"Dao Khan Leepa: Viewpoint Village Above the Valley"

Dao Khan is a forest hamlet just above Reshian on the road into Azad Kashmir's Leepa Valley, at roughly 2,400 to 2,500 metres and about 72 km by road from Muzaffarabad. It is the last stop before the road climbs over the ridge into Leepa itself, and its two government rest houses make it the usual place to break the journey. There are no shops or restaurants of its own: people come for the pine forest, the cool air and the view.

This guide covers exactly where Dao Khan is, what the road up is like, how to get a room, what the weather does through the year, and the security picture, which needs reading before you go.

Where is Dao Khan?

From Muzaffarabad, follow the Jhelum Valley road east past Garhi Dupatta and Hattian Bala. A few kilometres beyond Hattian Bala, at Naily, about 45 km out, the Leepa road turns off and climbs north in long zigzags for roughly 27 km to Reshian. Dao Khan sits just above Reshian, at the edge of the forest.

Distances here are measured on OpenStreetMap road data; times are our estimates. Wikipedia gives Dao Khan as 71 km from Muzaffarabad and 4 km from Reshian, while the map data place it closer to the village. Either way, the stretch between Reshian and Dao Khan is short, and the time goes on the climb from Naily.

Beyond Dao Khan the road crosses the ridge at Reshian Gali and drops into Leepa Valley, about 25 km to Leepa village. That section is a narrow jeep track. Our Reshian Gali guide covers the pass itself.

What is the road like?

Sources disagree on the final stretch. Wikipedia says Dao Khan is reached from Reshian "by car or jeep"; another travel guide describes the road as unpaved but well maintained and usually driven by jeep. In practice, a careful driver in a car with decent clearance can usually manage it in dry weather, and a jeep is the safer choice after rain or snow.

The climb from Naily to Reshian is steep and has many tight bends, so allow longer than the distance suggests. The jeep track beyond Dao Khan is a different matter: most visitors leave their own car at Reshian or Dao Khan and hire a local jeep for Leepa. Our Leepa road condition guide sets out which stretches need a 4x4.

If you don't have your own transport, a travel guide to Leepa describes public transport from Muzaffarabad's old bus stand to Reshian, taking five to six hours, and from Rawalpindi's Pirwadhai stand, taking seven to nine hours. Departures are few, so ask the day before.

The rest houses

Dao Khan has two government rest houses, one run by the AJK Tourism and Archaeology Department and one by the AJK Forest Department. They are simple: rooms, beds and a caretaker, not a hotel with a restaurant. Book ahead rather than turning up: there are only a handful of rooms, and no other bed at Dao Khan to fall back on.

To ask about a room, contact the Directorate General of Tourism and Archaeology in Muzaffarabad (its website lists +92 5822 921421) and ask which department controls the rest house you want; you may be pointed to the Forest Department for its own rooms. Bring your own food, or arrange meals with the caretaker in advance, and carry snacks: Reshian's two small restaurants are the nearest food. Our Leepa Valley hotels guide covers guesthouses further into the valley if the rest houses are full.

Weather through the year

No public weather station publishes averages for Dao Khan. Open-Meteo's ERA5 reanalysis for 2021 to 2025, a modelled dataset, gives this pattern for the hamlet's height:

Two points matter for planning. Even in midsummer, nights are cool enough for a jacket, a sharp change from the 30°C heat of the Jhelum Valley floor. And July is the wettest month, so if you want the long views over the ridges, May, June and September are better bets. In winter, snow can close the road above Reshian; our Leepa Valley in winter guide covers that season.

What to do at Dao Khan

Very little in an organised sense, which is the point. Walk into the pine forest above the rest houses, sit out with tea as the light goes, and get an early night before the jeep ride into Leepa. If you arrive with daylight to spare, walking up the road towards the ridge opens the view more than staying by the rest houses.

Keep walks short and on obvious paths. This is forest close to a militarised border, and wandering far off the road is neither wise nor welcome.

Stopover or destination?

For most people Dao Khan is a stopover: it breaks a long first day and puts you within an easy morning of Leepa's wooden villages and rice terraces. Our two-day Leepa itinerary uses it as the first night. If the weather has closed in, or the group has had enough of rough roads, it works as a quiet end point in its own right: a night in the forest with no need to go further. What it does not offer is anything to do in bad weather, so don't plan a long stay here alone.

Is Dao Khan safe?

Dao Khan is close to the Line of Control. By our reading of the map, the LoC lies roughly 13 to 14 km away, under 10 miles, so the hamlet falls inside the zone where the UK government, as of September 2026, advises against all travel. It advises against all but essential travel to the rest of Azad Kashmir.

The 2026 Joint Awami Action Committee protests in Azad Kashmir were the deadliest unrest there in years, with at least 24 dead in the first two weeks of June and more than 50 by rights groups' later counts. Internet and phone services were cut for long periods, and the AJK government asked tourists to stay away from 5 to 20 June. Pakistani families still visit Leepa in summer, but check local news and current police advice before going, travel in daylight (the AJK Tourism Department advises 7 am to 5 pm), and follow instructions at checkpoints. If you hold a foreign passport, your government's advice may say not to go, and travelling against it can void your insurance. Our Leepa Valley safety guide has more.

Frequently asked questions