Shahzore Kharr Lake Trek Guide

30^th October 2023

Kumrat Valley is a popular tourist destination and it is usually packed with travellers for most of the summer. But by October, most of the crowds fade away. Hence, for me this was the perfect time to check out the valley for the first time ever. I was looking for a relatively short hike in the valley. There are a few lakes in Kumrat valley. The first of them being the popular Katora Lake, and another being the lesser known and smaller Shahzore Lake. Shahzore Lake is usually visited by people trekking the Thallo Pass, which connects Kumrat Valley to Chitral. Other than that, very few people visit this lake.

The idea of visitng a lesser known lake was more appealing, so Shahzore Lake was chosen as the destination. Sadly, this would be the first time ever for me that a hiking expedition had to be cut short without reaching the intended destination. So a full disclaimer here, this article does not cover the entire journey to Shahzore Lake. However, it does describe the journey to Shahzore Kharr Lake, which is located a few kilometers prior to Shahzore Lake.

Hike Overview

Hike Difficulty: Easy
Trail Length: 10.7 km (6.6 mi)
Net Elevation Gain: 600 m
Typical Hike Duration (One-way): 4 Hours
Trail Head: Dojanga
Shahzore Kharr Lake Height: 3,266 m (10,715 ft)
Hike Season: June to October
Campsite: Dojanga (only in summer)
Guide: Available from Thal
Porters: Available from Thal
Car Parking: Available at Thal

Note: Preserving nature is the responsibility of every tourist / hiker. Please DO NOT LITTER, DO NOT DRAW GRAFFITI, DO NOT CUT TREES.

Shahzore Lake Map

Shahzore Lake Elevation Profile

Trip Overview & Itinerary

Day	Time	Journey	Duration
Day 1	07:00am to 04:00pm	Islamabad to Thal	9 hours
Day 2	07:30am to 10:30am	Thal to Dojanga	3 hours
	10:30am to 02:30pm	Dojanga to Shahzore Kharr Lake	4 hours
	02:30pm to 05:30pm	Shahzore Kharr Lake to Dojanga	3 hours
	06:00pm to 08:30pm	Dojanga to Thal	2.5 hours
Day 3	08:00am to 05:00pm	Thal to Islamabad	9 hours

Reaching Thal

Thal is located at a distance of 365 km from Islamabad. The initial part of the journey is on the Motorway till Chakdara. From Chakdara, turning right takes you towards Swat and going straight takes you towards Dir and Kumrat. We carried on straight and eventually turned right from Chukiatan, just before Dir. We passed by Sheringal, at this point we had covered all but 30 km, and it had taken us 6 hours so far. But the next 30 km from Patrak onwards took 3 hours to cover because of the poor condition of the road. There were local taxis (elevated Toyota Fielders) available for hire from Patrak onwards. So if someone doesn't want to take their car forward they can park at Patrak and hire a taxi.

Overall it took us 9 hours to get to Thal. At this time of year Thal had all the colours of Autumn on display, which looked very pleasing to the eye. Once we were there, we found ourselves a hotel. We could have carried on into the forest right away but it would've gotten dark. It was our first time in Kumrat so we wanted to see it and its attractions in daylight.

We got a 3 bed room for a fairly cheap price of Rs. 2,500 per night since it was off season. We asked the hotel guy, who went by the alias 'DSP', to arrange a jeep and guide for our trip to Shahzore Lake the next day. We spent the evening checking out the Thal mosque, walking around Thal bazaar and buying some supplies for the trek.

It should be mentioned that only the very initial part of Thal is accessible by car. So if you book one of the hotels that are further into Thal, your personal car may not be able reach there because of the bad road condition. So even though there are loads of hotels in Thal, not all of them are accessible by cars.

Jeep to Dojanga

Dojanga is the last point in Kumrat Valley where a jeep can go. This is where our trek woud start. Our jeep for the day was going to be an old 80 series Toyota Land Cruiser. The jeep driver would also be our guide. We had breakfast from the hotel, and set off for Kumrat Valley. Kumrat's forest is basically connected to Thal, there is a water crossing right after the last hotel of Thal after which the forest starts.

The many huts spread across the forest were immediately visible. Our first pit stop was at the waterfall. A 5 minute walk from the jeep track took us to the base of the waterfall. At this time of year the waterflow was fairly low.

Our next checkpoint was Kala Chashma. This is usually the furthest tourists go in Kumrat. We stopped here for a while and then carried on.

All the this whike we saw absolutely no other tourists or jeeps. So if want to enjoy Kumray Valley in peace, visit at the end of October. You'll also be doing the locals businesses a favour by providing them some off-season income.

After about 3 hours we reached the end of the road and our destination, Dojanga. This is where the Panjkora river splits into 2. One side comes from Shahzore lake, and the other from Kundal Lake.

Hike towards Shahzore Lake

We left our camping gear in the jeep. We figured that we could do the round trip faster without the gear slowing us down and get back to the jeep by evening.

Shortly after starting the trek we had to cross a bridge over the nala that comes from the Kundal Lake.

There are two tracks from Dojanga, one towards Shahzore Lake and the other towards Kundal Lake. After crossing the bridge we mistakenly started hiking towards Kundal Lake. Having a guide with us here was useful because he made us aware of our mistake.

We trekked alongside the nala coming from Shahzore Lake, stepping over the fallen leaves of autumn and walking beneath trees that had shed their leaves. These views were unique in their own way and made the trek interesting.

After just over an hour we reached the first settlement of Charote Banda .

The landscape was changing frequently. After Charote we went through some more barren trees and then came across a large plain ground. This was followed by an area covered with small rocks.

From time to time we were gradually gaining elevation, but generally it was a fairly flat track.

At the three hour mark we came across a place called Isgaloo. We stopped here for a break, had some snacks and offered prayers.

Just after Isgaloo we crossed over to the left side of the nala.

Once across, the steepness increased and we started gaining some more elevation till we reached the Shahzore Kharr Lake. This is marked as Gorshy Lake on Google Maps, but according to our guide that is a made up name. Kharr in their language means dirty, so this lake was the dirty Shahzore lake, which aptly described it due to its water having a muddy colour.

It was about 02:30 pm when we reached this lake. If we were to continue to Shahzore Lake, it would take approx another 2 hours. Considering sunset was at about 05:30pm, we would then have to return at night. None of us was in favour of this option. Our guide particularly mentioned that black bears live in these woods and they come out at night so it wouldn't be safe. Had we carried our camping equipment along then we could have gone to the lake and camped beside it, but of course we left the camping equipment in the jeep. So, sadly we were left with no option but to return.

We reached back to the jeep by Maghrib time and we were back in Thal by 8pm. We stayed another night at DSP's hotel and left for Islamabad the next day.

Final Thoughts

The trek towards Shahzore Lake is fairly easy yet picturesque. One particular good thing about this trek is that it is open and accessible all the way till at least end of October, and that too without any harsh cold weather. As for the destination, of course we couldn't go all the way to the lake so I cannot comment on that. With better planning we could have reached Shahzore Lake, even in the shortened days of October. If you plan to visit Shahzore Lake, I recommend that you spend the night at Dojanga and leave for Shahzore early morning at around 7am. This way you will hopefully return to Dojanga before 6pm. Another option would be to reach Dojanga before 9am and aim to reach Shahzore Lake by the end of the day and setup camp there to stay the night. If you have a few days to spare, you can come back to Dojanga and check out Kundal Lake in the adjacent valley.

Trail Video

Equipment

Having the right equipment and gear is essential for an enjoyable hiking experience. Check out the list of recommended hiking gear.