Kalam to Kumrat via Badgoi Pass by Jeep: Route and Season

Kalam to Kumrat via the Badgoi Pass is a summer-only jeep crossing of about 60 km: 16 km from Kalam to Utror, a long unpaved climb to the pass at about 3,500 metres, and a descent through Lamoti to Thal in Upper Dir. It takes three to four hours of driving, most of a day with stops, and needs a high-clearance 4x4. The pass is usually open from around late June or July to October, when the snow has cleared.

It is the shortest link between upper Swat and Kumrat. The alternative, back down the Swat valley to Chakdara and up through Dir, takes most of a day on the road. This guide covers the route, the season, what the crossing costs, and how to handle your own car.

The route stage by stage

1. Kalam to Utror, 16 km. Leave Kalam on the road up the Utror valley. Utror, at about 2,300 metres, is a Gawri-speaking village and the place to ask whether the pass is through.
2. Utror to the top. Beyond Utror an unpaved track climbs steeply out of the valley in hairpins. This is the shorter, steeper side of the pass, low gear most of the way.
3. Badgoi Pass, about 3,500 metres. The top, on the border between Swat and Upper Dir, looks back over Swat Kohistan and ahead into Dir Kohistan. In season there are seasonal huts and tea stalls. Allow half an hour here, and put on a warm layer.
4. Dasht-e-Laila, a short detour. Just below the top on the Dir side, a side track leads in about 25 to 30 minutes to Dasht-e-Laila, a wide flowering meadow. It is worth the detour if the weather is clear.
5. The descent to Lamoti and Thal. The Dir side is longer and less steep. The track drops through high pastures to Lamoti, then to Thal, the last village of the Kumrat valley, roughly 26 km from the pass.

In Thal you join the main Kumrat road. The forest, Kumrat waterfall and Kala Chashma lie further up the valley by jeep, and our guide to where to stay in Kumrat covers the choice between Thal and the forest camps.

When is the Badgoi Pass open?

Snow closes the pass for five to six months of the year, roughly from November. It usually reopens in late June or July, once the snow has been cleared from the top. Some years it opens earlier: in 2021 it reopened in late May, and in 2024 the Upper Dir administration cleared it by mid-June so that tourists could use it over the school holidays and Eid.

In practice, plan on July to September for a reliable crossing, and treat late June and October as possible but uncertain. Even in season, heavy rain can make the track slippery and close it for a day. Before you set off, ask in Kalam or Thal whether jeeps crossed the day before; drivers on both sides will know.

What vehicle do you need, and what does it cost?

The track is unpaved from Utror to Thal, rocky over the top, and steep, with sharp hairpins and exposed edges. You need a high-clearance 4x4 and a driver with mountain experience. Sedans, crossovers and ordinary SUVs should not attempt it.

Most people hire a jeep with a local driver. What it costs depends on the vehicle and the arrangement, and prices are asked rather than fixed. As a guide, one Kalam operator's 2026 list asked:

• About PKR 29,000 for a day return from Kalam to Kumrat in a Prado.
• About PKR 39,000 for the same with a night in Kumrat.
• About PKR 14,500 for a day return from Kalam to the top of the Badgoi Pass only.

These are for the whole vehicle, shared by everyone in it, and include fuel. Agree whether the price is one way or return, where exactly you will be dropped, and whether the driver waits. For the jeeps inside the Kumrat valley itself, see our guide to the Kumrat jeep fare.

What the drive is like

The crossing is slow rather than frightening for most passengers, but it is a proper mountain track. Expect:

• Long climbs in low gear, with very steep sections and tight hairpins on the approach to the top.
• Loose rock and dust in dry weather, slippery mud after rain, and drops beside the track on the upper switchbacks.
• Cold at the top. The pass is well over 1,000 metres higher than Kalam, and the wind makes it feel colder still, even in July.
• Little or no signal between Utror and the Dir side.

Anyone prone to car sickness will find the descent hard, so sit in front, take breaks at the top and at Dasht-e-Laila, and don't cross on an empty or a very full stomach.

Which direction, and what to do with your car

The pass works in either direction, but the real question is what happens to your car.

If you drove to Kalam in an ordinary car, it cannot come over the pass. You have three options:

1. Day trip to the top. Hire a jeep in Kalam for a return trip to the Badgoi Pass and Dasht-e-Laila, and keep Kumrat for another trip.
2. Split up. The group crosses by jeep while a driver takes your car round the long way, down the Swat valley to Chakdara and up through Dir to Thal. That is a full day of driving on the Swat road, which is still badly damaged above Bahrain after the 2022 floods.
3. Go round yourselves. Skip the pass and drive the paved route, which adds most of a day.

If you have a capable 4x4 and an experienced driver, you can make a loop: Islamabad to Kalam through Swat, over Badgoi to Kumrat, and home through Dir and Chakdara. It saves driving back down Swat and up the Panjkora, and the pass itself becomes one of the best days of the trip.

From Kumrat to Kalam the logic is the same in reverse. Our Kumrat vs Kalam comparison weighs the two valleys if you are choosing between them, and our guide to places to visit in Kalam covers the Swat side.

Is the Badgoi Pass crossing safe?

As a road, it is safe in dry summer weather with a good vehicle and a local driver. It is an old route, used by people on both sides for centuries, and when floods cut the Dir road in August 2024, local traders brought supplies over Badgoi instead. Don't cross in heavy rain or late in the day, and don't let a driver push on through a stream running high and brown.

Security is the bigger question. Both ends of this crossing are in districts with recent militant violence. On 2 August 2026 a suicide bomber attacked the Kabal police station in Swat during a peace rally, killing 17 people. In Upper Dir, police fought militants for more than a day near Wari and the Usheri valley in mid-August 2026, and militants attacked the deputy commissioner's residence and a PTDC facility at Panakot near Dir town on the night of 15 August. Pakistani tourists still travel to Kalam and Kumrat, but check local news and current police advice before you set off, and travel only in daylight.

Overseas visitors should know that the UK government advises against all travel to both Swat and Upper Dir, that their own government's advice may say the same, and that this can void travel insurance.

Is it worth it?

In high summer, with a jeep and a driver who knows the route, yes. It turns two separate trips into one loop, and the pass, with its meadows and views into both valleys, is a highlight rather than just a link. For groups of friends heading to Kumrat from Kalam, it is the natural way to go.

It is not worth forcing outside July to September, with an ordinary car, or with young children who struggle on rough roads. If you would like the crossing built into a Swat and Kumrat route, with the jeep and the nights arranged, send us your dates, and see our Swat Valley page for the Kalam end.

Frequently asked questions