Australian Camp is the best two hours you can spend near Pokhara
A grassy shoulder at 2,060 m with nothing between you and Annapurna South. And no, it was never Australian.
By the Lakeshore team · 5 min read · Updated 5 October 2026
If we could send every visitor on only one walk, it would be this one. You climb an hour and a half through forest from the road at Kande, then the trees stop and you're standing on an open grassy shoulder with Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre filling the whole northern sky.
There's no viewing tower, no ticket and no crowd, just a meadow, a handful of simple lodges and an unbroken wall of Himalaya, about as close as you can get to it without a permit.
The name is a mistake, and a good story.
Austrian, not Australian
Decades ago an Austrian group camped on the meadow. Locally the word came out as 'Australian', it stuck, and the Austrian original has been completely lost. Every sign, map and lodge now says Australian Camp.
It's a small thing, and we like it. It shows how much of Nepal's trekking map is made of names that arrived with visitors and were absorbed sideways. Nobody local minds. Ask about it in the lodge and you'll get the story and a laugh.
The walk
It's a forty-minute drive from Lakeside to Kande on the Baglung highway. From the road you climb steadily for around 400 m on a good stone path, through oak forest and a couple of small settlements. That's ninety minutes at a relaxed pace, less if you push.
You can turn around and be back in Pokhara for lunch, or carry on twenty minutes to Dhampus, a Gurung village strung along a ridge, and walk down from there for a full and much more interesting day.
The first hour of this walk is the same trail Mardi Himal trekkers use, so you're on a working Himalayan trekking route. That's a big part of why it feels like more than a day hike.
Timing and conditions
Go in the morning for the mountains, because for most of the year cloud builds up the valley through the day. If you're doing it as a day trip, leave Lakeside by seven.
October to April gives the reliable views, and in spring the rhododendron in the forest section is excellent. In the monsoon you get a green, misty forest walk and a fair chance of no mountains at all. The path can be slick after rain, and the descent is where people slip. Wear decent shoes, not sandals.
Walk it with us
Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.
Questions we get asked
How fit do I need to be?
Reasonably fit. It's four hundred metres of uphill on steps and path, a solid hour and a half of work, but nothing technical, and you can go as slowly as you like. Children manage it comfortably.
Can I do it as a half day?
Easily. Leave Lakeside at seven, back by one. Adding Dhampus makes it a full day, worth it if you have time, and our guided hike includes it.
Do I need a permit?
For the day hike to Australian Camp, generally not. If you carry on toward Dhampus and beyond into the conservation area, that changes, so tell us your plan and we'll confirm.
Is it a good warm-up before a longer trek?
The best one around. This is the first section of the Mardi Himal route, so if you're trekking in a few days it doubles as a gear check and a leg check on the same terrain you're about to walk.
Still deciding?
Tell us your dates and how much walking you've done, and we'll tell you whether Australian Camp Sunrise Hike is right for you. If it isn't, we'll say so.
Nothing to pay online. We confirm your dates first.
Or call the office +977 61-457830