Snowy drive to The Kunzum Pass

The Kunzum pass is a mountain pass situated at a height of around 15000 ft from sea level. The Kunzum pass connects the Lahaul and Spiti regions of Himachal Pradesh. After having an amazing time at Langza, it was time to head to next destination in our itinerary –Kunzum Pass. This pass is closed in winters as it snows a lot here. We were there during the end of winter, still we encountered snow fall on our way to the kunzum pass. This snowy drive was a really good experience.

Once we cross the Kunzum pass, the road descends towards Batal. After passing the rough roads of Batal, Chhatru, we can reach Manali via Atal tunnel or Rohtang pass. But, Unfortunately, today we are only going up to Kunzum pass and not to Manali. I do have a desire to complete the complete circuit, which means starting off from Shimla and cross the Kunzum pass and reach Manali. The road to Kunzum pass is properly metaled and full of scenic beauty. There are some places in between like Losar, Hansa, Pangmo, Rangrik where you can also get a facility to stay or to have some quick snacks.

How to reach Kunzum pass from Kaza

There are two routes to reach Kunzum pass from Kaza. The first route goes via Pangmo, losar and the other one goes via Chicham bridge.

Kaza to Kunzum pass via Pangmo

We went via Rangrik, It is the first village we encounter after crossing the the bridge over Spiti river. The road from Kaza to Kunzum pass is were really well maintained. The open wide patches and the road passing through middle of plateau covered with snow gives a proper view of the mountains, which were all covered in snow. I had never witnessed such beautiful road and landscape and I just don’t have words to describe what we experienced . A huge thanks to BRO for maintaining such good road conditions.

Kaza to Kunzum Pass – Via Chicham bridge & Kibber

The second route to reach Kunzum pass is via kibber and chicham bridge. We need to cross kibber wildlife sanctuary and chicham bridge to join the Gramphu-Batal-Kaza Road The Kibber wildlife sanctuary is famous for the snow leopards and Tibetan wolf. During the mating season of the snow leopards the movement to this region is restricted. Just meters ahead of the kibber village we get to see the chicham bridge, which is build over a really deep gorge. The Chicham bridge is Asia’s highest suspension bridge which connects the chicham village the kibber village.

Losar, Spiti valley

Our 60 Km journey from Kaza to Losar via rangrik was completed in 2:30 Hours. Losar is the last village before Kunzum pass, located at an altitude of 13500 ft. Losar is also name of a festival which is celebrated in kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. Though Losar is really small, we can see few hotels in Losar to stay. Also, Losar have a check post setup by Himachal Pradesh Police. The HP police may stop you at Losar Check post.

After crossing Losar we saw the weather getting bad and it started to snow. It was a snow drive, with snow on both sides of the perfectly mattled road. As we kept driving, the road became less visible and snowfall also started to intensify. There was a lot of snow on the road and as a result we could not make it to Kunzum top. We were barely a kilometer away from the Kunzum pass but couldn’t proceed because of the amount of snowfall accumulated on the road. We decided to head back to Kaza and the ride back was equally amazing and joyous, couldn’t get enough of the mesmerizing landscape.

Kunzum Pass to Chandrataal Lake

Kunzum Pass to Chandrataal Lake distance is about 21 Kms. It will take around 1.5 Hours to reach Chandratal from Kunzum pass. First, we need to descend to Batal from kunzum pass. After having some food at Chacha Chachi Dhaba you can start you journey to Chandrataal Lake. The road condition is not good. We encounter some water crossings, which are tributaries of the Chenab river. Note that road does not go till the lake. After parking the vehicle at the Chandrataal base camp, we need to hike for Around 15- 20 mins.

When Does Kunzum pass open and close

The kunzum pass usually opens in month of May or June. Kunzum pass closes during the end of September. The real time status of kunzum pass can be obtained from the hotel in which you’ll be stating. Once Kunzum pass opens, we can travel from Kaza to manali and Keylong and vice versa