Last Updated on: 15th March 2026, 11:31 am
There are a myriad of epic hikes in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. And the hike to the Rakaposhi Basecamp is gradually becoming considered a ‘must-do.’ With that said, given its remote location near the village of Minapin, it attracts only a tiny fraction of the visitors that Fairy Meadows does.
There are two common ways of doing this hike. One option is to hike to Hapakun Camp situated about halfway up, camp there, and then proceed to the top the next morning.
Or, you can do the entire thing in one day. While some other online guides portray this as too difficult or unrealistic, that’s certainly not the case. And the one-day version is what we’ll be covering in this guide.
This is indeed a very strenuous hike, but if you’re an experienced hiker and already acclimated to high altitudes, you can finish it in about 7-8 hours roundtrip. With that said, this should NOT be your first hike in Gilgit-Baltistan – be sure to do some warmup hikes first!
For more information on reaching the village of Minapin and where to stay, be sure to check the end of the article.
About This Hike
THE BASICS: As mentioned above, this guide covers the single-day version of the Rakaposhi Basecamp hike, a strenuous out-and-back journey.
The total hike is about 18 km long with an elevation gain of 1420 m. And all in all, the roundtrip hike took me 7.5 hours.
Depending on where you’re staying, the trailhead is about 15-20 minutes from central Minapin, though those staying at Manokur E Basa Hotel or Cosy Stones will have a big head start (though maybe not so big in the grand scheme of things).
Getting to Minapin itself is a bit of an adventure, which you can learn more about below.
The main highlight of this hike is the view over Minapin Glacier and Rakaposhi Mountain – the world’s 27th highest. Just note that you won’t get to see either until the very end.
WHAT TO BRING: Given how steep and strenuous this hike is, hiking shoes and trekking poles are highly recommended.
And considering how you’ll be hiking up to 3500 m above sea level, ample sunscreen is a must, as the strength of the sun up here is no joke!
You’ll also want to bring plenty of snacks, and it’s advisable to do your shopping in Gilgit in advance. There are a few small shops in Minapin, but the selection is lacking. You should, however, be able to find dried apricots – a great hiking snack.
Of course, you should also carry plenty of water, but you also want to avoid weighing yourself down.
RECOMMENDED APPS: This is one of the few hikes in the region that’s actually featured on AllTrails. However, if you’re not a subscriber, you should be fine using an offline app like Maps.me or Organic Maps instead.
The Rakaposhi Basecamp Hike
I woke up early, departing from my hotel, Osho Thang, around 7:00 am. I decided to skip breakfast and eat snacks throughout the hike instead. But the dinner I’d eventually eat here upon my return would be incredibly satisfying.
Having been in Gilgit-Baltistan for over a week by this point, I already felt acclimated to the altitude. A local shopowner nearby, however, recommended dried apricots to help deal with potential altitude sickness.
In any case, they were delicious and provided me with enough energy to make it through the hike.
It was about a twenty-minute walk through the rural backroads of Minapin to get to the trailhead. The trail starts on the other side of the Minapin River, accessible via a small bridge.
As I approached, a local man suddenly appeared and rushed ahead of me toward a small building in the distance. It turns out that he was a staff member of the Central Karakoram National Park. And once I caught up to him, he requested PKR 300 for entrance.
It’s a very meager fee, but I was still a bit surprised, as I believe that this was the only time in Pakistan that I was requested to pay before a hike.
Anyway, past the river, it was time to officially start the hike to Rakaposhi Basecamp. While lots of mountain hikes start gradually and then get steeper near the end, one of the most challenging sections of this hike comes right at the very beginning.
You’ll immediately have to climb up a steep series of over a dozen switchbacks!
The start of the trail is at roughly 2000 m above sea level. But by the time you reach the end of the switchbacks, you’ll have climbed around 500 m – over a third of the hike’s total elevation gain!
The switchbacks seemed to just go on and on, and I repeatedly needed to stop to catch my breath. And one of the most frustrating things about this section is that despite how tired you’ll get, you’ll barely seem to have made any progress when checking the map.
Near the end, I passed by a little chai shop, though it still seemed to be closed. I’d later find people there during my descent, however.
Finally, once the switchback section is over, you’ll get to relax for a bit during a relatively flat forested section. I didn’t encounter any other hikers here – only some local farmers and a cute baby cow.
Eventually, you’ll encounter a collection of about a dozen brick huts which seemingly belong to local farmers. And a river runs through this area as well.
