Trip to Chansal Pass – Rohru – Chakrata | Itinerary & Road Conditions

There was no plan of travel to Chansal Pass this year and with just getting back from a family trip to Tirthan Valley a few weeks ago, I never thought of it in any corner of my head. Then, a project release was pushed off the project, and the workload at the office was lessened a bit for me.

Somehow, few friends in the DoW Watsapp group were making plans for a weekend trip to Chansal Pass for 3 days. This meant only 1 day off for me which can be easily taken and then suddenly, I asked them “Guys, how about celebrating the DwD Community’s anniversary at Chansal Pass on 1st June 2014??” and there it goes…

Five of us went on the road trip in next two days over last weekend to Chansal Pass with Chakrata as a side on too 😀 😀

Experience of Chansal Pass Trip

On just a weekend budget trip to Chansal Pass, we experienced the snow, the snowfall, the rain, the rainbow, the river, the roads or call them no-roads, the jungles, the break down of our car in no man’s land, some great food shops, etc. What an action-packed weekend trip?? Yeah, it was and after all why not, it was DwD Community’s First Birthday 🙂 …

Well, in the past one year DwD Community has passed 1000 Members and 1000 Topics and why we shouldn’t be that happy to celebrate with a 1000+ KMs of a road trip in the Himalayas 😉

Though I am going to write a detailed Travel Tale and reviews of the guesthouses I stayed, just before that would like to share what itinerary I followed, the route I took and the updates on road conditions for reaching these places.

Itinerary for Chansal Pass – Pabbar Valley – Chakrata Trip in May/June

Well, I had three days in hand for this trip, and I followed the itinerary as below. We crossed between the states of Himachal and Uttarakhand a few times in a single day, and that was the beauty of this road trip 🙂 …

Day 1: Delhi – Hatkoti – Shillai – Rohru

Started the drive from Delhi/Noida – Ghaziabad – Meerut – Muzaffarnagar – Roorkee – Biharigarh – Dehardun – Paonta Sahib – Shillai – Tiuni – Hatkoti – Rohru, Pabbar Valley. We stayed at PWD Rest House at Rohru, Pabbar Valley.

Day 2 | Rohru – Chansal Pass – Rohru

It was 1st June, and the plan was to cut the cake at the top of Chansal Pass. We drove from Rohru – Chirgaon – Larot and reached Chansal Pass midst rains. We cut the cake there, and in fact, there was one kid form Nashik whose B’ day was there too. We offered her to cut first, and we had great fun up there with that family.

I can understand the feeling of kids cutting the cake and parent’s watching them. They were kind of upset as they did not have cake there on the trip, but we devils are known for spreading smiles, you know. Then, Samar and I hiked up to Chansal Peak from the pass to get some amazing 360-degree views from the top up there. Fabulous was the word up there.

While coming back from Chansal, we experienced snowfall, executed DoW Causes at Larot – Chirgaon Village, and that sealed the trip for us. We had late lunch at Chirgaon finally after a long day before settling at PWD Rest House at Rohru.

Day 3 | Rohru – Chakrata – Delhi

Started 6 AM from Rohru and took the route as Rohru – Tiuni – Sawara – Kanesar Forest – Chakrata – Kalsi – Vikasnagar – Herbertpur – Dehradun. We executed DoW Causes at Sawara Village, Uttarakhand, Primary School, then spent some time at Chakrata Main Market, captured some lovely valley views before reaching Dehradun in the evening.

At Dehradun, we had food at KFC and then followed the same route back home from Dehradun to Delhi/Noida. I boarded the last metro of 11:05 PM from Vaishali to get home at Dwarka, almost mid-night.

