28°38'N 83°36'E · 2,480 m
Signature · Upper Mustang
Upper Mustang by enduro bike — high-desert singletrack, an ancient eighth-century monastery, the walled city, and the 4,210-metre Pa Pass earned on the bike.
Kagbeni is the line. North of it lies the Upper Mustang Restricted Area — a permit, a checkpoint, and a landscape that belongs to another century: wind-carved ochre cliffs, mani walls, cave monasteries, villages that have never seen a crowd. The permit is part of the expedition; so is the obligation that comes with it — small numbers, local lodges, and money that stays in the valleys it passes through.
This is enduro country. The support vehicle carries the group up where a road exists; the trails down are the point — the red-cliff descents at Dhakmar, ridgeline singletrack towards Charang, the canyon switchbacks below Muktinath. The core of the trip, days ten to twelve, is the hardest riding of the trip, graded five of five: Ghar Gompa to Dhakmar, the lost valleys of Dhee and Tangye, and the crossing of Pa Pass.
The high point, at 4,210 metres, is earned the honest way: a pre-dawn start and a sustained hike-a-bike with the bike on your shoulder. What follows is a drop of 1,250 metres, and some 1,800 metres of downhill, on ancient caravan routes — the biggest descent of the trip, ending where the Kali Gandaki Gorge reappears at Chuksang.
Ghar Gompa is held to have stood since the 8th century. Lupra keeps the pre-Buddhist Bon faith. Sam Dzong moved its whole village, and its heritage, when the climate turned against it. Lo Manthang is a living walled city, not a museum. Not photo stops: lunches are cooked in villages, lodges are family-run, and Lo Manthang's days belong to its streets.
Before the flight back, the trip descends to Sekung Lake for a night of serviced camping — campfire dinner, Dhaulagiri and Nilgiri on the skyline, and a sky with no light pollution to stop it.
Mangal Krishna Lama leads this tour. In 2022 he made the first solo mountain-bike traverse of the Great Himalaya Trail high route. It was 88 riding days from Kangchenjunga to Hilsa, over twenty-two passes above 5,000 metres, as his log shows. He has guided in Mustang for more than ten years. The guides who plan your trip are the guides who ride with you.
Surface mix · the days it appears on
Enduro bike · reinforced tubeless tyres · dropper post essential · 180–200 mm rotors
Upper Mustang sits across the main Himalayan divide on the edge of the Tibetan plateau—a high-altitude desert of wind-carved sandstone, deep river canyons, and ancient walled settlements. Because the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri massifs block almost all summer moisture, this rain-shadow kingdom follows an entirely different seasonal rhythm from the rest of Nepal. Having guided these plateau singletracks for over a decade, we time departures around the dry canyon windows and shifting afternoon winds. Here is what each season brings to the kingdom.
Recommended
Mar · Apr · May
March to May brings warm plateau sunshine, dry canyon singletracks, and apple blossoms in the lower oasis villages. The wind builds in the afternoons, but morning riding conditions over the 4,210-metre Pa Pass and through Lo Manthang are exceptionally clear and fast.
Rideable
Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep
While the rest of Nepal experiences heavy summer rain, Upper Mustang remains bone-dry in the rain shadow. The plateau trails are arid, dusty, and completely clear of commercial trekkers. The only adjustment is keeping a flexible mindset for the road transfer into the lower Kali Gandaki valley.
Recommended
Oct · Nov · Dec
October to December offers the benchmark desert enduro season. Crisp, crystal-clear skies frame the snowcapped summits of Nilgiri and Dhaulagiri against ochre canyon walls. Trail surfaces are firm, daytime riding temperatures are comfortable, and village hospitality in Lo Manthang is warm around evening hearths.
Rideable
Jan · Feb
January and February bring the profound stillness of the Tibetan plateau winter. Days are cold, sun-drenched, and intensely clear, with biting night frosts and quiet villages. For experienced adventure riders seeking solitary desert riding with flexible pacing, the kingdom offers an unhurried, peaceful wilderness.
