire ambience of the trail and the view from the summit makes you feel that you have truly walked up the house of a God. And unlike other treks, the splendid views are not limited to the summit only. With the trek trail being covered up in fresh snow, the Brahmatal trek remains special in the list of beautiful treks for being a high altitude mountain trek that doubles up as a forest trek as well.

Along with sighting a wide range of flora and fauna in your trail, the experience of walking on the forest bed, that is covered up in fresh snow, while the forest canopy acts as the roof of the trail is something you might call out worldly.

Not only does the Brahmatal trek offer you a high altitude summit experience along with its forest trails, but also the fact that you get to experience glacial lakes at such a height acts as a bonus to the trek trail. Rather, you get two frozen alpine lakes on your way to the summit - Brahmatal Lake and Bekaltal Lake, each with unique features of its own and each having their own story to tell. These two lakes make this trek all the more special.

Local legends have it that, Lord Brahma, the creator god of Hindu religion did severe penance in this very lake and hence the Brahmatal got its name from the deity. Likely so, Brahma-Tal means Brahma’s Lake. On the other hand, according to Hindu mythology, Bekaltal is that lake where Lord Brahma chose to hide and rest after his penance was complete.

Even the base camp of the trek, Lohajung has lots of mythical stories based on it. According to the locals, Goddess Parvati fought with Lohasur in this place. Thus, Lohajung got named after the ‘famous’ battle as Lohajung, or rather Loha-Jung, which one can relate to Lohaur’s ‘Jung’ or war.

Still being considered undiscovered due to its lack of popularity, the Brahmatal still holds on to its purity in the ambience and its untouched nature as many tourists are not quite aware of such a beautiful trek route. Being a relatively new trek route also means there are lots to explore in this trek and it offers the solitude you seek in a high altitude mountain trek when you walk away from the rush and buzz of the city life in your vacations.

About Brahmatal Trek

The Brahmatal trek starts from Katgodam with Lohajung serving as the base camp. Placed perfectly close to several major mountain ranges and peaks, this trek tail in Garhwal Himalayan region in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district offers you a close-up view of the peaks of Kumaon division, along with Trishul, Nanda Ghunti, Hathi-Ghoda peaks and many more.

Although the trek takes you to a monumental height of 12,100 ft, the trek is preferred by the first-timers trekkers as well as the professional trekkers with a great lot of experience in trekking. The Brahmatal trek is of 6-day duration with a steady incline all-throughout.

With 4 to 5 hours of trekking for 4 days, you cover about 30kms of mountain terrain which passes through beautiful alpine forests, meadows, valleys and vast stretches of snow-covered mountain terrain. Since it can be done by anyone with basic fitness, this trek is considered to be somewhere between easy and moderate in terms of difficulty.

The trek trail is beautiful and has many interesting features in the route itself, that they itself become the reason of why one should take the Brahmatal trek. With all of that, the 360-Degrees panoramic view from the Brahmatal summit seems to be an added bonus, an excellent one rather.

Things that make Brahmatal a perfect winter trek

Complete winter trek in the mountains

 

When you think of a winter trek in the Himalayas, you think of snowfall in the mountainous terrains. True to its word, Brahmatal is one of the most beautiful winter treks in the mountains. The sight of the sun shining behind the peaks as you walk past, with rays of sun warming up your body as you walk up the peak is an experience in itself.

In a mountain trek, especially in winter, you expect chills in the winter air and snow. In Brahmatal, winters are pretty cold. The average temperature during the day time varies from plus 10 degrees Celsius to plus 3 degrees Celsius. At night, Brahmatal experiences the average night temperature varies from plus 3 degrees Celsius to minus 10 degrees Celsius.

Brahmatal receives ample snowfall, and although the temperate dips to minus degrees, it stays within a bearable and comfortable range. Rather, the dip in the temperature makes the trek all the more memorable as a winter trek.

Solitude away from the rush of the tourists in an undiscovered trail

 

Brahmatal trek is a relatively new trek in terms of trekking routes in India. With lots of areas still left to be explored, most trekkers do not really know about this trek, leaving this trek route still being one of the most underrated treks of India.

What this ensures is that you will get to experience the serene and the calming ambience of Brahmatal that is so talked about. The escape from the rush and noise of the city life actually serves its purpose in Brahmatal, as you will find very few tourists and trekkers visiting Brahmatal.

Forest trails

 

The trek trail takes you through a varied range of mountain terrain. From meadows and valleys to dense forests and lakes, Brahmatal offers it all. In the trek, parts of your trail consist of you walking under the heavy canopy of forests of silver oak and rhododendrons, giving a mystic feeling to the day’s journey.

From end winter, the rhododendrons start blooming and by spring the trail is lit up with vibrant rhododendron flowers. Walking through the dense vegetation of silver oak and the vibrant rhododendron foliage, as you reach towards the end of the jungle trail, you are presented with the mesmerizing view of the snow-capped mountains as the white wall of Trishul mastiff stands tall right in front of you.

