The Dhaulagiri Circuit is the hardest thing we run

What the trip is actually made of

You start low, around Beni and Darbang, in farmland and subtropical forest, and follow the Myagdi Khola up into progressively wilder country — Italian Base Camp at about 3,660 m, then Glacier Camp, then Dhaulagiri Base Camp at around 4,750 m below the north face.

From there it is over the French Pass into Hidden Valley, a high, cold, enclosed basin with nothing living in it, then over Dhampus Pass and down an enormous descent into Marpha on the Kali Gandaki, where there are apple orchards and a bakery and you will not believe how good a shower feels.

Sixteen days, and the middle six of them are committing — above 4,500 m, on glacier and moraine, with no road, no lodge and no easy exit.

Camping, and what a support crew means

There are no lodges above Darbang, so the trip runs as a full expedition: tents, a kitchen crew, a cook, porters and a guide. You carry a daypack and nothing else.

This is a completely different rhythm from teahouse trekking. Tea arrives at your tent in the morning. Meals are cooked from carried supplies and are considerably better than you would expect at 4,700 m. Camp gets struck and rebuilt around you.

It also means the trip costs several times what a teahouse trek does, because you are moving a small village around a mountain. That is where the money goes, and it is why nobody sells this cheaply.

Altitude, weather and the real risks

Sleeping above 5,000 m in Hidden Valley after crossing a 5,360 m pass is a serious altitude proposition, and the acclimatisation days earlier in the trek are not optional padding.

The passes hold snow and can close. Weather windows matter and the crew makes the call. If French Pass is not crossable, the only options are wait or walk all the way back out the way you came — there is no road, no alternative valley and no simple helicopter answer in bad weather. Glacier travel means crevasse risk, which means rope and a guide who knows the route. This is the one trek we run where genuine mountaineering judgement is part of the service rather than an extra.

Who should do this

People who have trekked at altitude before — ideally over a 5,000 m pass — and who are comfortable being properly remote for a week. Previous camping experience helps and is not essential; the crew handles the logistics.

You need to be fit enough for consecutive long days at altitude and, more importantly, temperamentally suited to a trip where the plan may change and the weather decides. People who need certainty find this hard.

If you have done the Annapurna Circuit and loved the pass day and wished the whole thing had been wilder, this is what you are looking for.

When to go

A narrow window: roughly late April to May, and October into early November. Outside those the passes are unreliable.

October is the most settled. Spring gives you longer days and more snow underfoot on the passes. We run this on request rather than to a schedule, and we want a proper conversation before booking rather than a form. Tell us what you have walked and we will tell you honestly whether this is the year for it.

Walk it with us

Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.

Questions we get asked

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