Mardi Himal or Poon Hill? We compare the two best short treks from Pokhara on days, altitude, difficulty, views, crowds, teahouses, seasons and family suitability, with a side-by-side table, and suggest quieter alternatives.
12 min read
Mardi Himal vs Poon Hill comes down to height and effort. Poon Hill is the easier, lower and more comfortable trek: four days from Pokhara, a highest night of 2,874 m and a sunrise panorama from Dhaulagiri to Machhapuchhre. Mardi Himal is harder and higher: five days on a ridge to about 4,200 m, with Machhapuchhre so close it fills the sky, and fewer people.
Choose Poon Hill for a first trek, a family trip or a short visit. Choose Mardi Himal if you are fit, have trekked or hiked before and want a wilder ridge walk. Both start and finish in Pokhara and both are at their best in October, November, March and April.
Poon Hill is four easy days below 3,000 m at night; Mardi Himal is five moderate days with three nights from 2,550 m to 3,580 m and a dawn climb to about 4,200 m. Both are fully guided from Pokhara and need only the ACAP permit. The table compares our two itineraries.
Ghorepani Poon Hill | Mardi Himal | |
|---|---|---|
Days (Pokhara to Pokhara) | 4 | 5 |
Grade | Easy | Moderate |
Highest point | Poon Hill, 3,210 m | Upper View Point, about 4,200 m |
Highest night | Ghorepani, 2,874 m | High Camp, 3,580 m |
Neither is better for everyone. Poon Hill is better for beginners, families and anyone short of time; Mardi Himal is better for fit walkers who want height, close-up mountain views and quieter trails. If you have five days and walk regularly at home, most people find Mardi Himal the more memorable trek.
What tips the balance:
Your fitness. Poon Hill needs reasonable fitness. Mardi Himal needs good fitness and strong knees for the descents.
Altitude. Poon Hill keeps you below 3,000 m at night. Mardi Himal sleeps two nights at 3,580 m.
What you want to see. Poon Hill gives a wide panorama of two 8,000 m peaks, Dhaulagiri and Annapurna I, and the Kali Gandaki gorge between them; Mardi Himal puts you directly beneath Machhapuchhre.
Comfort. Poon Hill's villages have better lodges and more choice.
Choose Poon Hill if
Choose Mardi Himal if
Mardi Himal is clearly harder. It goes about 1,000 m higher, climbs faster, sleeps two nights at 3,580 m and has a steep dawn ascent of about 600 m to the Upper View Point, followed the next day by a descent of around 1,800 m to Siding. Poon Hill's hardest part is the staircase to Ulleri.
Poon Hill is graded easy, but it is not a stroll. Day one climbs from Tikhedhunga to Ulleri on thousands of stone steps, gaining over 500 m in a couple of hours, and the first three days each have five to six hours of walking. With some hill walking beforehand, most people with average fitness enjoy it.
Mardi Himal is graded moderate. Day one is six to seven hours through forest from Kande to Forest Camp. The ridge above High Camp is narrow in places and exposed to wind and cold, though there is no scrambling on the standard route. The last day is the one people feel most, a long descent that is hard on the knees.
Poon Hill tops out at 3,210 m and you sleep no higher than 2,874 m at Ghorepani. Mardi Himal reaches about 4,200 m at the Upper View Point, with the highest night at High Camp, 3,580 m. Mardi Himal Base Camp, at about 4,500 m, is an optional extension in good conditions.
Day | Poon Hill: overnight (highest point) | Mardi Himal: overnight (highest point) |
|---|---|---|
1 | Ulleri, 2,070 m | Forest Camp, 2,550 m |
2 | Ghorepani, 2,874 m | Low Camp, 2,970 m |
3 | Tadapani, 2,630 m (Poon Hill, 3,210 m) | High Camp, 3,580 m |
4 | Pokhara (Tadapani, 2,630 m) | High Camp, 3,580 m (Upper View Point, about 4,200 m) |
Some maps give High Camp as 3,550 m and Ghorepani as 2,860 m; the differences are small.
The standard turnaround is the Upper View Point at about 4,200 m. If everyone is going well and the weather is settled, your guide can continue along the ridge to Mardi Himal Base Camp, about 4,500 m, adding around two hours to the day. A five-day trek has no spare day, so it depends on conditions that morning. Mardi Himal itself, a 5,587 m peak, needs a climbing permit and is not part of the trek.