Knee-deep snow, and more

 

If you are looking for snow on a winter trek, you should visit Brahmatal. Brahmatal receives quite a lot of snowfall in the winter. Your trail will be covered with fresh snow, giving you an experience worth remembering. The trail takes you through deep alpine and coniferous forests.

The sight of soft white snow slowly falling from the sky as you stand under it is a breathtaking experience. In the morning, you will find the meadows and the valleys covered up in a blanket of soft white snow with patches of green grass or rocky terrain visible. The forest trail feels all the more beautiful after it has experienced light snowfall.

After a snowfall, as you walk through the forest, you get to experience virgin snow in your trek trail and as you walk you can feel the fresh snow crunching under your feet as it covers the forest bed. As the forest canopy acts as a roof over your trail, you get to see the sun rays glimmer through the leaves as soft snow falls off the leaves. It is an experience worth remembering.

Mesmerizing view from the summit

 

When you come into a mountain trek, you expect beautiful mountains filling up your horizon. Likewise, the Brahmatal trek trail doesn’t disappoint at all. Rather the view you get of the Himalayan peaks and the ranges is breathtaking as you are presented right in the front of the peaks and the ranges.

With such a humbling view of the peaks as they look enormous, you get an idea of the colossal size and might of nature’s creation. It’s not just the view of the peaks that is special about the Brahmatal trek. From the summit top, you get to see the Roopkund trek and the beauty of the valleys. With the sun rays reflecting off the snow-capped mountains, creating a vast hue of colours, you have the vast stretches of beautiful meadows right in front of you.

Being at a height of 12,600ft, the summit offers a bird's eye view of the mountain ranges around it, like the peaks of Kumaon division to Trishul, Nanda Ghunti, Hathi-Ghoda peaks, as they cover and engulf the entire horizon of yours.

A beautiful sight of snowcapped mountain ranges and peaks

 

After you cross through the meandering dense snow-covered canopy of the forest you stand at the edge of the forest with a view of the Trishul mastiff. At the summit, you get sight of the peaks Mount Trishul, Mount Chaukhamba, Mount Neelkanth, sacred Mount Nanda Ghunti, Mount Shivling, and Mount Hathi Ghoda and many more.

The view from the Brahmatal summit remains special for its grand nature. The mountains you get to see from here are presented right in front of you. And owing to its stupendous height, the Brahmatal summit offers you an unhindered picturesque view of the peaks around you.

Frozen lakes

 

In a mountain trek, a high altitude lake is a rare sight in itself, let alone two. The Brahmatal trek offers you the sight of two beautiful alpine glacier-fed lakes - Brahmatal Lake and Bekaltal Lake. In the winter season, the lakes get frozen and they covered by a transparent sheet of frozen ice. Many people often take a walk on the frozen lake as it is one thrilling biblical experience you can have of walking on a lake.

With a serene ambience and a solitary tree at the edge of the lake, the entire trip has a memorable feel to it. The day 3 of the trek remains special for this very reason. On day 3, you get to trek from the Bekaltal Lake to the Brahmatal Lake. With the shores of both the lakes being frozen and ice-covered, make sure you explore them and take a walk around the beauty of nature to admire it to the fullest.

Beautiful campsites

 

The campsites at the Brahmatal trek are adventurous and wonderful in every way. With the camps being set up close to the lakes, you get to spend a lot of time in and around the lakes. The sight of colourful camps being placed against the blanket of snow is picturesque in itself. The experience of you and your friends, bonding as you gather around a bonfire lit up under the star-filled sky, is an adventure you wouldn’t like to miss out.

Year-round trek

While most winter treks remain closed during the peak winter seasons from the end of December to early February, Brahmatal remains open. On the contrary, Brahmatal’s snow-fed beauty flourishes all the more as it experiences snowfall.

Easy trek difficulty with so much to offer

In terms of difficulty, Brahmatal is an easy to moderate trek. With minimal steep inclines, and mostly jungle hikes and walks through meadows being involved, Brahmatal is an easy trek as most beginners get into the habit of trekking with this trek itself. Since you have to walk 4-5kms per day, with ample water breaks during the trek, the hike becomes relatively easier. With all the beautiful sites throughout the trek, the efforts of trek do not seem much and in the end, the final view at the summit is worth all the efforts of the trek.

Great connectivity and beauty en route

Although it doesn’t seem like much, during the winter holidays, when all the mountain treks close down and the routes are shut off, the Brahmatal trek being a year-round trek helps a lot. Even though not quite popular yet, Brahmatal is quite well connected with other cities through air, railways, and roads. Having great connectivity and motorable roads to Lohajung from Delhi and all other major cities, it ensures you can help yourself with a quick and spontaneous vacation to Brahmatal and have an experience of a lifetime, away from the rush of the city.