I lost sight of the trail for a moment, and wasn’t sure which side of the river to walk on. But a local told me I should stick to the left.
Past the huts, the trail starts getting steeper again, and this section also includes a few sharp turns. But keep pushing and you should eventually make it to the camp known as Hapakun before long.
In my case, I arrived at Hapakun at around 9:30 – two-and-a-half hours since leaving my hotel that morning.
As mentioned above, a lot of people seem to break the Rakaposhi Basecamp Hike up into two days, with a night spent here at Hapakun.
But in my opinion, doing this would be even more difficult than the one-day version of the hike, as you’d have to carry extra gear, food and water up one of the hike’s hardest sections.
Before my arrival, I was expecting something similar to Behal Camp near Fairy Meadows which, even in the low season, has some huts selling food and chai.
But I didn’t see any permanent structures here – only tents. And aside from a few people sitting outside and relaxing, the camp seemed pretty dead. So I just kept moving.
The trail starts getting really steep again past Hapakun. In terms of elevation, you’ll still have another 500 m to go until the end.
So while it’s more gradual than the initial switchback section, hiking at above 3000 m can be especially tiring, even if you’re fairly acclimated to the higher elevations.
I had a bit of trouble locating the exact trail marked on AllTrails, as I saw a few different dirt trails to choose from. I decided to go with the steeper one, which eventually brought me to where I needed to go.
Given the steepness of this section, I had to repeatedly stop for breaks. And with all the forks in the trail, paying close attention was a must.
Finally, the scenery gradually starts opening up. Admittedly, I was feeling a bit let down by the Rakaposhi Basecamp Hike in the beginning, as I’d been spoiled by Skardu’s Mansur Rock Hike which offers stunning panoramic views from the start.
Hiking in May, I was surprised and relieved by how little snow I encountered along the trail – especially considering the challenges caused by snow during the Behal Camp Hike a couple of days prior.
But shortly before the final stretch, I did encounter a large patch of snow covering the entire trail.
It doesn’t look so intimidating in photos, but given the slope of the mountain, I couldn’t just walk around it. And the snow was a lot harder and more slippery than it looked.
My only option, it seemed, was to carefully walk across it while using my trekking pole to maintain balance.
Shortly past this obstacle, I reached the hike’s final sections – a steep rocky section. And it’s from here that you can finally get your first glimpse of Rakaposhi Mountain. (At least from this trail, as the mountain is partially visible from Minapin.)
This is indeed a tough part of the hike, but it went by a lot quicker than I was expecting.
And then the next thing I knew, I found myself walking along a ridge, overlooking that mighty Minapin Glacier. This section of the hike is extremely windy, so you’ll need to be careful to maintain balance.
Minapin Glacier stretches out to 10 km long. And behind it is the massive Rakaposhi Mountain, which reaches up to 7,788 m above sea level.
Rakaposhi is ‘only’ the 27th highest mountain in the world, but the view from this spot showcases its north face rising 4,300 vertical meters. Amazingly, that’s an even greater vertical rise than the view of Everest from Everest Base Camp, which is 3,500 meters.
Somewhat confusingly, Rakaposhi doesn’t have a well-defined peak and appears more as a long wall. The pyramidal-shaped peak to the left is actually Diran, which stands at 7,266 meters.
After walking along the ridge and admiring the glacier and mountain from different angles, I proceeded to a grassy meadow area and ate some snacks beneath a tree. It was then time to walk over to the Rakaposhi Basecamp itself.
Walking further along the trail, it wasn’t long before I could spot a couple of the camp’s buildings in the distance. It was still too early in the year and the camp was still closed, but I figured I’d walk over there and have a look before turning back.
But I quickly noticed a problem.
Part of the trail was damaged – seemingly due to rockfall. At first, it didn’t look that bad, so I attempted to walk across the rocky part. But I immediately realized how slippery it was. And if I were to slip, I’d end up sliding all the way down to the Minapin Glacier!
And even if I were to get lucky once, I’d still have to try again on the way back. So I figured that the chance to walk around and empty basecamp wasn’t worth the risk.
Anyway, the real highlight of the hike, of course, is the view of the glacier and mountain which you can enjoy before the camp.
Heading back, I was a bit surprised to encounter a herd of cows freely roaming around up here. They were seemingly unfazed by these jaw-dropping views.
The descent went as expected, with the main challenge being getting past the same snow patch described earlier.
