Babusar Pass

Babusar Pass, the highest mountain pass in Kaghan Valley, is located at a distance of 66km from Naran at an elevation of 13,691 feet. It connects Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Chilas, Gilgit Baltistan with Korakuram Highway. It is very cold even in the summer season. There could be snowfall at night in summer season.

The original name of Babusar top was Babur Top, due to the Mughal Emperor Babur. He had passed the region in 16th century by crossing this mountain pass.

It is an interesting visiting spot, as one can enjoy the real coldness of the Kaghan valley there. Most of the time, it has a freezing temperature, specially at night. Due to height, the pressure of airflow is also much high there. This heavy airflow from the surrounding snow-capped peaks causes coldness and low-temperature there. The pass is totally blocked and inaccessible in winter season due to heavy snowfall from November to April. However the Karakoram Highway from the Besham side is available to access Gilgit-Baltistan.

Dangerous Road of Pakistan

Babusar Top is the major crossing between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan. It can be easily accessed by every type of vehicle. One can drive there using own car without any difficulty due to good quality road there. It is considered as the most dangerous road in Pakistan, due to extreme and sharp descending toward Chilas after crossing the Babusar Top. One must control the speed vehicle with care and avoid extra-ordinary use of brakes. Try to reduce the speed by engine brake system by shifting to lower gear. In auto vehicles, use Mountain Gear while descending down from the top. Number of accidents are reported every year due to brake failures, so before drive check vehicle brakes as well as tires condition. Frequently check brake pads and stay them cool if over-heated. Always check the cooling system of your vehicle. Short stays while descending down will be helpful to avoid over-heating of engine and brake pads. Extra-ordinary over-heated brake pads become a reason of brake failure.

Moving down on the zig-zag road toward Chilas is a real adventure while going toward Gilgit-Baltistan, the homeland of the World's highest mountain ranges and peaks. There are several long bends descending sharply downward. Due to heavy gravitational pull, vehicle gets high speed in few seconds, that must be slowed down before the next trek bend.

Babusar Pass Timings

Babusar Pass is only available in summer season from end of May to September and strictly blocked and unavailable to cross in winter season. If you are planning to cross the Babusar Pass to access Gilgit-Baltistan, then it must be necessary to cross it one hour before sunset. Pass is only available in day time to travel. After that, the check posts are not allowed any private vehicle to cross the Pass to move toward the Chilas in Gilgit-Baltistan. It is due to dangerous ascend toward the Chilas side as well as chances of robbery in that area at night.

There are number of security checkpoints on the Naran-Chilas Road near the Babusar Pass area. The purposes of these to confirm the condition of tires and brakes of your vehicles. In case any fault in these, they are not allowed to move forward until faults are repaired or eliminated. They provide guidelines to drive safely and carefully.

After crossing the dangerous descend down, you are now on Karakoram Highway to open the gateway of the high-altitude valleys of the Gilgit-Baltistan. Explore our complete travel guide to plan the next part of your tour in the Hunza Valley.

About Kaghan

Kaghan Valley, a scenic wonderland, is at height of beauty among many beautiful valleys in Hazara in the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Pakistan. It is one hundred and sixty kilometers long valley in the Lower Himalayan mountain range, having an elevation of 2,134 feet to 13,690 feet at Babusar Pass.