It is a study, not a build
Over Rs 41 million is allocated to determine whether the disconnected segments can be expanded and merged into a two-lane highway. The goal is to upgrade existing one-way tracks and open new ones where they do not exist.
Proposed / feasibility study stage
The East-West Himalayan Highway
पूर्व-पश्चिम पर्यटकीय हिमाली राजमार्ग
Nepal wants a two-lane tourist road running the length of its mountain belt, from Api Nampa in Darchula to Pathibhara in Taplejung — a corridor the Prime Minister argues should outshine the Swiss Alps. Today most of that line is dirt track, trekking trail, or nothing at all. Here is what it would connect, what already exists at each stop, and how you actually get there now.
16
Mountain districts
Rs 41m+
E-W feasibility study
Rs 163m+
N-S study & upgrade
None
Under construction
Where this comes from
Figures and route names on this page come from a single published report, and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development has budgeted only for feasibility studies. Nothing here is under construction. Treat it as a stated intention, not a schedule.
Clickmandu, 15 June 2026Corridor map
Where the stops actually sit
All 9 stops the report places on the corridor, numbered west to east to match the sequence below.
- The dotted line
- Joins the stops in order, nothing more. No alignment has been surveyed, so this is not the road’s route — the real one would have to climb and detour around everything between.
- Hollow markers
- Lukla — on the report's route but not yet covered here, so there is nothing to link to.
Loading map...
- 1Api Nampa
- 2Saipal
- 3Badimalika
- 4Rara Lake
- 5Muktinath
- 6Gosaikunda
- 7Kalinchowk
- 8Lukla — no page yet
- 9Pathibhara
The argument
“While the world raves about the meadows of Switzerland and the mountains of Europe, the natural splendour of places like Badimalika in Bajura remains unrivalled yet unexplored.”
Prime Minister Balen Shah, campaigning in Dhangadhi, as reported by Clickmandu. His case is that Nepal is naturally wealthier than Europe, and that Pathibhara in the east and Khaptad in the west stay obscure for want of access rather than want of beauty.
The corridor, west to east
Nine stops on a line that is mostly not a road
Six of these are hubs the report names as link targets. Three more appear only on its route graphic. Read left to right — Darchula to Taplejung.
- 01Named hub
Api Nampa
Darchula / Sudurpaschim
Western terminus in the report's list of hubs the network would link.
Open page
- 02Named hub
Saipal
Bajhang / Sudurpaschim
A 7,031 m peak with no road approach; the report names it as a hub.
Open page
- 03On the map
Badimalika
Bajura / Sudurpaschim
The Prime Minister's headline comparison to the meadows of Switzerland. On the report's map, and the only station reached solely on foot.
Open page
- 04Named hub
Rara Lake
Mugu / Karnali
Nepal's largest lake, and the only Karnali hub the report names.
Open page
- 05Named hub
Muktinath
Mustang / Gandaki
The one confirmed paved section: the report says Kagbeni to Muktinath is already sealed road.
Open page
- 06On the map
Gosaikunda
Rasuwa / Bagmati
On the report's map, inside Langtang — one of the two national parks the report calls environmentally sensitive.
Open page
- 07On the map
Kalinchowk
Dolakha / Bagmati
On the report's map. The one station on it that is already a mass-market destination — Kathmandu's winter snow trip.
Open page
- 08Named hub
Lukla
Solukhumbu / Koshi
Named as a hub. Today the way in is the Tenzing-Hillary airstrip or a multi-day walk.
No page yet
- 09Named hub
Pathibhara
Taplejung / Koshi
The eastern end of the corridor as described — the network would 'eventually reach' here.
Open page
The order shown follows the report's own west-to-east description. It is not a surveyed alignment — no alignment has been published, and the study is meant to determine one.
Access today
What is actually on the ground
Only what the report states. It gives five specific conditions and one aggregate for everything else — there is no published district-by-district survey, so there is no such table here.
Plan real transport instead- Sealed road
Kagbeni – Muktinath, Mustang
The only stretch the report describes as already enjoying paved road.
- Foot only
Much of Sudurpaschim and Karnali
Many areas are currently only accessible on foot, requiring days of trekking.
