Riding in Uttarakhand During Monsoon

By Himanshu, who's ridden these roads since 2015 · Last updated August 2026

This is the post where we talk people out of trips, so it’s worth saying up front: monsoon riding here can be extraordinary. Everything is green in a way photographs don’t convey, the waterfalls run, the crowds vanish and rooms are cheap.

It’s also the season where roads close, and the honest version of the advice matters more than usual.

What Actually Happens

Uttarakhand takes serious rain from roughly late June to early September. On mountain roads that means:

Landslides. Routine, not exceptional. A slope lets go, a JCB clears it, traffic waits — sometimes two hours, sometimes two days. The Rudraprayag–Guptkashi, Chamoli–Joshimath and Bhatwari–Gangotri stretches are the usual suspects.

Persistent wet surface. Roads that dried out by lunchtime in October stay wet for days. Broken, wet surface on a loaded bike is where mistakes happen.

Valley cloud. Visibility down to a few metres, arriving without warning, usually on the section with no barrier.

River crossings. Small streams across the road become significant, fast-moving water.

Official closures. The state issues advisories and closes routes. They are not decoration and the checkposts enforce them.

What Stays Rideable

Not everything shuts. These are generally fine in monsoon with sensible riding:

• Around Rishikesh — Neelkanth, Kunjapuri, Shivpuri, Byasi. Slippery on the forest sections, otherwise fine
• Devprayag — main highway, well maintained, generally open
• Tehri Lake and Chamba — lower altitude, less landslide-prone
• Mussoorie, Dhanaulti, Kanatal — sealed, well-maintained, and green beyond description in July

What to Think Hard About

• Kedarnath — the Guptkashi stretch is exposed
• Badrinath — Chamoli–Joshimath is one of the more landslide-prone roads in the state
• Gangotri — the Bhatwari section is cut into rock above a river
• Chopta — the Ukhimath climb, plus leeches on the trek
• The full Chardham — twelve days across all four of the above

The Exception — Valley of Flowers

The one thing that only exists in monsoon.

The Valley of Flowers peaks roughly mid-July to mid-August, on the Govindghat road, in the middle of everything described above. If that’s your trip, this is when. Build in two spare days and accept that a closure is a real possibility.

How to Ride a Monsoon Trip Properly

Build in spare days. Two, minimum, on any route above Rudraprayag. A four-day itinerary with a flight on day five is how this goes wrong.

Ask every morning. We track what’s open on these roads daily in season. Message us before each leg — it takes thirty seconds and it’s the single most useful thing you can do.

Start early, stop early. Rain tends to build through the afternoon. Ride 6 AM to 2 PM and you’ll miss most of it.

Take a Himalayan. Dual-purpose tyres and suspension travel matter more in the wet than in the dry, and it isn’t close. Himalayan 411 or 450.

Never ride through moving water you can’t see the bottom of. Depth and what’s underneath are both unknown. Wait, or turn around.

Never park below a slope overnight. Obvious once said, rarely done.

Waterproof everything. Dry bags or bin liners inside your luggage. Packing list →

If a Closure Ends Your Trip

We refund unused rental days. A landslide is not your fault and we don’t profit from one. Terms →

We’d also rather you called us and turned back than pushed on because the rental clock was running. That’s worth saying explicitly.

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