The Deepest Lake in Nepal: Phoksundo, Rara and How to Visit

Ask which lake is the deepest in Nepal and most guides will say Phoksundo, the turquoise lake below Ringmo in Dolpo. The survey figures I could find say it is Rara, in the far west. This page gives the numbers side by side, shows where the sources disagree, and then covers the practical part: how to visit each lake, what the trek costs, which permits apply and when to go.

Which lake is the deepest in Nepal?

Rara Lake, at 167 metres, according to the 2004 survey by Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. A nepalnews.com report from 4 July 2004 says the survey used echo-sounding, found Rara in Mugu District to be the deepest lake in Nepal, and measured Shey Phoksundo at 145 metres, not the 650 metres earlier claims had suggested. The same report confirms Rara's depth as 167 metres.

Phoksundo is still the lake most people travel for, and it is deep and extraordinary. It is just not the deepest on the figures I can cite. Some older guides, including some older pages on this site, still call Phoksundo the deepest, and I am correcting those pages so that they agree with the survey.

How do Phoksundo and Rara compare on the numbers?

	Phoksundo	Rara
District and park	Dolpa, Shey Phoksundo National Park	Mugu (Wikipedia also lists Jumla), Rara National Park
Maximum depth	145 m (2004 survey); 136.2 m (2019 survey, as reported by Wikipedia)	167 m (2004 survey)
Altitude	about 3,612 m	2,990 m (one source lists 2,975 m)
Surface area	494 ha (about 4.9 sq km)	1,061 ha (10.6 sq km); 10.8 sq km in other sources
Length	about 5.15 km, about 800 m wide	5.1 km, 2.7 km wide
Park size	3,555 sq km, set up in 1984	106 sq km, set up in 1976

The area, length and width figures come from the Nepal Biodiversity Resource Book (ICIMOD, 2007) and Wikipedia's pages on the two lakes and their parks. The depth figures come from the 2004 survey as reported by nepalnews.com, and the 2019 figure from Wikipedia's Phoksundo page, which cites a Department of Hydrology and Meteorology bathymetric report. I could not open that report itself, so treat 136.2 metres as reported and not as checked by me. Wikipedia lists Phoksundo's altitude as 3,611.5 metres in one place and 3,589 metres for the surface elevation in another, and our own itinerary uses 3,612 metres.

By area Rara is more than twice the size of Phoksundo, which fits the ICIMOD book calling it the largest fresh water lake in Nepal.

Why do the sources disagree?

There are three separate reasons, and none of them is mysterious.

First, the old figure was an estimate. The 2004 report says the 650 metre claim for Phoksundo came from earlier surveys, and echo-sounding replaced it with 145 metres. Second, a later survey measured again. Wikipedia says the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology repeated the work in 2019 and recorded 136.2 metres for Phoksundo. Two measurements 15 years apart will not agree to the metre, and I do not know which one is closer to the truth. What matters here is that both are below Rara's 167 metres. I did not find a later survey for Rara.

Third, guidebooks copy each other. The ICIMOD book gives Rara's depth as 167 metres in its wetlands section, yet its Shey Phoksundo National Park page, in the same book, describes Phoksundo as Nepal's deepest and second largest lake. Its own numbers contradict that line. When two statements in one source disagree, I go with the one backed by a measurement, and I tell you about the other.

What about Tilicho and Gosaikunda?

Neither competes on depth, but both turn up in lake searches. Wikipedia gives Tilicho Lake in Manang an elevation of 4,919 metres (another source it cites says 4,949 metres), a surface area of 4.8 sq km and an average depth of 85 metres. The 2004 survey also measured Tilicho, Mai Pokhari and Ghodaghodi, but I could not find those figures, so I do not quote them. If Tilicho is the lake you want, see our Tilicho Lake guide.

Gosaikunda is a sacred lake system in Langtang. The ICIMOD book gives its wetland area as 13.8 hectares, so it is small, and our own guide puts the main lake at 4,380 metres: Gosaikunda lakes guide.

What is Phoksundo like and how do you get there?