Notably, I didn’t encounter a single other hiker during the climb up, but ran into a few on the way down. And near the bottom, I even encountered some people I’d hiked with to Behal Camp Hike in Fairy Meadows!
As mentioned, the hike took me 7.5 hours in total. It was indeed an exhausting hike, but I got back to Minapin at a reasonable hour, and had zero regrets about doing it all in one day.
I just happened to do this hike on the day that Pakistan and India started bombing each near Kashmir’s Line of Control. But walking along the peaceful trail and through the sleepy village of Minapin, I felt like I was a world away from the events depicted in the news.
Additional Info
Minapin is located between Gilgit and Aliabad/Karimabad, so it’s an ideal place to stop along the way to the Hunza Valley.
Inconveniently, however, Minapin is situated off the main Karakoram Highway. Vehicles going directly there have to turn onto the Pissar-Minapin Road, with the total nonstop journey from Gilgit lasting around two to three hours.
Unfortunately, there are seemingly no direct buses or minivans from Gilgit to Minapin departing in the morning. There’s supposedly one at 15:00, but I can’t confirm for sure.
Therefore, you should anticipate being dropped off at the turnoff point, though it’s another 3.5 km from there until the town. But more on that shortly.
When coming from Gilgit, you have two options when it comes to public transport, and you should just choose whichever is closest to your hotel. Numerous vehicles heading north along the Karakoram Highway depart from Giglit’s main bus terminal.
Or, you can find a shared minivan departing from Khasanna Road (the spot is marked on the Organic Maps app). I decided to head to Khasanna Road because some locals had (wrongly) told me that the minivans departing from there would go directly to the village.
But this turned out to be false, and I was surprised to be dropped off along the highway with no real idea of how to proceed the extra few kilometers. While I did encounter one taxi driver, he was quoting me an exorbitant fee (well, at least by local standards).
I was traveling with all of my luggage and didn’t want to walk, so I just decided to hitchhike. This ended up working out, as before long, a Pakistani-American family heading to Minapin in a big SUV gave me a ride. And luckily, we were even headed to the same hotel!
But what about moving on from Minapin? It’s such a small village that there aren’t really any local taxis, and my hotel owner suggested I hitchhike. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before a car passed by and gave me a ride to the highway. People in Pakistan are so friendly and hospitable that things usually work their way out in the end.
I then waited about twenty minutes along the highway before a minivan bound for Aliabad appeared.
I had a great experience at a hotel called Osho Thang. It’s not on the typical booking websites but I contacted the owner in advance via WhatsApp to make a reservation. You should be able to reach them at +92-346-956-0283.
They have a variety of different rooms available, but as a solo traveler, I just chose the cheapest which cost PKR 3000 per night at the time. It had an attached bathroom and that was all I really needed. The on-site restaurant, meanwhile, was delicious and reasonably priced.
As mentioned above, if you’d like to stay closer to the trailhead, consider Manokur E Basa Hotel or Cosy Stones.
Gilgit can be accessed directly by bus or plane from Islamabad. While less frequent, you may also be able to find direct flights from Lahore.
If you’re already in the region, you can also take a direct minivan or shared taxi from Skardu, a journey which should take 3-5 hours.
As for direct buses from Islamabad, the journey can last anywhere from around 18-24 hours! And that’s if there are no major incidents, such as landslides or traffic jams, along the way.
The plane from Islamabad to Gilgit, meanwhile, takes just one hour. So why even consider such a grueling bus ride?
One simple reason is cost. Flights can cost up to $90 one-way, while the bus ride costs roughly $20.
But another reason is reliability. Flights frequently get cancelled or delayed due to weather or visibility issues. Therefore, if you have limited time in the region, it can be very hard to make concrete plans knowing that your flight may repeatedly get delayed.
In my case, I already had plans to take the bus both ways. But during my trip, a brief war between India and Pakistan happened to break out, and all flights were cancelled for a couple of weeks!
The buses, on the other hand, were running daily as scheduled. So, in contrast to numerous stranded travelers that I met, my plans didn’t get interrupted at all.
Let’s talk more about the bus ride. There’s no way to sugarcoat it – this ride really, really sucks. But it is a way to travel over 600 km for next to nothing, while you’re bound to meet friendly locals during the journey.
Most bus companies weren’t even accepting foreign passengers at the time of my visit, leaving NATCO, a state-run bus company, as the only option. Unfortunately, a lot of NATCO buses are in pretty bad shape.
