Karnali River

10 Days River Trek in Karnali River

10 Days rafting

General information

One of the finest big volume rafting and kayaking trips in Nepal and definitely the best combination trip, trekking, white water rafting and wilderness.

The Karnali is Nepal's longest and largest river and with its tributaries, it drains most of the Far West of Nepal. The rapids are also pretty wild, with the river building to its climax in these lower canyons. In terms of volume, the river is comparable to the Sun Kosi, but the Karnali is more constrained by its canyon walls, giving bigger, mote continuous and serious rapids. This constrained nature of the river means that any increase in volume has more pronounced effect on the difficulty of the rapids and this makes it a river that is best run at low flows. Highest extreme instantaneous discharge measured at Chisapani was an incredible 21,700 cumecs.

The trek to start of the river trip is pleasant and highly scenic. It climbs through mixed forest and then traverses two ridge tops with excellent panoramic views of the Bheri forests.

Day Description Option "A"

01.        Drive to Bhutwal by private bus, camp at Bhutwal.
02.        Drive to Surkhet and overnight camping.
03.        Trek from Surkhet to Dhanigad, overnight camping.
04.        Trek from Dhanigad to Kareleghat, camp at the river bank.
05.        Rafting from Kareleghat and overnight camping.
06.        Rafting day and camping on the beach.
07.        Rafting day, camping on the beach near the confluence of the Seti
             River.
08.        Rafting day, camping on the beach after passing Bijura Village.
09.        Rafting to Chisapani, end of the trip, drive back to Kathmandu by private
            bus.
10.        Arrival in Kathmandu

Option B

01.        Fly to Nepalgunj, overnight at the hotel.
02.         Drive to Surkhet and overnight camping.
03.         Trek from Surkhet to Dhanigad, overnight camping.
04.         Trek from Dhanigad to Kareleghat, camp at the river bank.
05.         Rafting from Kareleghat and overnight camping.
06.         Rafting day and camping on the beach.
07.         Rafting day, camping on the beach near the confluence of the Seti
             River.
08.        Rafting day, camping on the beach after passing Bijura Village.
09.        Rafting to Chisapani, end of the trip, drive back to Kathmandu by
             private bus.
10.        Arrival in Kathmandu

Option C

01.        Fly to Nepalgunj, overnight at the hotel.
02         Drive to Surkhet and overnight camping.
03         Trek from Surkhet to Dhanigad, overnight camping.
04.        Trek from Dhanigad to Kareleghat, camp at the river bank.
05.        Rafting from Kareleghat and overnight camping.
06.        Rafting day and camping on the beach.
07.        Rafting day, camping on the beach near the confluence of the Seti
             River.
08.        Rafting day, camping on the beach after passing Bijura Village.
09.        Raft ends at Chisapani, drive to Nepalgunj and overnight at the hotel.
10.        Fly back to Kathmandu.

Profile
From	Sauli	Alt. 560 m
To	Chisapani	Alt. 195 m
Distance	180 kms
River days	5-7 days
From Kathmandu	3 days
Difficulty in November	Class 4 (5)
Average gradient	0.2 % (10 ft a mile)
Est. max. gradient	0.5 %
Volume in November	300 cumecs
Best season	Nov > Dec and Mar > Apr