Phoksundo sits below the village of Ringmo, inside Shey Phoksundo National Park, the largest national park in Nepal. For a full description of the lake, the colour and the Bon monastery above Ringmo, read our Phoksundo Lake guide and the park guide. This page is about getting there.

We reach it on our 15-day Lower Dolpo Circuit Trek, which our package grades Very Strenuous. The lake comes late, on day 11, after the high passes, and the route is:

Day	Route	Night at
1	Kathmandu to Nepalgunj	Nepalgunj, 150 m
2	Fly to Juphal, walk to Dunai	Dunai, 2,850 m
3	Dunai to Tarakot	Tarakot, 2,543 m
4	Tarakot to Laini	Laini, 3,160 m
5	Laini to Nawar Pani	Nawar Pani, 3,545 m
6	Nawar Pani to Dho Tarap (7 to 8 hours)	Dho Tarap, 4,090 m
7	Rest day in Dho Tarap	Dho Tarap, 4,090 m
8	Dho Tarap to Numa La Base Camp	Base Camp, 4,440 m
9	Over Numa La (5,190 m) to Pelung Tang	Pelung Tang, 4,465 m
10	Over Baga La (5,070 m) to Dajok Tang	Dajok Tang, 4,080 m
11	Dajok Tang to Ringmo beside Phoksundo Lake	Ringmo, 3,600 m
12	Full day at Phoksundo Lake	Ringmo, 3,600 m
13	Phoksundo to Shyanta	Shyanta, 2,520 m
14	Shyanta to Juphal	Juphal, 2,320 m
15	Fly back to Nepalgunj and Kathmandu

Luxury flies Kathmandu to Nepalgunj to Juphal and back. Our Budget and Standard inclusion lists describe the road route to Dunai instead, about two days each way, which adds two to three days. Please ask us which routing applies to your dates when you request a quote. For the village on the rest day, see our Dho Tarap guide, and for how this trek differs from Upper Dolpo, Upper Dolpo versus Lower Dolpo. If you only want Phoksundo and not the passes, tell us and we will price a shorter route; it is a different trip from the circuit.

The trek is long, remote and high. It crosses two passes above 5,000 metres, camps in places, and mobile coverage is limited. Our package says travel insurance is mandatory and must cover emergency helicopter rescue up to 6,000 metres. Buy it before you leave home. Read our altitude sickness guide before you go.

What is Rara like and how do you get there?

Rara is the easier trek. Our 9-day Rara Lake Trek is graded Moderate, and its highest point is the Jaljala pass at 3,585 metres, far below the Dolpo passes. The lake itself is at 2,990 metres. For what the lake and its forest are like, read our Rara Lake guide.

Day	Route	Altitude
1	Kathmandu, then fly to Nepalgunj	150 m
2	Fly to Jumla, walk to Chauriya Chaur (4 hours)	Jumla 2,540 m, Chauriya Chaur 3,055 m
3	Over the Jaljala pass towards Bota (6 hours)	Pass 3,585 m
4	Through the Sinja valley to Bota (6 hours)	Sinja Khola 2,440 m, Bota 2,680 m
5	Bota to Ghorasinga (6 hours)	3,050 m
6	Ghorasinga to Rara Lake (6 hours)	2,990 m
7	Rest day at the lake	2,990 m
8	Walk to Talcha (5 hours)	2,260 m
9	Fly to Kathmandu via Nepalgunj

Standard and Luxury list the Kathmandu, Nepalgunj and Jumla flights in the price. The Budget inclusion says local transport for that leg, so please ask what that means for your dates. Our package says insurance must cover emergency helicopter rescue up to 4,500 metres.

Our Dolpo notes warn that weather can cancel flights to the trailhead, especially in the monsoon, and the same applies to Jumla, so build a spare day into your plans. Our domestic flights guide explains how the flights work.

Which lake trek should you choose?