- High pass
Thorong La, Manang
The central sections involve crossing passes such as Thorong La, at over 5,400 m.
- Restricted terrain
Langtang and Makalu Barun national parks
Described as environmentally sensitive and geographically daunting.
- Track or trail
The remainder of the proposed route
Rugged dirt tracks or narrow trekking trails, with many sections lacking any road access whatsoever. The report states this in aggregate, not district by district.
How you reach it now
The corridor runs on airstrips, not asphalt
Until a road exists, these are the real entry points to the sixteen mountain districts — west to east, then jeep, bus, or foot.
- 01DHI
Dhangadhi Airport
Gateway for far-west Nepal including Shuklaphanta National Park (Kanchanpur) and Api Nampa Conservation Area (Darchula). Also a staging point for Khaptad National Park.
- 02Weather-proneTHL
Rara Airport (Talcha)
Only air access to Rara Lake (Mugu district). Served from Nepalgunj by small STOL aircraft on a limited, weather-dependent schedule. Allow at least 2 buffer days in each direction.
- 03Weather-proneJUM
Jumla Airport
Gateway for treks in the Karnali region and an alternative approach to Rara Lake.
- 04Weather-proneDOP
Dolpa Airport (Juphal)
Only air access to the Dolpo region and Shey Phoksundo National Park. Served from Nepalgunj by Twin Otter; highly weather-sensitive. Expect delays and plan 2+ buffer days.
- 05Weather-proneJMO
Jomsom Airport
Mountain airport in the Kali Gandaki valley; morning weather windows are important.
- 06Weather-pronePPL
Phaplu Airport
Alternative gateway for the Everest region; lower elevation and often better weather than Lukla. Popular for those wanting to trek through the 'Lower Khumbu'.
- 07Weather-proneLUA
Tenzing-Hillary Airport
Short takeoff and landing airport serving the Everest region; flights are highly weather-sensitive.
- 08Weather-proneTMI
Tumlingtar Airport
Primary air entry point for Makalu-Barun National Park trekking and the eastern Kanchenjunga approach. Weather-sensitive STOL strip; build at least one buffer day.
- 09BDP
Chandragadhi Airport
Eastern Nepal airport at Bhadrapur/Jhapa; useful for Ilam, Pathibhara, and Kanchenjunga approaches.
Already documented
The mountain districts are not blank
Places, peaks, and walking routes we already cover in the same sixteen districts. None of these are official corridor stops.
Doti
Khaptad National Park
A mystical highland plateau in far-western Nepal with rolling grasslands, ancient forests, and the spiritual hermitage of Khaptad Baba — Nepal's most remote national park.
Jumla
Sinja Valley
The 12th-century Khas Malla capital in Jumla district and the birthplace of the Nepali language — stone inscriptions, palace ruins and the Kanaka Sundari temple, on Nepal's UNESCO tentative list.
Jumla
Jumla
The old Khas capital at 2,514m in Karnali — apple orchards, red Marsi rice terraces, and the road-and-air gateway to Rara Lake and Sinja Valley.
Dolpa
Shey Phoksundo Lake
Nepal's deepest lake in remote Dolpa, a turquoise jewel surrounded by Himalayan peaks and ancient Bon monasteries in a pristine trans-Himalayan landscape.
Mustang
Lo Manthang
The walled medieval capital of the former Kingdom of Lo in Upper Mustang, with a royal palace, Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, and four-storey whitewashed mud-brick houses at 3,840m.
Mustang
Kagbeni
A medieval mud-brick village at the gateway to Upper Mustang, where the Kali Gandaki and Jhong rivers meet, with the 15th-century Kag Chode Thupten Samphel Ling monastery.
Rasuwa
Langtang National Park
Nepal's first Himalayan national park — a glaciated valley of yak pastures, rhododendron forest and Tamang villages within a day's drive of Kathmandu.
Solukhumbu
Makalu Barun National Park
A pristine eastern wilderness beneath Mt Makalu — the only protected area on earth spanning tropical forest to 8,000m peaks, with the untouched Barun valley at its heart.
