Deosai National Park: visitor guide

What to expect at Deosai

Deosai National Park (Deosai Plains) is one of the highest and most striking high-altitude plateaux in the world, a vast rolling grassland at an average altitude of 4,114m (making it the second-highest plateau in the world after the Tibetan Plateau), covering about 3,000 square kilometres in the Baltistan division of Gilgit-Baltistan between the Karakoram and the Himalayan ranges. The name Deosai means 'Land of Giants' in the local Shina language, a reference to the ancient belief that spirits or giants inhabited this remote upland world.

In fact, the plateau is snowbound and inaccessible from October to June. For the brief summer season (July–September) when the snow melts, it transforms into one of the most colourful and biodiverse high-altitude landscapes in Pakistan, a carpet of wildflowers, streams and glacial lakes under a sky of exceptional clarity, populated by the Himalayan brown bear (one of the primary reasons the park was established) and remarkable birdlife.

Himalayan brown bear

The Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus) is the park's conservation centrepiece, the Deosai Plains support Pakistan's largest population of this endangered subspecies (about 40–50 individuals, up from a single-digit population before the park's establishment in 1993), and bear sightings are relatively common in the mornings and evenings of the summer season when the bears emerge from the tall grass to dig for marmots (a primary food source), forage on the abundant berries and grasses, and raise their cubs on the open plateau. Generally, the best sightings are typically at Bara Pani (the main visitor area, about 30km into the plateau from the Skardu gate) and near the Sheosar Lake shores.

Wildflower bloom

The wildflower bloom (July–early August) is Deosai's most spectacular visual phenomenon, after the snowmelt, the plateau grasslands erupt in a succession of wildflowers that cover the entire visible landscape in a carpet of colour: buttercups, primroses, cinquefoils, asters, gentians, poppies and dozens of other alpine species in a display that is striking in its scale and density. Moreover, the combination of the flower carpet in the foreground, the blue sky and white cumulus clouds above, and the distant snow-capped peaks of the Karakoram on the horizon creates a landscape photograph of exceptional quality that requires no technical skill. In addition, the scenery is simply overwhelming in its beauty.

Sheosar Lake

Sheosar Lake (about 4,142m, accessible from the Skardu entrance in about 2 hours by jeep) is the plateau's most visited single feature, a high-altitude lake of deep blue-green water, about 2.5km long and 1km wide, enclosed by the rolling plateau hills with the snow-capped Karakoram visible above the horizon. The lake is a critical habitat for the bar-headed goose and other migratory waterfowl, and the combination of the lake, the surrounding wildflower grasslands and the mountain backdrop gives Sheosar one of the top natural landscape settings of any high-altitude lake in Pakistan. The lake is most spectacular at sunrise, when the first light touches the snowfields above and reflects in the still water.

Jeep journey across the plateau

In addition, the jeep journey across the plateau from the Skardu gate to the Astore exit (or reverse) is one of the top overland journeys in Gilgit-Baltistan. Also, the 60km crossing of the plateau takes about 4–5 hours on the rough track, the vehicle traversing stream crossings, the flower-covered grassland, the moraine ridges above glacial ponds and the dramatic viewpoints above the plateau's eastern escarpment where the Astore Valley is visible 2,000m below. Moreover, the journey can be done in either direction, connecting Skardu and the Astore Valley / Nanga Parbat region in a single overland traverse that avoids backtracking on the Karakoram Highway.

Also, the Deosai Plains are accessible via two main entries: from Skardu (the main access, about 30km to the plateau gate via the Ali Malik Mar road, jeeps from Skardu cost about PKR 5,000–8,000 per vehicle for a day trip or PKR 10,000–15,000 for the full plateau crossing) and from Chilam in the Astore Valley (the southern entry, about 4 hours from Gilgit via the Astore Valley road). Camping on the plateau requires permission from the park management. Best season: July–September (June can still be snowbound. October brings the first snows). Altitude sickness is a serious risk at 4,000m+, ascend gradually from Skardu (2,438m) and allow time to acclimatise before strenuous activity on the plateau.