Ladakh, popularly known as the Land of High Passes is truly a biker’s heaven which gives an opportunity to explore a lot and a lot of high passes with some amazing landscapes and fabulous roads. As the average altitude itself is higher than 12,000 ft, the height of mountain passes would be usually much much higher than that.
Introduction
There are honestly many mountain passes in Ladakh, atleast 3-4 in every circuit and atleast 7-8 such circuits exist in the entire Ladakh. Here are a few must visit passes for someone who is going to visit Ladakh for the first time.
The Major Passes of Ladakh
Umling La
Undoubtedly every biker would have definitely heard about this amazing location near the Chinese border(Read my blog here) which is the Highest Motorable Pass of the World. This is actually more than 1,500 ft above the Everest Base Camp at an altitude of 19,024 ft and this is the only pass above 19,000 ft in the whole world, which makes it the highest which is even recorded in the Guinness book of records.
Khardung La
The most popular mountain pass of the Ladakh circuit which is just 35 kms from Leh on the road to Nubra Valley. This is almost 17,582 ft above the sea level which is again higher than the Everest Base Camp. This is the gateway to Nubra Valley and also many popular tall mountains of the Karakoram range are clearly seen from this place.
Chang La
One can’t believe that this high altitude pass is actually higher than the Khardung La pass in Ladakh. It’s recorded that the height is just 4ft above the Khardung La pass making it the 10th Highest Motorable Pass of the World. It is located on the way to Leh from Pangong Lake.
Tanglang La
The Highest Point of Leh Manali Highway which is at an altitude of 17,480 ft just around 100 kms to Leh. This is located on NH-03 which is a popular connecting road to Ladakh. One can expect snow even during the seasons other than winters in this pass
Photi La
This is one of the most overrated pass which everyone usually doesn’t reach at all. Infact I’d honestly say this is the most challening among all the passes I have visited in Ladakh. There are actually 2 routes to Umling La from Hanle and this is one of them. Everyone avoids it because one gains altitude very quickly and drops as well, also the roads are very deserted, hence many doesn’t prefer to go here. But for unreal biking experience this should be in your bucketlist.
Fotu La
This is the Highest Point of Leh-Sri Nagar highway on NH-01, the lifeline of Ladakh. At an altitude of 13,428 ft, the roads here are very smooth and very well maintained. So it isn’t a very challenging one compared to the other passes.
Zojila Pass
Popularly known as one of the most dangerous roads of the world, which is the main reason why Leh – Sri Nagar road remains closed in winters. At an altitude of 11,575 ft which isn’t very challenging, but the terrain and dense snowfall makes it very challenging for the movement of vehicles. Zoji La tunnel is being built to skip this pass completely.
Wari La Pass
This is a very lesser known mountain pass at an altitude of 17,428 ft on the road from Pangong Lake to Nubra Valley. This road has very less traffic and hence you usually find the roads deserted.
Baralacha La pass
This is another major pass connecting Manali to Leh and this is one of the major reasons why Leh Manali road gets closed in winters. Due to the heavy snowfall at these passes, the movement of the vehicles gets disturbed and hence this remains closed during winters. At an altitude of 15,910 ft. This should be the highest mountain pass of Himachal Pradesh
Lachung La Pass
This is another mountain pass on the Leh Manali highway. This highway is a very adventurous one as one climbs up and down, up and down on the entire journey crossing many passes on the way. At an altitude of 17,000 ft, this is one of the highest passes of the world.
Conclusion
These were few of the major mountain passes one would cross across on your trip to Leh. Apart from these are many popular ones like Nakee La, Namkee La and many other ones. Apart from these there are also many other lesser known passes in Ladakh and the surrounding ranges which are very adventurous and I would cover them on the coming blogs. (Here’s a list of Top 12 Highest Mountain Passes of the World)