Solukhumbu
Sagarmatha National Park
A UNESCO World Heritage Site encompassing Mount Everest and surrounding peaks, glaciers, and Sherpa villages in the Khumbu region.
Taplejung
Taplejung (Phungling)
Eastern Nepal's mountain gateway at 1,441m — the staging town for Kanchenjunga and Pathibhara, and the heartland of Limbu (Yakthung) culture.
Taplejung
Kanchenjunga Conservation Area
Nepal's far-eastern wilderness beneath the world's third-highest peak — a community-managed snow leopard and red panda landscape on the Sikkim border.
Walk it today
Khaptad Ashram Approach
Bajhang / strenuous
30 km · 3 d · 3,050 m
Upper Mustang Trek
Mustang / moderate
170 km · 14 d · 4,010 m
Kagbeni to Muktinath Pilgrim Walk
Mustang / challenging
11 km · 3,710 m
Gosaikunda Lake Trek
Rasuwa / moderate
70 km · 8 d · 4,610 m
Langtang Valley Trek
Rasuwa / moderate
70 km · 8 d · 5,130 m
Pathivara Foot Approach
Taplejung / strenuous
6 km · 3,794 m
Skyline above the route
The other half of the plan
Six North-South arteries
Alongside the Himalayan spine, six existing routes from the southern border to the northern passes would be widened to four-lane expressways, with over Rs 163 million in the Ministry's Red Book for study and upgrading. The report names five of the six.
- 01High priority
Gauriphanta – Attariya – Badimalika
Sudurpaschim
- 02
Jamunaha – Hilsa
West
- 03High priority
Bhairahawa – Korala
Lumbini to Mustang
- 04
Birgunj – Rasuwagadhi
Central
- 05
Rani – Kimathanka
East
- 06
Section not named
The report counts six funded sections but names five.
Reality check
Visionary, and years away
The terrain is the problem
Central sections involve days of trekking and passes above 5,400 m. Ministry spokesperson Ramhari Pokhrel is quoted on the funding; infrastructure experts quoted in the same report say completion will take years of sustained effort.
Two national parks are in the way
Stretches through Langtang and Makalu Barun are described as environmentally sensitive and geographically daunting — the kind of constraint a feasibility study exists to price.
- Does the East-West Himalayan Highway exist yet?
- No. As reported on 15 June 2026, the project is at feasibility-study stage. The Ministry of Infrastructure Development has budgeted over Rs 41 million to study whether the disconnected segments across sixteen Himalayan districts can be expanded and merged into a two-lane highway. No alignment, total length, construction cost, or completion date has been published.
- Which places would the highway connect?
- The report names Api Nampa in Darchula, Saipal in Bajhang, Rara Lake in Mugu, Muktinath in Mustang, and Lukla in Solukhumbu, eventually reaching Pathibhara in Taplejung. Its route graphic also marks Badimalika, Gosaikunda, and Kalinchowk.
- Can I drive the route today?
- No. The report describes most of the proposed corridor as rugged dirt track or narrow trekking trail, with many sections having no road access at all. Only Kagbeni to Muktinath is described as already paved. Large parts of Sudurpaschim and Karnali are reachable on foot only, requiring days of trekking.
- How do travellers reach these areas now?
- By domestic flight to the nearest airstrip, then by jeep, local bus, or on foot. Dhangadhi, Talcha, Jumla, Juphal, Jomsom, Phaplu, Lukla, Tumlingtar, and Chandragadhi are the airports that serve the corridor districts, west to east.
- What are the North-South tourist highways?
- A separate part of the same plan. Six road sections running from the southern border to the northern passes would be upgraded to four-lane expressways, with over Rs 163 million allocated in the Ministry's Red Book for study and upgrading. Named sections include Gauriphanta–Attariya–Badimalika, Jamunaha–Hilsa, Bhairahawa–Korala, Birgunj–Rasuwagadhi, and Rani–Kimathanka.
- Is the Swiss Alps comparison the government's own?
- Yes. The framing comes from Prime Minister Balen Shah, who argued at a Dhangadhi rally that while the world raves about the meadows of Switzerland and the mountains of Europe, the natural splendour of places like Badimalika in Bajura remains unrivalled yet unexplored.