Waterfalls in Gilgit-Baltistan You Can Reach by Road

The two waterfalls in Gilgit-Baltistan that you can reach by road without a trek are both in Kharmang district, east of Skardu up the Indus on the road towards Kargil. Manthokha is a 55-metre (180-foot) fall about two hours from Skardu, reached by a short walk and a small suspension bridge. Khamosh is roughly 50 km further on, close to the same road, about three hours from Skardu. Both run fullest from May to September, and both are usually done as day trips from Skardu.

This guide sets out measured distances, how the two compare, how to plan the day, and when not to bother.

Where are the waterfalls?

Kharmang is the district along the Indus between Skardu and the Line of Control, with about 61,000 people in 2023 according to the Gilgit-Baltistan planning department's figures. The road from Skardu follows the river east through its villages towards Kargil; it no longer crosses to the Indian side, as our guide to the closed Skardu to Kargil road explains.

Both falls are fed by side streams dropping into the Indus valley, so their volume depends on snowmelt on the slopes above. The Gilgit-Baltistan tourism department lists both, as Manthokha Waterfall and Khamush Waterfall.

Manthokha: the easy one

The tourism department puts Manthokha about 80 km from Skardu, about two hours by road, and gives its drop as about 180 feet. OpenStreetMap places the fall at Madhupur, on a side road near Manthokha village. When we measured the route from central Skardu with OSRM it came to about 60 km. The gap probably comes from different starting points and road alignments; plan on two hours each way whichever figure is right.

A Dawn travel piece from August 2023 describes crossing a small suspension bridge to reach the foot of the fall, and calls Manthokha the most crowded place the writer visited in Baltistan. That matches its reputation: it is the waterfall most Skardu visitors see, and on summer weekends the area near the base is busy. The tourism department notes trout farming in the streams nearby, and trout is widely offered to visitors.

Our full Manthokha waterfall guide covers the walk, lunch and the villages on the way, including where to stay if you would rather not drive back the same day.

Khamosh: further and quieter

Khamosh sits much further up the valley. OpenStreetMap marks it beside the Kargil road near Khol and Turkati, about 105 km from central Skardu on our OSRM measurement and about 51 km beyond Manthokha. A PakWheels trip report gives 112 km from Skardu, of which 102 km paved and 10 km unpaved, and about three hours each way. A listing on the travel site Evendo names the nearby village as Shirting.

Khamosh means silent in Urdu. Independent Urdu ran a piece in June 2024 under a headline calling it the "silent" waterfall where there is noise everywhere, which is the point of the name: it is anything but quiet. We could not find a reliable published height, so treat any single figure with caution.

Some descriptions of Khamosh mention a long walk from the end of the road. The mapping and the trip report we found both put it close to the road, so expect a short walk from where you park, and take care on the wet rock near the base. Our Khamosh waterfall guide covers the fall itself.

How do you plan the day?

Distances below are measured on OpenStreetMap routing; times are the tourism department's and the trip report's, which are more realistic than routing software on this road.

If you want both, leave Skardu by 7 am, go straight to Khamosh while you are fresh, and stop at Manthokha on the way back for a late trout lunch, when the morning crowd has thinned. If you only have half a day, do Manthokha alone.

A car with a driver who knows the road is the easiest way to go. Hotels in Skardu and the town's taxi stands can arrange one; agree the price, the stops and the return time before you leave, since we found no fixed fares. For the road itself, see our Skardu to Kharmang guide.

If you are on our Skardu and Deosai tour, ask in advance whether a Manthokha detour can fit a free afternoon. Khamosh needs its own day.

When should you go?

May to September is the window the tourism department recommends for Manthokha, when the weather is pleasant and the road is open. The same applies to Khamosh. Snowmelt usually peaks in June and July, so expect the most water then.

In winter the tourism department warns that the area is quite cold and access may be restricted by snow. Outside the summer months, expect a thin flow, ice near the falls and the chance of rough patches on the road left from winter damage.

What about other waterfalls in Gilgit-Baltistan?

Smaller cascades appear along side streams all over Gilgit-Baltistan during the summer melt, glimpsed from roads across the region. Most are seasonal, unnamed on maps and not set up for visitors. Wikipedia's list of Pakistani waterfalls also shows a Naltar waterfall, but only as a photograph, with no location or access details we could verify. For now, Manthokha and Khamosh are the two with a road, somewhere to stop and a reason to make the trip specifically.

Is the detour worth it?

Manthokha is worth it if your Skardu trip has a spare half-day or a full day without plans. The drive up the Indus is scenic in its own right, the walk is short, and children and older parents can manage it.

Khamosh is worth it only if you have a full day, have already seen Manthokha or want somewhere with fewer people. It is not a quick add-on.

Skip both if your time in Skardu is two or three days. Shangrila, Upper Kachura, Shigar and the Katpana cold desert are all much closer. Our travel guide helps decide what to cut.

Gilgit-Baltistan is not on the UK government's list of areas to avoid, but upper Kharmang runs towards the Line of Control. Foreign passport holders should check their own government's advice for areas near the Line of Control before driving beyond Manthokha.

Frequently asked questions