A detailed guide to plan one to two days trekking and sight-seeing in Nainital, U.K., India
Posted by
Aman Abhishek Tiwari
on March 23, 2019 ·
11 mins read
Categories:
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Travel
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Photo by Aman Abhishek Tiwari
I know of a very few places around Kanpur where adventure seeking enthusiasts can leave on a Friday evening and return by Sunday or Monday morning. As it turns out, Nainital is just the place where one can visit for a day and spend the day trekking to the summits of two to three peaks around Nainital. The trek will take you through the lush green forests of Kaphal, Sal, Oak, Pine, Buruns, Deodar and Surai trees. Animals like Himalayan languor is also a very common sight and if you get lucky you might even spot deers, and if unlucky….then maybe a bear. With a good enough visibility you can have a breathtaking view of the 300 km wide snow peaked rugged mountains of the Himalayas.
This article is a detailed account of a trip I took to Nainital which included a trek to the China Peak (highest summit around Nainital) on the first day, and a trek which included hiking to the Camel’s Back mountain, China Peak, and Snow View Peak on the second day.
To Nainital
To reach Nainital, first take a train to Lucknow Charbagh station by evening from Kanpur Central. There are trains almost every hour that will take you to Lucknow.
Lucknow to Kathgodam
15043 - Arrives Kathgodam by 0800 hrs (Su, M, W, Th, Fr from Lucknow Junction which is 100m from Lucknow Charbagh). I boarded this train and found it to be mostly empty, even in the General class coach.
13019 - Arrives Kathgodam by 0925 hrs (Daily from Lucknow Charbagh)
After reaching Kathgodam, catch a bus to Nainital. It costs around Rs. 60/- and you will reach there in 1 hr to 1.5 hr.
Trek 1
This trek will take you to the top of the highest peak around Nainital, China Peak. There are two trails through which you can reach the peak. This one takes you to the summit mostly through the southern slopes of the Naina Range which also faces Nainital.
This trail is 8 km long and has an average elevation grade of about 8%.
To take this trail first follow the Mall Road to the High Court. Then take the path behind the High Court to Kilbury road. After reaching the Kilbury road, you will find a trail right across the road to your right. Hike on that trail until it intersects the Kilbury road again where you will also find a small shop where you can have something to eat.
Continue on the trail after crossing the shop. On your way you will find multiple points from where you can have views of the Snow Peaked Himalayas and a view of the Nainital Lake.
Before this trail reaches the summit, it bifurcates at a point. One trail leads straight to the summit, and another leads to a Bird Sanctuary. Take the trail on the left and with a higher gradient, to reach the summit. There is a very small board at that bifurcation indicating which trail leads to the summit, but it’s worn out and it’s difficult to decipher anything from that board. I had to try both the trails for some time to be sure of which path to ultimately take to reach the summit.
The accent will take you around 4 to 5 hours.
From the top you can have a breathtaking view of Nainital and 300 km wide snow-peaked Himalayan ranges.
Trek 2:
This trek will take you first to the summit of the Camel’s Back mountain, China peak, and Snow view peak.
Camel’s Back is the second highest peak around Nainital after China peak. And it’s more challenging to climb it’s summit than China peak because of very narrow and rocky trails and dense forest, where at some places you can also lose your path if you are not careful.
This trail mostly lies on the northern slopes of the Naina range which is not inhabited by the locals and you can spot deers and monkeys roaming around. You should also be careful of bears roaming around this region. So, it’s advised not to hike alone on this trail.
To reach Camel’s back peak, follow the Mall road to the path behind the High Court, and take that path to the Kilbury road as in Trek 1. After reaching Kilbury road, take a left and walk along the Kilbury road for about half a kilometer until you find the trail which will lead you to the Satyanarayan Temple. This trail is a cemented path for some distance.
This trail bifurcates at the Satyanarayan Temple. One leads to the summit of the Camel’s back peak and another will lead you to the China peak. First take the trail to the Camel’s back peak, there are no more bifurcations ahead. It will take you another half an hour to reach the peak.
After reaching the Camel’s back peak, return to the bifurcation and take the trail leading to the China peak. This trail also bifurcates at a point, take the trail with the higher gradient at the bifurcation. It will take you straight to the peak. This trail meets the another trail at the peak. This is the same trail which we took to reach China peak in Trek 1.
Take the trail from Trek 1 to descend from China peak until you reach its first intersection with Kilbury road near the small shop.
From that intersection you can directly reach the trail leading to the Snow View peak. It’s a relatively easy hike to this peak. Ask around to get specific directions.
There are adventure parks around this peak along with restaurants and view-points from where you can have a view of the Himalayan ranges.
There are many paths to descend from the Snow View peak and reach the nainital lake.
There are no places to eat on the way to Camel’s back peak and China peak, so, you may want to take something to eat with you.
From Nainital to Kanpur:
You can catch a bus to Kathgodam station at Nainital Bus station by 1800hrs.
After this you can take any one of the frequent trains from Lucknow to Kanpur Central.
Cost and Other info:
I found that it’s easy to travel in general coach for the train journey. Specially in 15043/44 as it was not crowded and I even got a place to sleep. And since it starts from Lucknow, you can easily get a place to sit or sleep if you try. I took a yoga mat along with me for sleeping. General coaches won’t cost you more than Rs. 120 for a one-way trip.
Hotels around Nainital are expensive. During non-season time, a double room can cost something like Rs.600 and the same room could cost you around Rs. 1500 when Nainital is filled with tourists. If you are here just for a day then you can avoid booking a hotel which is what I did for the first day. Although, hiking with a 10kg backpack can make the trek a bit difficult. Also, I couldn’t find a Clock room in Nainital.
You should also take some medicines with you for the trip. With the help of the pharmacists at the Apollo Pharmacy (IITK) and suggestions from the internet, I took the following medicines with me - Wikoryl (relief from cold and fever symptoms), Metrogyl, Digene (anti-acid), Promethazine Theoclate Tablets (motion sickness), Azithromycin tablets (anti-biotic), ORS, moov, Framycetin skin cream, and adhesive bandages. Along with these you should also take Vaseline petroleum jelly, sunscreen, soap, and some body lotion.
For food I relied on peanut butter sandwiches. Peanut butter is a rich source of energy, protein and fat. For me, two sandwiches in the morning before the hike was all I needed. After which you can have your lunch of peanut butter sandwich before descending. You can buy both peanut butter and bread at the Campus-e shop and take it along with you. I found that 400g of peanut butter and two packets of bread (with around 15 to 20 slices in each) was sufficient for a two day trip. Along with this you can take lemon and honey, or glucose with you to keep you energetic throughout the hike. If you are following these suggestions, then also bring along a spoon and a knife with you.
I was getting an Airtel signal strong enough for calling almost everywhere except while hiking on the northern slopes of the Nanda devi Range. Still, I wasn’t able to get a good internet speed on a 3G network anywhere in Nainital. Although, I am told by the locals that Jeo 4G works best in Nainital.