Overall, it was quite an amazing trip experience with every day coming with a new kind of route. You can check Google Map marked route at the link: Route Map of Google

Road Conditions for Delhi – Rohru – Chansal Pass – Chakrata – Dehradun

Following is the breakdown of road conditions for the trip to Chansal Pass:

• Delhi – Meerut – Muzaffarnagar: Excellent, smooth sailing, mostly.
• Muzaffarnagar – Roorkee: Mostly good roads but single lane with many diversions and idiots driving wrong sides 😥
• Roorkee – Dehradun – Paonta Sahib: Excellent roads but single lane. Drive with care, especially at night.
• Paonta Sahib – Shillai – Tiuni: Mostly bad and very roads with potholes. Punisher for a small car.
• Tiuni – Hatkoti – Rohru: Mix of Average and Good roads.
• Rohru – Chirgaon – Larot: Mix of Average and Bad roads.
• Larot – Chansal Pass: This is about 20 km and horrible to very bad roads here. Extreme punisher for a small car
• Tiuni – Sawara Village – Kanesar Forest – Chakrata: Mix of Average, Bad and Very Bad roads. A mild punisher for small cars. This route is much better of all three options that take you to Chansal Pass or Pabbar Valley from Delhi, in terms of road conditions and views on offer. This will be my preferred with an overnight stop at Chakrata.
• Chakrata – Kalsi – Vikas Nagar – Dehradun: Mostly excellent road conditions.

The Shimla – Theog – Kharapathar route is the WORST among all three routes that you can follow to reach Pabbar Valley, avoid it. I will suggest going from Dehradun – Chakrata route among all three as the Shillai route was equally bad.

But did not offer much scenic beauty that Chakrata – Tinui offers to heal the sufferings of bad roads. In small cars, the speed will be slow mostly due to the bad roads in Pabbar Valley or on the way to it.

Did you know? Chansal Pass is one of the places to enjoy snowfall or snow near Delhi in Himachal.

Phone Signals at Chansal Pass – Pabbar Valley with Data Connectivity

I was carrying Airtel Postpaid and BSNL Postpaid and following was the signal status for all three of them:

• Both of them were working fine mostly through the trip with limited signals at very few places only.
• Signals were not present at the top of Chansal Pass though and after Larot Village.
• Data Connectivity was always available wherever the signals were present though it was mostly 2G or EDGE/GPRS and at places 3G too.
• You are traveling from Narkanda side, there should be signals present for the most part of your trip.

Other Important Updates from Chansal Pass – Pabbar Valley Trip

• Fuel pumps are available throughout the route, so don’t worry much about the fuel. Rohru has 2-3 petrol pumps itself.
• Food is also easily available and at Tiuni which falls in Uttarakhand, you can get some delicious Apricots of various kinds and at much cheaper prices too.
• There are a couple of ATMs at Rohru including one of HDFC Bank. So, no worries on that front too.
• Checkout Pakoras at Biharigarh and Gupta Chat Shops near Roorkee.

Travel Tip: You may want to club your trip to Chansal Pass with Thanedar during the apple orchard season.

You should always carry your water bottle and refill it as many times as you need water. It will not only keep you hydrated always, but you will also help in saving the Himalayas from plastic garbage. Remember, every tiny step counts and your step in this direction can help save the Himalayas too !! 🙂 🙂

Toll Amounts on the Route to Chansal Pass – Pabbar Valley

• Muzaffar Nagar Toll Plaza: Rs 60

Conclusion

I hope this Pabbar Valley – Chansal Pass itinerary will help you plan a memorable trip to the Himachal Pradesh. The place is still kind of offbeat place of Himachal where you can enjoy seclusion and nature at its best. So, before it gets commercialized further, don’t wait and plan a weekend trip to Chansal Pass or Dodra Kwar villages.

Have a travel question?? You can subscribe to my YouTube channel and leave a comment to ask your travel questions about traveling to the Himalayas.

I will start sharing the detailed Travel Tale of this lovely trip to Chansal Pass – Pabbar Valley – Chakrata, the reviews of the places I stayed and places at which I ate food, soon 🙂

If you know your friends or family are planning a trip to an offbeat place in Himachal, do share this article with them to help them make a memorable Pabbar Valley – Chansal Pass trip.