Route profile
Lete 2,480 m · Marpha · Kagbeni 2,804 m · Nyi La 3,900 m · Ghami · Lo Manthang 3,840 m · Tangye · Pa Pass 4,210 m · Muktinath 3,710 m
The file holds part of the route, not every day of the trip
Day by day
Day 01
Arrive in Kathmandu and transfer to our quiet courtyard hotel in Thamel. In the afternoon, the team joins you in the garden workshop to unpack bikes, inspect tubeless tyres, dial in suspension for rocky desert terrain, and run through safety equipment. The evening begins with an expedition briefing over traditional Newari dishes, outlining the culture, permits, and acclimatisation strategy for the high plateau.
Day 02
shuttle → ridden
forest singletrack · jeep track · root sections · stone paths · flow trails
Our opening ride climbs to Kakani on the northern valley rim. Flowing singletrack drops through cool pine forests and past terraced Tamang homesteads to the panoramic Helipad viewpoint overlooking the Ganesh Himal range. After a home-cooked dal bhat lunch at Dandagau, we descend winding woodland trails and switchbacks back towards the valley floor to dial in braking and cornering.
Day 03
shuttle → ridden
forest singletrack · berms · rock gardens · natural flow trails · steep descents
A full enduro session on the ridge trails of Nagarkot, with unbroken views stretching from Langtang across to Everest in clear morning air. We ride multiple shuttled laps across natural berms, rock chutes, and pine-needle forest flow. In the evening, bikes are securely packed for transit while our support crew moves western logistics ahead to Pokhara.
Day 04
flight → shuttle → ridden
forest trails · stone steps · flow singletrack · lakeside trails
A short morning flight along the snow-covered Himalayan wall brings us to Pokhara beside Phewa Lake. A vehicle transfer ascends to the World Peace Pagoda for a classic hillside descent: stone stairways, jungle singletrack, and fast lake-view ridges. The afternoon allows a relaxing coffee by the water and a final bolt check before entering the remote valleys tomorrow.
Day 05
drive → ridden
ancient mule trails · rocky jeep tracks · village pathways · flowing singletrack
We drive north into the dramatic Kali Gandaki gorge, carving between the massive walls of Annapurna I and Dhaulagiri. Saddling up at Lete, our first Mustang ride follows ancient trans-Himalayan trading trails as pine and bamboo forest transition into arid canyon desert. We roll into Marpha along flat stone flagstones, flanked by whitewashed houses, Tibetan prayer flags, and heritage apple orchards.
Day 06
shuttle → ridden → shuttle → hike-a-bike → ridden → jeep
rocky singletrack · alpine trails · technical switchbacks · ancient village paths
Shuttle-assisted laps across the ridge above Thini and Alubari, followed by a pedal to the secluded high-altitude tarn of Chama Lake beneath Nilgiri North. The day finishes with sweeping, technical descents over loose gravel and stone paths down into Kagbeni—the fortified junction where the Upper Mustang Restricted Area begins.
Day 07
jeep → ridden → shuttle → ridden
short, steep descents
high-altitude ridgelines · loose rock · fast alpine descents · technical switchbacks
Crossing into the ancient kingdom through the checkpoint. A high jeep transfer ascends the 4,000-metre Nyi La pass, where you drop into vast ochre plateaus, wind-sculpted sandstone canyons, and ancient trade singletrack leading to Ghami. In the afternoon, a vehicle shuttle carries us up towards the blood-red cliffs of Dhakmar for a signature canyon descent back to our village lodge.
Day 08
shuttle → ridden → shuttle → ridden
ridgeline singletrack · flow trails · rocky traverses · historic trade routes
Riding the high open benches towards the northern frontier, descending fast singletrack through windswept plateaus into Charang. After a midday meal beneath its whitewashed monastery, we pedal rolling trails across the high plain until the fortified clay walls of Lo Manthang appear against the Tibetan horizon. Riding through the ancient southern gateway into the silent stone alleys is the emotional heart of the expedition.
Day 09
shuttle → ridden
two descents of 2–3 km · two short, very steep drops
high desert singletrack · rolling plateaus · village trails · rocky sections
High desert singletrack tracking clay bluffs towards the northern borderlands. We drop into Old and New Sam Dzong—a resilient community relocated due to shifting glacial meltwaters, carrying generations of Tibetan heritage. After exploring the multi-storey cave settlements of Choser, we spend the afternoon walking the quiet stone passageways of Lo Manthang, entering assembly halls where butter lamps have burned since the fifteenth century.
