Hingol National Park Permission and Entry Rules

Pakistani citizens do not need a special permit to enter Hingol National Park. You drive in on the Makran Coastal Highway, show your CNIC at the security checkposts along the way, and pay a small park fee if one is being collected at the time. Foreign nationals face a different and less settled picture, and anyone planning to camp away from Kund Malir or fly a drone needs to ask before travelling, because those rules sit with more than one authority and change without much notice.

This guide sets out what to expect at the checkposts, what is known about the entry fee, camping permission, drone and filming rules, and exactly who to contact if you need a current answer rather than what a blog post said last year.

Do you need a permit to enter Hingol National Park?

There is no single gate or ticket office for Hingol. The Makran Coastal Highway runs through the southern part of the park for a long stretch, and Pakistani visitors enter simply by driving that road. What you will meet instead of a permit system is a series of security checkposts on N-25 and the coastal highway, where every adult in the car should be ready to show an original CNIC.

That is the extent of what most Pakistani travellers need to arrange in advance: identity documents, not paperwork. Our guide to Hingol National Park covers where the road actually enters the park and what you pass along the way.

What does the entry fee actually cost?

Be sceptical of any specific figure you read online for Hingol's entry fee, including anywhere on this site. It is not consistently published, and visitor reports vary on whether a fee is collected at all, at which point on the route, and how much it is.

What we can say with confidence:

• If a fee is collected, it should be at an official post, against a receipt. Don't pay anyone who cannot show you that.
• Carry more cash than you expect to need, in small notes, because you may be asked for a fee you did not plan for.
• Don't rely on card payment anywhere in or near the park. There is nowhere reliable to use one.

If getting a firm answer matters to you, ask the Balochistan Forest & Wildlife Department directly before you travel, using the contact details later in this guide.

What happens at the checkposts?

You will pass several security checkposts on the drive out from Karachi, on both N-25 and the Makran Coastal Highway. They are a normal part of travelling this road, not a barrier specific to the park.

• Have every adult's original CNIC ready before you reach the barrier.
• Carry the car's registration papers, and a letter of permission from the owner if the vehicle is not registered to anyone in the car.
• Answer plainly: where you are going, where you started from, when you expect to return.
• Follow instructions about where to stop and whether to switch off the engine or lights.
• Don't photograph the checkposts or the staff.

A polite, straightforward answer gets you through quickly. For the full route and timings, see our guide to driving from Karachi to Kund Malir.

Rules for foreign nationals

This is the part of Hingol's entry rules that is genuinely unsettled, and we would rather say so plainly than guess. Balochistan has historically required foreign visitors to obtain a No Objection Certificate, sometimes with a security escort, and some sources still describe that requirement. Other, more recent accounts from visitors and guides describe foreign travellers reaching Hingol and Kund Malir without being asked for one, particularly when travelling with an established tour operator.

Given that the picture is inconsistent, our advice for anyone travelling with a foreign passport is:

• Don't assume either way. Confirm the current requirement with the Balochistan Home Department or a tour operator experienced in the province before you plan the trip around a date.
• Check your own government's travel advice. Several governments, including the UK's, advise against all travel to Balochistan, which can affect travel insurance even where Pakistani authorities allow the visit.
• Build in time. An NOC, where one is required, is not issued instantly, so this is not something to sort out the day before.

Camping permission

Camping on the beach at Kund Malir itself is routine and widely done, by families in their own tents and through operators who set up camps for groups. It does not, in practice, require a separate permit beyond the general expectation that you register with the CNIC checks along the way.

Camping elsewhere in the park, away from Kund Malir, is a different matter. The interior is remote, has no services and is not somewhere to go without local knowledge. Rules on where you can pitch a tent away from the beach, and on going deep into the park's interior generally, are set by the Balochistan Forest & Wildlife Department, so check with them directly rather than relying on what a previous visitor posted online. Our Kund Malir camping guide covers the practical side of camping on the beach itself.

Drone and photography rules

Treat drones as something you clear before you pack them, not something you sort out on arrival. Nationwide, every drone must be registered with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority regardless of size, and flying one without the right clearance risks confiscation and a fine. Balochistan adds a further layer of caution: it is a province with an active security situation, and unmanned aircraft near checkposts, infrastructure or the coastline are more likely to draw attention here than in most of the country.

• Register the drone and get PCAA clearance before you travel, not at the park.
• Don't fly near checkposts, bridges, communication towers or the port areas further down the coast.
• Expect to be asked to stop, or to explain yourself, if you fly without having sorted this out in advance.
• Ordinary handheld photography of the landscape, the mud volcanoes and the rock formations is normal and unrestricted. It is the checkposts, security personnel and infrastructure you should avoid photographing.

Rules in this area continue to develop, so if a drone matters to your trip, confirm the current position with the Civil Aviation Authority well before you leave.

Who to contact for current rules

Because fees, camping rules and foreign-visitor requirements all sit with the same body, one call or message can often answer several questions at once.

• Balochistan Forest & Wildlife Department, which manages Hingol National Park and sets rules on entry, camping away from Kund Malir and access to the interior. Their site is forest.balochistan.gov.pk.
• A tour operator with recent experience of the route, who will know what visitors have actually been asked for in the last few weeks, which is often more current than any official page.
• The Balochistan Home Department, for questions specific to NOCs for foreign nationals.

Ask your question a few weeks before you travel, and again the week before if the answer matters to your plans.

Planning around the uncertainty

The honest summary is that Hingol is easy for Pakistani citizens travelling by road with their CNIC, and asks nothing more formal than that at the checkposts. It is less predictable for anyone who is not a Pakistani citizen, or who wants to camp deep in the park or fly a drone. None of that should put off a straightforward day trip or overnight at Kund Malir; it just means building in a phone call rather than assuming the rules you read here, or anywhere, will hold exactly as written. Our trip planning page can help if you would like a hand working through the details for your dates.

Frequently asked questions