Batakundi, Kaghan Valley Travel Guide

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Where Batakundi is and why people stop here

Batakundi is in Mansehra District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the N-15. That is the road from Mansehra through Balakot, Kaghan and Naran to Babusar Top and Chilas, and people often just call it the Batakundi road or the Babusar road. From Naran it follows the Kunhar River north-east for 15 km. Batakundi is the first sizeable village after Naran. Most of the people who live here are Gujjars.

The main draw is Lalazar, a pine meadow above the village. Its jeep track leaves the main road just before Batakundi, so you save the drive from Naran and back. The hotels are spread out along the road, and the evenings are quiet. You are also 15 km closer to Lulusar Lake and Babusar Top, a real help if you are driving on to Chilas and Gilgit the same day.

Batakundi is changing fast. Large resorts have gone up on the slopes in the last few years, and one visitor wrote in October 2026 that Batakundi today is where Murree was in 1970. It is still much calmer than Naran, but it is no longer empty.

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How to reach Batakundi from Naran, Islamabad and Lahore

From Naran, drive 15 km up the paved N-15. It takes 20 to 30 minutes on a normal day. On summer weekends and at Eid the queue through Naran bazaar can stretch that to two hours, so go through the bazaar before 9 am.

From Islamabad, take the Hazara Motorway to Mansehra, then the N-15 through Balakot, Kaghan and Naran. On our tours the coaster picks up Islamabad guests at about 3 am and reaches Naran at about 11 am, with a breakfast stop in Balakot or Kiwai. From Lahore, add the M-2 to Islamabad. Lahore to Naran is roughly 650 km, and our coaster leaves Lahore at 11 pm to reach Naran by late morning. Batakundi is 20 to 30 minutes further.

Above Naran, drive in daylight. The road beyond Batakundi has rough patches early in the season, and landslides come down after heavy rain. In summer the police set up posts at Batakundi, Jalkhad and Besal, so keep your CNIC or passport with you.

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Things to do in and around Batakundi

Jeep ride to Lalazar

The Lalazar track turns off the N-15 just before Batakundi and climbs about 430 m in 4.2 km to a meadow at roughly 3,100 m. Only local jeeps go up. In July 2026 the Balakot assistant commissioner fixed the return fare at PKR 4,500 per jeep from Batakundi, the same as from Naran. At the top you find pine woods, terraced fields and tea stalls. Allow two to three hours for the round trip. After rain the track turns to mud, and drivers may refuse to go.

Batakundi waterfall and the Kunhar River

A waterfall comes down the slope near the village, and locals also call it Sohni waterfall. Below the village the river spreads over a wide bed of boulders, a good place to sit on a dry afternoon. Keep off the banks when the water is high and brown. In the monsoon the police and Rescue 1122 tell visitors to stay away from the Kunhar, because it rises fast after rain upstream.

Jalkhad

Jalkhad (also written Jalkhand or Jhalkhand) is about 25 km past Batakundi, at 3,140 m, where the stream from Noori Top meets the Kunhar. The valley is wide and open here, with summer pastures, a few small restaurants and a camping ground. There is no petrol.

A jeep track climbs from Jalkhad over Noori Top, at about 3,950 m, and down to Sharda in the Neelum Valley. It is for jeeps, modified 4x4s and motorbikes only, usually from July to September, and takes 5 to 8 hours with no help along the way. Travellers who have done it say September is easier, as the stream crossings are lower. Leave it out if you have young children with you.

Dudipatsar Lake trek from Besal

The trek to Dudipatsar starts at Besal (3,250 m), a few kilometres past Jalkhad. It takes 5 to 8 hours up to the lake at about 3,800 m, and most groups camp a night near Mulla ki Basti. The season runs from mid-June to late September. Visitors posted photos of rubbish left at the lake in July 2026, so carry yours back down.

Lulusar Lake and Babusar Top

Lulusar Lake, at 3,410 m, sits right beside the road a little past Besal and is the source of the Kunhar. Babusar Top (4,173 m) is about 50 km from Batakundi, or 1.5 to 2.5 hours. Cross it in daylight if you are going on to Chilas. More on the pass in our Babusar Top guide.

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Batakundi vs Naran, which should you choose?

For a first trip with children or older parents, Naran is easier. Everything is on one street, and the jeeps to Lake Saif-ul-Malook leave from town. Couples, photographers and people driving on to Babusar or Gilgit get quieter nights and an earlier start in Batakundi. Plenty of people split it, one night in each.

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Where to stay and eat

You can choose between guesthouses near the bazaar, mid-size hotels along the road and a handful of large resorts on the slopes. July and August weekends cost the most, so book ahead for those. Before you pay, ask whether the generator runs all night, whether there is hot water, and how steep the drive up to the hotel is.

For a tent, ask a hotel whether you can pitch on its lawn. Jalkhad and Lalazar also have camping grounds in summer. Do not camp on the gravel by the river, which floods fast after rain upstream. Nights get close to freezing even in summer, so bring a warm sleeping bag.

Food is simple. Expect trout from the Kunhar, daal, karahi, pakoras and tea. There are far fewer restaurants than in Naran, and many close in October when the tourists leave, so carry snacks.

• There is no ATM in Batakundi, so draw money in Naran or Balakot.
• Fill up with petrol in Naran. Jalkhad has none.
• For years most travellers found only Telenor working here, and only now and then. A 2026 report says Jazz holds better. Some hotels have Wi-Fi.
• Hotels run on generators, and not every one runs through the night.
• For a doctor or hospital you have to go down to Naran, Balakot or Mansehra.

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Best season and road notes

The road above Naran opens when the National Highway Authority has cut through the winter glaciers, so the date moves every year. In 2025 the road to Naran reopened on 21 April, and Babusar Top opened in late May after seven months. In 2016 Babusar stayed shut until 21 June.

July and August are warm and green, and they are also monsoon months. On 8 July 2023 a landslide at Batakundi blocked the road for more than three hours, and in August 2024 floods at Mahandri cut the Balakot to Kaghan road for four days. In those months, ask about the road the evening before you set off. Nights are cold even in July.

Winter closes the valley. In late November 2025 the district administration let tourists go only as far as Batakundi and Saif-ul-Malook, between 11 am and 3 pm and with chains on the tyres, and closed the road to Gilgit-Baltistan until the next summer.

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Sample 3-day Naran Kaghan plan with Batakundi

This is the route of our 3 days Naran Kaghan tour from Lahore, at PKR 15,000 per person. The coaster leaves every Thursday at 11 pm from Thokar Niaz Baig or Barkat Market. Both nights are in Naran, and Lalazar is not part of the group plan. If you travel in your own car, sleep in Batakundi on the second night and add Lalazar on the morning of day 3.