Mohare Danda has Poon Hill's panorama and none of the queue
Five days to a ridge at 3,300 m, sleeping in eco-lodges the villages own outright, with the same Dhaulagiri-to-Annapurna sweep as Poon Hill.
By the Lakeshore team · 6 min read · Updated 5 October 2026
Mohare Danda is the best-known community trekking trail in Nepal, and most of the others copied its model. The villages themselves own and run the lodges, which were built with community forestry money, and the profits fund schools and health posts, not a private operator.
The trail reaches about 3,300 m on a ridge west of Ghorepani, with a panorama from Dhaulagiri across to the Annapurnas. It's more or less the Poon Hill view, from a similar height, on a trail that sees a small fraction of the traffic. Five days of moderate walking, and the strongest case in the region for where your money goes.
What community ownership changes
Households from the villages below take turns running the lodges, with a management committee and audited accounts. A share of every bed night goes into a community fund that has paid for classrooms, drinking water schemes and trail maintenance.
You notice it in small ways. The person serving dinner may be a farmer on a two-week turn, not a career lodge worker. Service is warm and sometimes slow. The buildings are solid and plain.
You'll also see solar power and careful waste management, because the committee that owns the lodge has to live with the consequences of a badly run one.
The walking
You walk in from Galeshwor or Beni through terraced farmland and forest, climbing steadily to Nangi, a village known for its community school and its own paper-making and IT projects, and on up to the ridge at Mohare Danda.
The forest between Nangi and Mohare is superb, with rhododendron, oak and a lot of birds. This is one of the better birding treks in the Annapurna region, and the community runs it with that in mind.
Sunrise from the ridge gives you Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Nilgiri and Machhapuchhre. There's a small viewing tower, and on most mornings only a handful of people on it.
Adding Khopra and Poon Hill
Mohare links up with Khopra Ridge, the other big community route, and on to Ghorepani and Poon Hill. The full circuit takes eight or nine days and is the best community-trekking itinerary in Nepal.
Walk it that way and you sleep in community lodges for most of the trip, then finish with the Poon Hill sunrise, so you can compare the crowded view with the quiet one. Most people come back saying the ridge they had to themselves meant more than the famous one. We'd still send you to both. Tell us how many days you have and we'll suggest the route.
Walk it with us
Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.
Questions we get asked
How does it compare to Khopra Ridge?
Both are community-run. Khopra is higher, at 3,660 m, and faces Dhaulagiri across a gorge, which makes it the more dramatic single view. Mohare is gentler, greener and better for birds. If you can, walk both.
How comfortable are the lodges?
Simple and clean, with twin rooms, shared bathrooms, solar lighting, dal bhat and a short menu. They're warmer and better built than most community accommodation in Nepal, because they were purpose-built with development funding. On our trek your rooms and meals are included.
Is it hard?
Moderate. Five days of steady climbing, with no altitude problems at 3,300 m and no technical ground. If you can walk five hours a day, you'll be fine.
Best season?
October to December for the clearest views, and March to April for the rhododendron, which is exceptional on this trail. Winter is cold but walkable.
Still deciding?
Tell us your dates and how much walking you've done, and we'll tell you whether Khopra Ridge Community Trek 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