Flower meadows
Alpine flowers.
Naresh Chandra — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Belur Ashok from Secunderabad, India — CC BY 2.0 · Belur Ashok from Secunderabad, India — CC BY 2.0 · Naveensylvan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Belur Ashok from Secunderabad, India — CC BY 2.0
The Valley of Flowers is an Indian national park established in 1982 in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, in the Himalaya, about 20 km north of the town of Joshimath in a straight line. It is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the variety of its plants. The park lies between 3,352 and 3,658 metres, is about 8 km long and 2 km wide, and covers 87.5 square kilometres. With neighbouring Nanda Devi National Park it forms part of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. In 1931 three British mountaineers lost their way returning from Mount Kamet and came upon the valley full of flowers; they named it the Valley of Flowers, and one of them later wrote a book of that name. Asiatic black bears, snow leopards and musk deer live here. The green valley runs between towering snow-capped mountains, a carpet of colourful flowers covers its floor in summer, and thin waterfalls pour from the cliffs into clear, rocky streams. Clouds wrap the peaks on most days, giving the place a dreamlike feel. The park is open only in summer, from June to October, and lies under heavy snow the rest of the year. Visitors arrive on foot on a long mountain trek from the villages below, and it helps to spend a night before the climb. The weather is changeable and rainy, so bring waterproofs.
Alpine flowers.
From the cliffs.
Around the valley.
Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India
June to October.
No, it is reached on foot.