Day 10
shuttle → ridden → jeep → ridden
high alpine ridgelines · loose rocky descents · natural singletrack · technical switchbacks · ancient trade routes
A morning climb tracking westward up desert gullies to Ghar Gompa, the eighth-century sanctuary built by Guru Rinpoche amidst fluttering prayer flags. The descent tracks natural ridgeline singletrack carved into cinnabar clay and fluted sandstone cliffs. In the afternoon, sweeping, technical descents deliver us down into Charang beneath the five-storey ruins of its royal palace.
Day 11
jeep → ridden → shuttle → ridden
two steep descents off one drop · the yak trails on to Tangye
remote alpine singletrack · high mountain passes · loose shale · fast descents · narrow traverses
A wild traverse into the eastern valleys where no vehicle roads penetrate. From a high pass above the gorge, exposed ridgelines plummet towards Dhee, an oasis of willows and terraced barley beside the river. After a warm meal in a village home, ancient yak trails carry us across canyon floors and eroded bluffs into Tangye, an untouched cluster of monumental chortens.
Day 12
ridden → hike-a-bike → ridden → drive
high alpine hike-a-bike · ridgeline singletrack · loose rocky descents · ancient caravan trails · technical switchbacks · fast alpine flow
Starting out before sunrise from Tangye, beginning a steady climb and focused hike-a-bike to Pa Pass at 4,210 metres—the physical summit of the crossing. From the cairns, a drop of over 1,200 vertical metres unfolds along ancient caravan singletrack, carving through scree, switchbacks, and fast red dirt down to Chuksang. A vehicle transfer brings us up to Muktinath as evening light catches Dhaulagiri.
Day 13
ridden → jeep → ridden
ancient village trails · flow descents · rocky canyons · alpine singletrack
Descending from Muktinath across high dry terraces into the steep Lupra gorge, riding playful, flowing singletrack into one of Nepal’s last living enclaves of the ancient Bon tradition. We rejoin the wide Kali Gandaki gravel beds and pedal past the stone houses and apple orchards of Marpha, transferring south to Sekung Lake for a private lakeside camp beneath Dhaulagiri’s ice walls.
Day 14
drive
Waking to mist on Sekung Lake with sunrise illuminating the western ice flanks of Dhaulagiri. We pack camp and travel southward down the Kali Gandaki canyon as dry alpine terrain yields to terraced hillsides and subtropical forest, stopping for lunch near the deep gorges of Kusma before reaching Pokhara for an evening on the shores of Phewa Lake.
Day 15
flight
A morning flight following the snowline of the Annapurnas back into the Kathmandu Valley. The afternoon is open to wander the historic brick alleys of Patan, search for brassware in local markets, or rest in quiet garden courtyards before an evening celebration in Thamel.
Day 16
A deliberate day of rest and recovery. Walk the circular kora around the great white stupa of Boudhanath alongside Tibetan pilgrims, explore the carved wooden architecture of royal courtyards, or book restorative massages and Ayurvedic treatments to recover from two demanding weeks on the plateau.
Day 17
A quiet breakfast in the garden courtyard before our private airport transfer to Tribhuvan International Airport for your flight home, concluding an extraordinary expedition across the hidden kingdom.
From the route
Rider questions
Upper Mustang was an autonomous Tibetan kingdom closed to foreigners until 1992, and it still sits behind a restricted-area permit priced to keep numbers small. The permit is arranged as part of the expedition — the paperwork is ours, the riding is yours.
Yes. Everything north of Kagbeni is the Upper Mustang Restricted Area, and every rider needs a special restricted-area permit alongside the standard entry paperwork. We arrange all of it as part of the expedition — you never queue at a counter.
Graded advanced. The trip ramps deliberately — the first week rides trails graded three and four of five, and the core days around Dhakmar, the lost valleys and Pa Pass are the five-of-five days, including a sustained hike-a-bike to 4,210 metres.
Shuttle-assisted enduro and all-mountain. A support vehicle takes the sting out of the big climbs where a road exists; the descents — canyon switchbacks, ridgeline singletrack, centuries-old caravan trails — are why you came.
An enduro bike with reinforced tubeless tyres, a dropper post and 180–200 mm rotors. The terrain is rocky, dry and fast; setup details are confirmed when you reserve.
