Valley of Flowers is a vibrant and splendid national park reposing in West Himalayas. Nestled in Uttarakhand, this alluring place is famous for its charming meadows of alpine flowers. Endowed with a diverse range of endemic flora, it is picturesque in its beauty. This lush region is also home to some rare and endangered animal species. You may spot animals like Asiatic black deer, snow leopard, musk deer, red fox, brown bear and blue sheep. High in the lofty Himalayas of the Garhwal region sprawls this enchanting valley. Legends believe it to be the place from where Hanuman had collected the Sanjeevani buti for curing Lakshmana. This place has floral pastures, running streams and beautiful backdrop of the mountains. Valley of Flowers is located 300 Kms North of Rishikesh, near Badrinath. You need to Travel by Road till Govindghat and from there the trek to Valley of Flowers starts. Govindghat is 20 Kms before Badrinath. Till Govidghat there is a motor-able Road. Rishiksh is 6 Hours Drive from New Delhi, India. Valley of Flowers remains covered with a thick blanket of snow during the winter season.
It is in full bloom during July, August and September. This is the best time to explore the splendor of this magnificent place. The aqua waters of Pushpawati River bifurcates the valley into two parts. Dew drops of flowers, the rhythmic sound of flowing water and the romantic breeze can be enjoyed by the visitors during the period of July to September. As per the local beliefs, this valley was inhabited by fairies. No wonder, it’s a fairy land. Ghangaria is the base camp for the trek to Valley of Flowers. It has private lodges and hotels for accommodation. One cannot stay at Valley of Flowers, therefore Ghangaria remains an ideal place to relax and sleep. It is managed and administered by the Uttarakhand State Forestry Department and Ministry of Environment and Forests. Settlement in this park is not allowed and grazing is also banned since 1983.
Valley of Flowers is located in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand India. This is remotely located and it takes minimum 3 days to reach Valley of Flowers from Haridwar. The last motor-able point is Govindghat. You can check our trek itinerary page for more day wise information. It is around 500 km from New Delhi and 300 km from Haridwar. You can check our page on how to reach Valley of Flowers, we have given distances between important points and time required between them, different modes of transportation available to reach Valley of Flowers. The Valley of Flowers has gained importance as a region containing a diversity of alpine flora, representative of the Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows ecoregion.
The rich diversity of species reflects the valley's location within a transition zone between the Zanskar and Great Himalayas ranges to the north and south, respectively, and between the Eastern Himalaya and Western Himalaya flora. A number of plant species are considered threatened. Several have not been recorded outside of Uttarakhand. Two have not been recorded in Nanda Devi National Park. The diversity of threatened species of medicinal plants is higher than has been recorded in other Indian Himalayan protected areas. The entire Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve lies within the Western Himalayas Endemic Bird Area (EBA). The Valley of Flowers National Park is the second core zone of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. Seven restricted-range bird species are endemic to this part of the EBA.
Valley of Flowers opens on 1st June every year and closes on 4th October, but the valley remained closed for public in 2013 after the floods in June 2013 till 4th October, 2014 as the trek between Ghangaria and Valley of Flowers was damaged. It was reconstructed by September, 2014 and valley was opened for public for 6 days from 4th October to 9th October, 2014. You can visit out best time to visit Valley of Flowers page to know what will be best time among these four months of accessibility of the valley.
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