Mountain Passes of Pakistan

The passes are where a Pakistan mountain trip turns from scenery into event. The roads climb out of the valleys onto bare, wind-scoured saddles where the air thins, the snow lingers into summer and the view runs to the horizon in every direction. Three of them carry the famous names: Khunjerab on the Chinese border, Babusar above the Kaghan valley, and Shandur, the polo pass between Gilgit and Chitral.

Khunjerab is the high point in every sense, 4,693 m of paved highway and the highest border crossing on earth that you can drive to. Babusar Top, at 4,173 m, is the back door into Gilgit-Baltistan from the Kaghan side, a green and gentler approach. Shandur, at 3,700 m, is the wild one: a long gravel haul past Phander Lake to a grass plateau that hosts a polo tournament each summer.

All three are seasonal, gated by snow for much of the year, and the dates shift with the weather. That timing is the thing most trip-planners get wrong, so we have laid it out plainly below, along with the tours that cross each pass by jeep or by motorcycle.

Khunjerab Pass, 4,693 m, carries the Karakoram Highway across the Pakistan-China border inside Khunjerab National Park, home to Marco Polo sheep, ibex and golden marmots. You can stand at the gate but not cross without a Chinese visa and onward transport. Babusar Pass, 4,173 m, links the Kaghan valley to Chilas on the KKH and makes a scenic alternative approach to the north when it is open.

Shandur Pass, 3,700 m, is the odd one out: not on the KKH at all, but a remote gravel crossing between Gilgit and Chitral, famous for the freestyle polo played on its summit plateau each July. For trekkers, the Karakoram also holds far higher crossings such as the Gondogoro La at 5,585 m, a mountaineering pass rather than a road.

Khunjerab is realistically open to tourists from about May to October, snow depending; the border itself keeps a separate trade calendar, so do not plan around the official China-side dates. Babusar usually clears around late June and closes by late October or the first heavy snow. Shandur runs roughly May to October, with the polo festival pinning the busiest week to early-to-mid July.

None of these dates is a promise. An early or late snowfall moves them, and the high roads can close for a day at any time in shoulder season. We plan every pass tour with a fallback, and for the December and winter months we route around the passes entirely.

If you want one pass done comfortably, Khunjerab from a Hunza base is the iconic choice and the easiest day. For a road trip that strings several together, the full Karakoram Highway run takes in Babusar and Khunjerab both. Riders after the rawest of the three should look at Shandur, where the gravel, the stream fords and the remoteness make the journey the point. Our motorcycle tours cross the same passes on two wheels with a support vehicle and a lead-and-sweep team.