In my case, aside from the general discomfort of sitting in a cramped bus for so long, the ride mostly went as planned. But if you’re traveling shortly after heavy rain, landslides may delay the journey tremendously.
Another important thing to be aware of is the security situation. There are a lot of security measures in place to keep tourists safe, especially in the province of KPK, through which this bus passes as it travels along the Karakoram Highway.
Before your journey, you must prepare around 15 photocopies (or even more if you can) of both your passport and Pakistani visa. You’ll give these to the driver as the trip starts, and he’ll then pass a copy to police or security personnel at various checkpoints along the way. Fortunately, this means you won’t have to get woken up by the guards.
(Pakistan doesn’t really do centralized digital databases, so oftentimes these officers are just snapping a photo of your papers with their phone and then distributing it to a WhatsApp group with other officers!)
For the record, I felt completely safe while in Pakistan, and a lot of these practices are just extra precautions to keep foreign tourists safe.
If you’re a Chinese national, however, there are extra security precautions in place for you. I don’t have the updated information, so please look that up on your own.
All in all, the best way to get the latest information is to follow various Pakistan travel-oriented groups on Facebook.
The city of Gilgit is Gilgit-Baltistan’s largest city and transport hub, and there are plenty of hotel options here (though not many are actually on Booking).
I originally booked a night at a place called Duroyo Hotel, which I chose precisely because it seemed within walking distance of the bus station.
It turned out to be a fairly long and steep uphill walk – especially with all of my luggage. And it was only after my arrival that the staff decided to tell me that no rooms were available!
They did, at least, give me a ride to another location.
In the end, I stayed at ‘Hotel Express and Restaurant’ (not to be confused with Avari Xpress Hotel located a block east). While you need a taxi or public transport to get to and from the station, it’s in a central area along Shahre-e-Quaid-e-Azam Rd, near plenty of shops, restaurants and ATMs.
There was even a coffee shop right next door. And if you’ve traveled through South Asia before as a coffee lover, you know how hard it is to find real coffee!
In the end, the mishap turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as there didn’t seem to be any shops or restaurants near Duroyo Hotel.
Importantly, the staff at Hotel Express also let me keep my luggage in the staff room for a few nights while I was at Fairy Meadows. I then returned and stayed an additional night before moving on to Minapin.
Note that even if you already have a Pakistani SIM card, it’s probably not going to work in Gilgit-Baltistan. But there is a dedicated telecom company operating in the territory known as SCOM.
It’s easy enough to obtain a SIM card there upon your arrival – even as a foreign tourist. As I obtained mine in Skardu, I’m not sure exactly where to find one in Gilgit. But you’ll probably need to go to the MAIN office and not a branch, as not all offices can sell SIM cards to foreigners. (Most locals don’t realize this and may direct you to the wrong shop.)
In any case, you’ll definitely want to download Gilgit-Baltistan maps for offline use in advance of your trip.
The autonomous territory of Gilgit-Baltistan is part of the broader Kashmir region, which, before the Partition of 1947, was part of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.
Today, Gilgit-Baltistan is controlled by Pakistan and can only be entered from within Pakistan or via the land border with China. While we won’t be getting into politics here, many maps of India include Gilgit-Baltistan in its territory, which can make trip research especially confusing.
Pakistan actually controls two Kashmiri territories, the other being Azad Kashmir. To make matters even more confusing, when many Pakistanis use the word ‘Kashmir,’ they’re often specifically referring to Azad Kashmir – not the entire region.
As its name suggests, Gilgit-Baltistan consists of two main divisions. Skardu is the capital of the Baltistan division, and the city of Gilgit is the capital of the broader Gilgit division (and also of the entire Gilgit-Baltistan territory).
Accordingly, these are the two main transport hubs of the region. You can find direct buses from Islamabad to both cities, while both Skardu and Gilgit are home to the region’s airports.
But though Gilgit may have plenty of hotel and shopping options, it should only really be thought of as a place to pass through. Skardu, on the other hand, is also a destination in its own right, with plenty to do around the area.
Another must-visit destination in Gilgit-Baltistan, meanwhile, is the Hunza Valley, with its main hubs being Karimabad and Aliabad. Part of the Gilgit division, that region is a lot closer to Gilgit than it is to Skardu.
Check out our upcoming Gilgit-Baltistan itinerary guide to learn more about how to both get around and plan your time in the region.