Bumthang Snow Trek: The Winter Crossing to the Golden Thumb
Destination: Bumthang Valley
Duration: 7 days / 6 nights
Difficulty: Challenging
Best season: Jan 2027 — Mar 2027
Price: from 5,700 USD per guest
Seven days of winter trekking between Trongsa and Bumthang, on snow between the pines, with the valley's hot springs waiting at the end.
Highlights
The Pema Ling, the historic lamas' and traders' road
Snow walking under a deep canopy of pine
Trongsa Dzong above the trail on the first day
Arrival in Bumthang and the valley's hot springs
What is included
Licensed trekking guide and full winter support crew
Camping in tents with a heated mess tent, kitchen and cook
All meals on the trek and at the lodges at each end
All permits, SDF and entry fees
Winter-rated sleeping bag, mat and two pairs of trekking boots
Emergency evacuation contingency and a satellite communicator in camp
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 01 — Paro to Trongsa, and the winter kit check Drive from Paro down the Wang Chhu and south to Trongsa, arriving under its dzong with the Deep Valley road blocked by snow. The afternoon is spent with the crew and the cook, checking boots, bags and cold-weather gear, and a night in the town before the trailhead is reached tomorrow morning.
Day 02 — Into the Deep Valley, and the first snow Walk down into the Deep Valley beneath Trongsa Dzong and follow the Pema Ling, the old lamas' and traders' road to Bumthang, now a winter trail. The first camp is pitched where the forest closes over the road and the snow is already deep enough to walk in without breaking trail.
Day 03 — Snow walking under the pine canopy A long, beautiful day through the deep snow of the pine forest, the trail a single packed line between trunks that rise straight out of it. Frozen streams and no sound but the snow and the crew; camp in a village clearing where the road passes and smoke is already coming off a stove.
Day 04 — The ridgeline above the valley Climb out of the forest onto the ridgeline that separates the Trongsa and Bumthang valleys, the whole crossing in one panorama on a clear winter morning. A shorter afternoon on the far side, and a camp with no light pollution for forty kilometres in any direction and no moon to spoil it.
Day 05 — Down to a high village A long descent through snow into one of the highest permanently settled villages on the route, where the road is closed until spring and news travels on foot. Tea with a family in the village, and a camp in the fields below with the trail now visibly running out of the high country.
Day 06 — Into Bumthang and the hot springs The last of the trail into the Bumthang valley, the road met at the edge of Jakar, and an afternoon that has been earned for six days: the hot springs at the valley's dairy farm, mineral water at a temperature that makes no sense in January, and steam on your glasses with snow on the ridges above.
Day 07 — Bumthang and the flight west A morning in Bumthang — Takerthing above Jakar, or simply coffee watching the valley wake up — then a flight or a drive west to Paro for the flight home. The trek is over and the deep cold is behind you, in a week that is much colder, quieter and further from everything than you can quite explain a…