Altitude sickness is unlikely on Poon Hill, where you sleep below 3,000 m. On Mardi Himal it is possible, because you sleep at 3,580 m and climb to about 4,200 m. The short time spent above 4,000 m helps, but mild headaches at High Camp are common.
On Mardi Himal you go from 2,970 m at Low Camp to 3,580 m at High Camp in one day, a little over 600 m. Your guide checks everyone daily with a pulse oximeter and will not take anyone higher with worsening symptoms. If you want more margin, add a day to split the first climb. Read Altitude sickness in Nepal before you go.
Poon Hill has the wider panorama; Mardi Himal has the closer, more dramatic one. From Poon Hill you see a long line of peaks across the Kali Gandaki gorge. From Mardi Himal's ridge, Machhapuchhre, Annapurna South and Hiunchuli are directly ahead for two days.
From Poon Hill on a clear morning: Dhaulagiri, Tukuche Peak, Dhampus Peak and Nilgiri to the west and north, and Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre to the east, with the deep Kali Gandaki gorge between the Dhaulagiri and Annapurna ranges. You see it at sunrise from a busy summit with a viewing tower, then walk east through rhododendron forest.
From Mardi Himal, the views start on day three as the forest gives way to grass at Badal Danda and High Camp. Machhapuchhre is closer than from any other teahouse trek, and on summit morning you watch sunrise on Machhapuchhre and Mardi Himal from the Upper View Point. The views stay with you, rather than coming at one viewpoint.
Poon Hill is far busier. Ghorepani is a village of lodges that can sleep more than a thousand people on a busy night, and in October and November the summit is crowded at sunrise. Mardi Himal has fewer trekkers, but its lodge camps are small and fill quickly in peak season.
The Mardi Himal route only opened to teahouse trekkers in 2012 and still has small settlements of a few lodges each rather than villages; Forest Camp has fewer than ten teahouses. It has become popular with Nepali trekkers as well as foreigners, and weekends and holidays such as Dashain can be busy. We book rooms ahead in October and November on both treks.
Poon Hill's lodges are more comfortable: hot showers, simple twin rooms and long menus in proper villages. Mardi Himal's are basic: twin or shared rooms, thin walls and shared toilets at the higher camps, with a warm dining room. Nights at High Camp are cold.
On Poon Hill you stay with Magar and Gurung families in Ulleri, Ghorepani and Tadapani, and menus run from dal bhat to pancakes. On Mardi Himal, above the first day there are no villages, only lodge camps. On both treks we lend you a down jacket and sleeping bag, and on Mardi Himal you will use them.
Poon Hill is the better family trek. The low altitude, shorter final day and village lodges make it suitable for active children used to walking several hours a day. Mardi Himal suits fit teenagers with hiking experience rather than younger children, because of the altitude, the exposed ridge and the long descent.
On Poon Hill we can adjust the pace or add a day for younger walkers. Tell us your children's ages and experience when you ask for a quote.
Both are best in October and November for clear views and in March and April for rhododendrons. Poon Hill also works well in December; Mardi Himal is still good in May. In winter, snow can stop groups going above Mardi Himal's High Camp.
Month | Poon Hill | Mardi Himal |
|---|---|---|
March–April | Very good; rhododendrons in flower | Very good |
May | Hot and hazy lower down | Good |
June–September | Monsoon: wet, cloudy, leeches | Monsoon: slippery, exposed ridge |
October–November | Best: clearest views | Best: clearest views |
On Mardi Himal your guide will not take the group above High Camp in cloud, high wind or fresh snow. For more on each month, see Best time to trek in Nepal.
Yes. The simplest way is to walk Poon Hill first, rest a night in Pokhara, then walk Mardi Himal: nine days of trekking that builds from easy to moderate. A linked route through Ghandruk and Landruk is also possible, avoiding the return to Pokhara. Ask us to plan either.
Doing Poon Hill first has a real advantage: your legs get used to Nepal's stone steps and your body to sleeping near 3,000 m before you go to 3,580 m and above. If you want a longer trek that includes Poon Hill and reaches higher, the Annapurna Base Camp trek starts with the Poon Hill loop and continues to 4,130 m.
