Can a Car Go to Babusar Top? Vehicle Advice

Yes, an ordinary car can go to Babusar Top in summer. The road from Naran is the N-15 national highway, sealed all the way to the pass at 4,173 metres, and sedans and hatchbacks drive it every season. What decides whether the day goes well is not the type of car but its brakes, its load and how the driver handles the descent.

This guide gives the distances and height gain, what the car needs, how thin air affects a small engine, and when to hire a local vehicle instead.

Can a normal car make it?

Yes, once the pass is open. Babusar Top is the highest point in the Kaghan valley that a car can reach without leaving the tarmac. The side tracks to Saif-ul-Malook lake and Lalazar are a different matter and need a jeep; see our Naran jeep hire guide.

Two things make the Babusar road harder than its surface suggests.

The climb is long. From Naran, at about 2,400 metres, the road rises roughly 1,700 metres in 66 km. Most of that is gentle, along the Kunhar river past Batakundi and Lulusar lake. The last stretch, beyond Gittidas, tightens into steep hairpins.

The far side is far steeper. From the top to Chilas the road loses nearly 3,000 metres in about 49 km. That is an average gradient of around six per cent sustained for more than an hour, and it is where most of the serious accidents happen.

If you are only visiting the top as a day trip from Naran, you go up and down the easier side. If you are crossing to Chilas, Gilgit or Hunza, you take on the long descent.

What thin air does to a small car

At 4,173 metres the air is about two-thirds as dense as at sea level. A petrol engine without a turbocharger loses power roughly in step with that, so expect about a third less pull near the top than you have in Lahore or Karachi.

For a 1,300 or 1,500 cc sedan this means changing down a gear earlier. For a 660 cc car with four adults and luggage it means first and second gear on the hairpins, with the air conditioning off. That is normal, not a fault. What you should not do is slip the clutch to keep moving; if the car will not pull, stop where it is safe, let it cool and reduce the load.

Turbocharged engines and hybrids cope better. Our guide to Gilgit-Baltistan by small car goes into more detail on which models manage the northern roads.

What condition the car needs to be in

Have these checked before you leave home, not in Naran:

• Brakes. Pads and discs with plenty of life left, and brake fluid changed if it is more than two years old. Old fluid absorbs water and boils sooner under heavy braking, which is exactly what a long descent produces.
• Tyres. Good tread on all four and a usable spare, with the jack and wheel brace in the car. Meltwater can run across the road near the top early in the season.
• Cooling. Coolant topped up, radiator fan working, no existing leaks. The climb is slow and the engine works hard with little airflow.
• Clutch. A clutch that already slips in the city will not survive the hairpins fully loaded.
• Fuel. Fill the tank in Naran. Do not count on fuel between Naran and Chilas.

Our car checklist for a Gilgit-Baltistan trip has the full list.

Driving up

1. Keep a steady pace and stay in a gear that lets the engine rev freely. Labouring in a high gear overheats it.
2. Sound the horn before blind bends and keep to your own side. Coasters and trucks need the whole road to turn.
3. Give way to traffic coming uphill on narrow sections. A loaded vehicle that stops on a slope may not get going again.
4. Do not overtake on the hairpins.
5. Watch the temperature gauge. If it climbs, pull over, leave the engine idling for a minute, then switch off. Never open a hot radiator cap.

Coming down: where it goes wrong

Brake failure on the steep sections, usually combined with an inexperienced driver, is the most commonly reported cause of accidents on this road. The reports are consistent year after year: in June 2024 a car crashed into a shop at Thak, on the Chilas side below the top, in what rescue officials called an apparent brake failure, killing one tourist; in July 2023 eight tourists died when their vehicle left the road at Gittidas; in July 2016 a van's brakes failed near the pass, killing four members of one family. When the pass reopened in May 2025, the Diamer administration again urged drivers to follow its safety rules, noting that accidents happen every year between the top and Chilas.

The cause is heat. Brakes held on continuously get hot enough to fade, and then stop working. The cure is to let the engine hold the car back.

• Manual cars: descend in second gear, first on the steepest hairpins. A simple rule is to go down in the gear you would need to climb the same slope.
• Automatics: move the lever to L, 2 or the manual mode and hold a low gear. Do not leave it in D.
• Hybrids: use B mode, and remember that it gives less braking once the battery is full.
• Brake in short, firm presses, then release completely so the discs can cool. Do not rest your foot on the pedal.
• Never coast in neutral and never switch the engine off while moving.
• Stop if you smell burning or the pedal feels soft. Pull over somewhere safe and wait 20 to 30 minutes. Do not pour water on hot discs or drums; it can crack them.
• Leave a long gap to the vehicle in front.

When is the road open?

The pass is normally closed by snow from November until late May or June. In 2025 it reopened on 23 May after seven months, once the National Highway Authority had cut through more than 21 glaciers across the road between Naran and the top. For the first weeks after opening the carriageway runs between snow walls and is often single-lane, which is harder in a low car.

Check the current position in our Babusar Top open or closed guide before you set out. Police have stopped traffic in the evening in recent seasons, so plan to be off the mountain well before dark.

When not to take your own car

Hire a local jeep or driver from Naran if any of these apply:

• the brakes, tyres or clutch are not in good order;
• the car is small and will be carrying four or five adults with luggage;
• the driver has never driven a long mountain descent;
• the pass has only just opened, or rain or snow is forecast;
• you would be coming down after dark.

Going by Babusar roughly halves the journey between Mansehra and Chilas, about seven hours against fourteen by the Karakoram Highway, according to Dawn. That saving is not worth making in a car that is not ready for it. Our Babusar Pass guide covers the route and stops, and Naran to Chilas covers the crossing.

Frequently asked questions