	Lower Dolpo Circuit (Phoksundo)	Rara Lake Trek
Length	15 days	9 days
Grade (our package)	Very Strenuous	Moderate
Highest point	Numa La, 5,190 m	Jaljala pass, 3,585 m
Lake reached on	Day 11	Day 6
Restricted-area permit	Yes, Lower Dolpo	None listed on our package
Price per person (Budget / Standard / Luxury)	USD 1,199 / 2,499 / 3,599	USD 699 / 1,699 / 2,499

Choose Rara if you want a shorter, lower trek and the deepest lake on the record. Choose Lower Dolpo if you want the high passes, Dho Tarap and Phoksundo's setting, and you are ready for a long remote trip.

What permits do you need for Phoksundo and Rara?

These figures come from the official fee tables I check before writing any permit figure.

For Phoksundo and Lower Dolpo: the Lower Dolpo restricted-area permit is USD 20 per person for the first week and USD 5 per day after that. Shey Phoksundo National Park entry is NPR 3,000 per person, and the TIMS card is NPR 2,000. Our package lists the Lower Dolpo permit and TIMS as included. It marks the park permit as not required for Lower Dolpo, yet the route ends at Ringmo on the lake inside the park. I am checking that line, and I will confirm in writing what is included before you pay a deposit.

For Rara: Rara National Park entry is NPR 3,000 per person, plus TIMS at NPR 2,000. Our package lists both as included. Rara itself is in Mugu District. The permit list I use has a separate Mugu restricted-area entry (USD 100 per week, then USD 15 per day) for a different trail in the north of that district, not the Jumla to Rara route. Our package lists no Mugu permit, but I have not seen that confirmed against our exact route, so I will tell you before deposit if that changes.

A licensed guide and agency-issued TIMS card are required on most trekking routes under the Nepal Tourism Board rule from 31 March 2023; the Everest (Khumbu) region does not enforce it locally, but we always trek with a licensed guide. Restricted-area permits need at least 48 hours to process, counted in government working days, so do not leave them to the last week. Our restricted-area permits guide explains how they work.

When is the best time to visit Phoksundo and Rara?

These are our own seasonal notes from the package pages, not measured records. For both treks, spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are best.

On Lower Dolpo, our notes give daytime temperatures of 10 to 20 degrees in the valleys in spring and 5 to 15 degrees at higher camps in autumn, with nights getting colder, especially in November. Winter is harsh, with heavy snow often blocking the routes, and the monsoon brings rain, muddy trails and a high chance of flight cancellations. On Rara, our notes give 18 to 24 degrees by day in spring with nights down to -4, and 15 to 25 degrees in autumn with lows around -6. Snow makes the higher trails difficult from December.

How much does each trek cost?

These are our current website prices per person for one trekker. Larger groups pay less per person, shown on each package page. Kathmandu hotels are not included on either trek.

• Lower Dolpo Circuit (15 days): USD 1,199 Budget, USD 2,499 Standard, USD 3,599 Luxury.
• Rara Lake Trek (9 days): USD 699 Budget, USD 1,699 Standard, USD 2,499 Luxury.

Budget has a guide but no porter and no meals. Standard includes all meals, one porter for every two trekkers, and a guide who carries up to 10 kg for a solo trekker. Luxury adds a dedicated porter for each trekker and extra food. The Lower Dolpo tent, camp cook and equipment are included on every tier. Extra costs are visas, insurance, tips, Kathmandu hotels and personal spending; our package notes suggest budgeting around USD 20 a day on Lower Dolpo and USD 30 a day on Rara.

We take a 10% deposit to confirm and you pay the balance in Kathmandu. Paying the balance by card adds 3.5%; cash in Kathmandu does not. Extra porters, where you want one, are USD 25 per day plus VAT and bank charges on top.

The short version

Rara Lake is Nepal's deepest lake on the survey figures I can cite: 167 metres in the 2004 Department of Hydrology and Meteorology survey, against 145 metres for Phoksundo in 2004 and 136.2 metres in 2019. Phoksundo is higher and sits inside Nepal's largest national park, and our 15-day Lower Dolpo Circuit reaches it on day 11 after two passes above 5,000 metres. Rara is the shorter, easier 9-day trek, graded Moderate. If you want help choosing between them for your dates and fitness, message me on WhatsApp on +977 9810351300.

Written by Shreejan Simkhada, CEO of The Everest Holiday, from a family of three generations of family guides. TAAN Member #1586.