Mohare Danda (5 days) and Khopra Danda (8 days) are the best quiet alternatives. Both use community-run lodges away from the main trails, both have big views of Dhaulagiri and the Annapurnas, and both finish with sunrise on Poon Hill, so you still get the classic view.
Mohare Danda climbs from Galeshwor through the Magar villages of Banskharka (1,525 m) and Nangi (2,300 m) to a ridge-top lodge at 3,300 m, then follows the forest ridge to Ghorepani. It is a good choice if you like the sound of Poon Hill but want fewer people.
Khopra Danda leaves the main trail at Tadapani, passes the Muldai Viewpoint above Dobato and reaches a ridge at 3,660 m facing Dhaulagiri, with an optional day hike to Khayer Lake at about 4,660 m. It is closer to Mardi Himal in effort and height.
Both treks need the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) permit, and Nepal Tourism Board rules since April 2023 require foreign trekkers to walk with a licensed guide. On Annapurna routes only the ACAP permit is currently checked, not a TIMS card. Our treks include the guide and the ACAP permit.
See Nepal trekking permits and Do you need a guide to trek in Nepal? for details. For prices, ask for a quote through Plan your trip.
It is possible but rushed, with very long days and less time to adjust to altitude. Our five-day itinerary already has no spare day. Many people add a day instead, to split the long first climb or keep a spare morning for the summit in case of bad weather.
A shorter version is possible by driving further up the road towards Ulleri or descending directly from Ghorepani, but you lose the ridge walk to Tadapani and Ghandruk. Our four-day loop has comfortable stages and comes back a different way. Ask us if you are short of time.
The climb from Ghorepani takes about 45 minutes, so you leave in the dark with a headtorch. Your guide times the start to the season so you reach the top before the sun hits Dhaulagiri.
Descending to Siding avoids repeating the forest trail back to Kande and is the quickest way off the ridge to a road. A jeep meets us in the village for the drive back to Pokhara.
In good weather the standard route has no scrambling, but the ridge above High Camp is narrow in places and exposed to wind and cold. Snow, ice or cloud make it more serious, which is why your guide will not go above High Camp in those conditions.
Route guides
The best short treks from Pokhara, from day hikes to Sarangkot and the World Peace Pagoda to two-day Australian Camp, four-day Ghandruk and Poon Hill, and five-day Mardi Himal and Mohare Danda. With a comparison table, sunrise picks, family and winter options, permits and how to reach each trailhead.
Nights above 3,000 m |
None |
Two |
Walking per day | 2–7 hours | 3–8 hours |
Hardest day | Day 3: Poon Hill at dawn, then on to Tadapani (6–7 hours) | Day 4: Upper View Point and back to High Camp (6–8 hours) |
Start / finish | Nayapul / Ghandruk | Kande / Siding |
Overnight stops | Ulleri, Ghorepani, Tadapani | Forest Camp, Low Camp, High Camp (two nights) |
Lodges | Large villages, hot showers, long menus | Small lodge camps, shared rooms and toilets higher up |
Crowds | Busy in peak season | Quieter, but small lodges fill in autumn |
Best months | March, April, October, November, December | March, April, May, October, November |
Permit | ACAP | ACAP |
5 | Pokhara (High Camp, 3,580 m) |
December | Good: cold, clear, quiet | Cold; snow possible above High Camp |
January–February | Possible; snow can reach Ghorepani | Often snow on the ridge |
Not on our itineraries. Poon Hill starts at Nayapul and loops through Ulleri, Ghorepani, Tadapani and Ghandruk. Mardi Himal starts at Kande and passes Australian Camp and Pothana before turning up the ridge east of the Modi Khola.
Lodges on the Poon Hill trek usually have Wi-Fi and charging, often for a small charge. On Mardi Himal, signal and charging are less reliable at Low Camp and High Camp. Bring a power bank.
The same basic kit, with warmer layers for Mardi Himal: a warm hat and gloves, thermal base layers and a windproof jacket for the ridge. Trekking poles help on the long descents of both treks. We lend a down jacket and sleeping bag on both.
From Poon Hill you see the Annapurna range including Annapurna I on clear days, alongside Annapurna South. On Mardi Himal the closest big peaks are Machhapuchhre, Mardi Himal, Annapurna South and Hiunchuli. For Annapurna I's south face up close, go to Annapurna Base Camp.