Comfortable hotels in the cities, family-run lodges through Mustang, two nights in the walled city of Lo Manthang, and one night of serviced camping beside Sekung Lake under an unlit sky.
Departures
Before you reserve
The detail a high-altitude expedition deserves — answered here, and talked through with you personally before your place is confirmed.
Every departure is led by experienced local guides who know this ground. Safety is more than equipment. It is close coordination with the villages, lodges and families along the route, and a local network that gets word and help moving fast. The pace is set by the slowest rider. Altitude is taken step by step. Where a tour climbs on the bike, there are nights at altitude before the high passes. Where a helicopter lifts riders high, they stay up only a short time and ride straight down. The rule on the mountain is simple: if symptoms do not ease, we go down. If a rider has to leave the mountain, the team arranges the rescue, and the rider's insurance pays for it.
These are graded rides at real altitude, with long days in the saddle and sustained descents. We talk through your riding history honestly before a place is confirmed. Be honest with us about how you ride; it helps us match you to the right trip.
Bring your own bike, or hire one from us. Hire is priced by the type of bike: a hardtail at $20–30 a day, a full-suspension trail or enduro bike at $50–80. An e-bike, at $100–150 a day, is by request: we arrange the logistics, charging and support included, where the route allows. We recommend the right type for each tour and for what you like to ride. If you fly your own, check your airline's rules for a bike box and declare the bike at customs in Kathmandu. Your bag, up to 15 kg, travels by vehicle, porter or mule while you ride. Spares and tools ride with the guides, and the kit list comes once your dates are set.
In Kathmandu and Pokhara you stay in comfortable city hotels; on the route, in family-run lodges — simple, warm, shared washrooms at altitude — with breakfast, lunch and dinner included, and a serviced camp on the nights a tour sleeps beyond the lodges. Tell us about any diet when you reserve; dal bhat, noodles, eggs and fresh bread are on every menu. Bring a bottle and a filter or tablets — your guide shows you where to refill.
Breakfast early, on the bike by eight, lunch in a village or on the trail, and at the lodge by mid-afternoon on most days — the light and the weather are kindest before noon. The vehicle or the mules carry the bags; your guide sets the pace to the slowest rider and briefs the next day over dinner. If you need a rest, you ride in the vehicle where there is a road, or walk with one of the team where there is not.
Insurance is a condition of riding: it must cover mountain biking at the altitudes on your route, helicopter evacuation and rescue, medical treatment, and trip cancellation and delay. We check every certificate before departure.
A 30 per cent deposit holds your place, and the balance is due two months before departure, by bank transfer — no card is entered here, and nothing is charged through this site. What happens if you have to cancel is set out in full in our booking terms. Read the booking terms →
We guide you through Nepal entry and arrange every permit your route needs — park or conservation-area entry for the ground it crosses, any local permit the valley adds, and a restricted-area permit wherever the route enters a restricted area. They are carried by your guide, not by you.
One scale for every tour and ride, set by the hardest riding and the altitude together. If you are unsure where you sit, tell us what you ride at home; a guide will say plainly whether a trip suits you.
Intermediate
Red trails in the UK and Europe, blue to black in North America
Three to five hours a day, with most climbs shuttled
You ride red trails with confidence and can do it again the next day.
You have not yet ridden off-road for several days in a row.
Advanced
Red to black trails in the UK and Europe, black in North America
Four to seven hours a day, descents of a thousand metres or more, and some carrying
You ride black trails cleanly, are comfortable on loose rock and steep switchbacks, and can push or carry a bike for an hour at altitude.
Steep, exposed or loose ground still makes you walk.
Expert
Black and double-black in North America; the hardest natural trails in the Alps
Six to nine hours a day, remote, with long hike-a-bike over 5,000-metre passes
You have done multi-day trips in the mountains, ride technical descents tired and cold, and have been above 4,500 metres before.
This would be your first trip at altitude.
Where a day is graded, it carries three scores, each out of five.
“Mangal is the very BEST [guide] you can have in Nepal. He knows all the beautiful paths and is always with a smile in his face.”
The per-rider price falls as the group grows. Everything listed below is included; the figure is confirmed in writing when you reserve, and nothing is charged through this site.
Group sizePer rider
Included
Not included