The Karakoram Highway is not just a road. It is a 1,300km engineering achievement that crosses three of the world's greatest mountain ranges, follows ancient Silk Road trading routes and offers a different dramatic vista around every bend.
What Is the Karakoram Highway?
The KKH, officially the N-35, runs from Rawalpindi in Punjab north to the Chinese border at Khunjerab Pass (4,693m). The Pakistani section alone is roughly 1,300km. Construction took 20 years, required 15,000 Pakistani and 10,000 Chinese workers and cost an estimated 900 lives. Completed in 1978, it remains one of the greatest road-building achievements in history.
For travellers it is simply one of the most spectacular drives on Earth — through gorges where rock walls rise thousands of metres above you, along the Indus and Hunza rivers for hundreds of kilometres, and through landscapes ranging from scorched desert to lush green valley to high-altitude tundra.
Key Stops Along the Route
Islamabad (Start)
A pre-dawn start is ideal to reach Besham by lunch and Chilas by evening on day one.
Chilas
Most common overnight stop. Gateway to Fairy Meadows via Raikot Bridge 70km north.
Gilgit
Capital of Gilgit-Baltistan and the junction of the north. Junction for Hunza, Chitral and Skardu.
Hunza Valley
The KKH runs through all of Hunza from Gilgit to Sost. Rakaposhi, Attabad Lake and Passu Cones all roadside.
Passu
The iconic Cones and Passu Glacier, plus Borith Lake — the warm, swimable glacial lake.
Khunjerab Pass
4,693m — the world's highest paved international border. Snow even in July. The China-Pakistan marker is unmissable.
The Rock Carvings — A Silk Road Museum
One of the KKH's most underappreciated features is the thousands of ancient rock carvings alongside the road. The Chilas area alone has over 30,000 carvings from the Bronze Age through to the Islamic period — one of the densest collections of rock art in Central Asia. Buddhist stupas, animals, hunting scenes and ancient scripts carved into boulders above the Indus River. We always stop at Thalpan near Chilas.
Our Favourite Roadside Stops
- Rakaposhi viewpoint, Hunza: The best single roadside stop on the entire KKH. Pull over, drink chai from the stall and look at a 7,788m mountain for as long as you can.
- Attabad Lake: The turquoise lake is visible from the road. We stop for photos and, if time allows, a short boat ride.
- Passu Cones: The jagged rock towers are right beside the road north of Hunza — one of Pakistan's most photographed views.
- Borith Lake: A warm, shallow glacial lake near Passu that is swimable in summer and surrounded by mountains.
- Ondra Fort staircase, Gulmit: A 1,655-step stone staircase — the longest in Pakistan — with commanding Karakoram views at the top.
How Long Should You Spend?
A minimum of 5-6 days is needed to drive the KKH properly from Lahore to Khunjerab and back. Our Grand North Expedition combines the full KKH with Skardu and Hunza in 8-10 days. If you want to do it justice, give it 10-14 days and stop wherever looks interesting — which is essentially everywhere.
WhatsApp Ahmad to plan a KKH road trip around your specific dates and interests.
