Hiking 100 miles on the Manaslu Circuit Trek in Nepal
Kraig AdamsNov 2022 · Group trip
- Days
- 10 days on foot
- Cost
- Not given
- Lodging
- Teahouses
Asia · Nepal
Manaslu Circuit
Himalaya, Nepal
- Distance
- 93.4 mi150.3 km
- Days
- 10 days10 days on foot
- Elevation gain
- 31,010 ft9,452 m
- High point
- 16,752 ft5,106 m
- Season
- March to May or September to November
- Lodging
- Teahouses
Hikes / Asia / Manaslu Circuit
In early November 2022 I hiked the Manaslu Circuit in Nepal: about 100 miles in ten days around the eighth highest mountain in the world, up the Budhi Gandaki valley, over Larkya La and down to Dharapani. It was my third trip to Nepal in three years, after Mardi Himal and Everest Base Camp, and a different area above Kathmandu each time. I love Nepal, and I'll definitely go again.
Kraig Adams
Effort at this pace: Very hard · about 9 mi (15 km) and 3,101 ft (945 m) of climbing a day over 10 days, up to 16,752 ft (5,106 m). Our grade for the days given, worked out from distance, climbing and altitude a day; it isn't the trail's usual difficulty rating (under Basics) and doesn't rate exposure, terrain or weather.
Where these numbers come from
From Kraig Adams's GPS recording and guide.
From Kraig Adams's GPS
The route, day by day
Elevation2,641–16,900 ft93.4 mi
From Kraig Adams's GPS. Terrain: Mapzen Terrain Tiles (SRTM, GMTED) on AWS · Glaciers, rivers & lakes © OpenStreetMap contributors
Tap a day for his map of it
Download GPX2.6 MB · free
Each day and variant (10 files)
- Day 1: Machha Khola to Jagat (11.4 mi / 18.4 km) 320 KB
- Day 2: Jagat to Deng (13.0 mi / 20.9 km) 366 KB
- Day 3: Deng to Ghap (7.1 mi / 11.4 km) 201 KB
- Day 4: Ghap to Lho (10.9 mi / 17.5 km) 314 KB
- Day 5: Lho to Samagaon (5.6 mi / 9.1 km) 155 KB
- Day 6: Samagaon to Manaslu Base Camp and back (8.8 mi / 14.2 km) 251 KB
- Day 7: Samagaon to Samdo (4.9 mi / 7.9 km) 137 KB
- Day 8: Samdo to Dharamsala (Larkya Phedi) (4.5 mi / 7.3 km) 134 KB
- Day 9: Dharamsala over Larkya La to Bimthang (11.2 mi / 18.0 km) 300 KB
- Day 10: Bimthang to Dharapani (15.9 mi / 25.7 km, four segments) 424 KB
The film
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Hiking 100 miles on the Manaslu Circuit Trek in Nepal
Before you go
The basics
- Start
- Machha Khola, a 9-hour drive from Kathmandu
- Finish
- Dharapani, a 5-hour drive from Besisahar and the roads to Kathmandu and Pokhara
- Usual difficulty
- Not technical, but long and high, with one big pass day
- Best time
- March to May or September to November. I walked in early November
- Permits
- Manaslu restricted area permit (US$100 a week in autumn), Manaslu and Annapurna conservation areas (NPR 3,000 each)
- Getting there
- The group. This was a group trip I hosted: Vagabond Trails (vagabond-trails.com) organized the whole thing, and I invited my subscribers to come along. My brother and a friend came too, and I met the rest of the group for the first time in Kathmandu. We had a guide I'd hiked with before on the Tour du Mont Blanc, a Sherpa mountain leader, and porters to help carry the duffels. Everything was taken care of on this trek, and I just had to go and enjoy myself.
- Lodging
- Teahouses
From Kraig Adams's guide
Costs and gear
What Kraig carried
a day pack · a duffel · The North Face Summit Series Breithorn Hoodie · The North Face ThermoBall Traction Booties · a super lightweight shell · Waterdrop Microlyte cubes · wet wipes and a roll of toilet paper · a mini magnetic chess board and 20 more.
From Kraig Adams's guide
Safety
Rescue numbers
- Emergency numbers in Nepal (checked September 2026): 100 police, 1144 tourist police (toll free). There's a tourist police post in Dharapani. On the Manaslu side, Gorkha's emergency operations center is 1234 (Nepal Tourism Board, 2026).
Phone signal
- Wi-Fi was available the whole trek at every stop except for a day or two either side of the pass, and I could charge at every place except, again, a day or two either side of the pass.
Insurance
- Help above Samagaon means going down or a helicopter, so your guide, your insurance and turning back early matter more here than on the busier treks.
- Have insurance that covers helicopter evacuation at this height, and carry the policy details.
Bail-out points
- Day 1, Machha Khola to Jagat. Walk back down the valley to Machha Khola and the road.
- Day 2, Jagat to Deng. Back down to Philim and Jagat, then Machha Khola.
- Day 3, Deng to Ghap. Back down to Deng, Philim and Jagat.
- Day 4, Ghap to Lho. Down to Namrung, Ghap and the lower valley.
- Day 5, Lho to Samagaon. Back down to Lho and Namrung.
- Day 6, Samagaon to Manaslu Base Camp. Turn around: you sleep in Samagaon either way.
- Day 7, Samagaon to Samdo. Back to Samagaon, an easy two hours down.
- Day 8, Samdo to Dharamsala. Back down to Samdo and Samagaon. Don't go over the pass if you have symptoms of altitude sickness here.
- Day 9, Dharamsala over Larkya La to Bimthang. Before the top, go back down to Dharamsala and Samdo. Past the top, keep going down to Bimthang: it's the nearest shelter.
- Day 10, Bimthang to Dharapani. Keep going down: Tilije and Dharapani are on the road.
From Kraig Adams's guide. For planning, not navigation: check before you go.
Their films and versions
Creators who've done it
1 creator so far: Kraig, 10 days, teahouses.
Hiking 100 miles on the Manaslu Circuit Trek in Nepal
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Typical: 10 days on foot (the hike's facts).
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Planning questions about Manaslu Circuit, answered only from this page's facts, the creators' versions and hikers' public tracks, with where each answer comes from. When the data doesn't say, the answer says "not given".
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Answered from the data
Questions people ask
How many days do you need for Manaslu Circuit?
I walked ten days from Machha Khola to Dharapani, one of them a round trip from Samagaon to Manaslu Base Camp to help with the altitude. Add a day in Kathmandu and a long drive each way, and plan on about two weeks in Nepal.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
When is the best time to hike Manaslu Circuit?
March to May or September to November. June to September is the monsoon, and in winter snow can make Larkya La hard or impossible to cross. I walked November 4 to 13, 2022, and it was pretty dry, with blue skies most days.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
Do you need a permit for Manaslu Circuit?
The Manaslu restricted area permit, US$100 a person for the first week and US$15 a day after that from September to November in 2026, plus the Manaslu and Annapurna conservation area permits, NPR 3,000 each. Your agency gets the restricted area permit for you.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
Do you need a guide for the Manaslu Circuit?
Yes. It's a restricted area, and the permit is issued only through a registered trekking agency, with a licensed guide going with you. Since March 2026 a single trekker can get the permit, but still only through an agency and with a guide.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
How do you get to the start of the Manaslu Circuit?
We drove about nine hours from Kathmandu to Machha Khola, where the trek starts. At the end we drove about five hours from Dharapani to Besisahar and then back to Kathmandu. Ask your agency where the road ends on your dates.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.