Dev Kyara Bugyal

Dev Kyara Bugyal — Uttarakhand's Forgotten Meadow of Wild Horses

Dev Kyara is one of the largest, least-visited high-altitude meadows in Uttarakhand — a rolling grassland at 13,200 ft spread above the Asi Ganga valley in the Yamunotri range. Where the Roopkund and Ali-Bedni meadows have become standard fixtures on India's trek circuit, Dev Kyara remains an outlier: shepherds still graze sheep and water buffalo here through the summer, descendants of trader-era pack ponies still drift across the grass in small bands, and most batches of trekkers cross only one or two other groups in a week. The trek is a seven-day moderate route from Dehradun via Dunda, Agora, and the sacred lake of Dodital, climbing finally onto the bugyal proper.

The geography of the Asi Ganga catchment

Dev Kyara sits at the eastern end of the Yamunotri group — a sub-range of the Garhwal Himalayas dominated by the Bandarpoonch massif (Bandarpoonch I, 20,722 ft) and Black Peak / Kalanag (21,765 ft). The bugyal occupies a long lateral bench above the Asi Ganga, the river that drains the southern flank of Bandarpoonch into the Bhagirathi at Dunda. From the meadow's western edge you can see the entire Bandarpoonch wall in profile; from the eastern viewpoint, on a clear morning, the Gangotri group's Sudarshan Parbat and Jaonli are visible in the distance. The bugyal itself was carved by a retreating glacier roughly ten thousand years ago and is now a textbook example of a hanging meadow — flat, well-drained, and ringed by gentle 14,000 ft ridges.

The route via Dodital

The classical approach climbs from Sangam Chatti (5,200 ft) through Agora village (7,500 ft), a Garhwali hamlet famous locally as the birthplace of Olympic shooter Jaspal Rana, to the alpine lake of Dodital (10,200 ft). Dodital is a perfectly clear glacial pool ringed by spruce and rhododendron, and is sacred to Lord Ganesh — local Garhwali tradition holds it as the deity's birthplace and a small stone shrine sits at the lake's eastern end. From Dodital the trail climbs over the Darwa Pass shoulder at 12,000 ft, where the treeline gives way and the entire Bandarpoonch panorama opens, before traversing north into the Dev Kyara basin. The full distance from Dunda to the meadow and back is roughly 50 km over six walking days.

What you'll see on the meadow

Dev Kyara in early summer (late May to mid-June) is at its most photogenic — ankle-deep grass, scattered Brahma kamal and primula, and small groups of feral horses. These ponies are the genetic remnants of trade-era pack animals abandoned by Garhwali traders generations ago; the local shepherds insist they no longer recognise human handlers and keep a 50-metre buffer. From the Dev Kyara Top viewpoint at 13,200 ft you get an unbroken 180° panorama from Bandarpoonch in the west to the Gangotri peaks in the east. Sunrise here is exceptional; the meadow runs east-west and catches the first light across its full length.

Best time to trek

Dev Kyara is only reliably accessible from late May to mid-October. The early-summer window (May 15 – June 25) is the wildflower season; September and early October are post-monsoon, with the clearest skies and golden grass. July and August are monsoon — the trail is leech-prone, the river crossings are dangerous, and visibility is usually poor. Winter (November to April) sees deep snow and the bugyal is impassable.

Camping and infrastructure

The trail is rustic — there are stone shepherd huts (chaanis) on the meadow, a forest department hut at Dodital, and homestays in Agora. We camp in two-person tents on the meadow with sleeping bags rated to -5°C and a kitchen tent for hot meals. There is no mobile network past Agora; we carry a satellite communicator for emergencies. Pit toilets are provided at every camp.

Who this trek is for

Dev Kyara is a moderate trek suited to fit beginners with a tolerance for long days. The total ascent is 9,000 ft over four walking days, with the highest sleep at 13,000 ft and the highest viewpoint at 13,200 ft — modest by Himalayan standards but enough to require AMS awareness. We recommend trekkers be able to comfortably jog 5 km in 35 minutes for at least three weeks before the trek. If you've done Roopkund, Brahmatal, or Kuari Pass, this is a natural step up in remoteness without a step up in technical difficulty.

Why this trek is unique

Most Uttarakhand meadow treks (Bedni, Dayara, Phulara, Brahmatal) have been on the operator circuit for decades and now see hundreds of trekkers per peak weekend. Dev Kyara genuinely doesn't — it has remained off the catalogue partly because the approach is long and partly because the Asi Ganga valley sees fewer trekkers than the Bhagirathi or the Pindar. The result is a week on a meadow that feels closer to how the popular bugyals must have felt thirty years ago, before the trail register was a paperback.

Reach Dehradun. Our shared transport leaves at 6:30 AM on Day 1 and reaches Dunda (near Uttarkashi) in 6-7 hours.

Cancellations must be requested in writing.

- More than 30 days before the trek start date: 90% refund. - 21–30 days before: 50% refund. - 11–20 days before: 25% refund. - 10 days or fewer: no refund, but you may transfer your slot to another trekker or to any future batch within 12 months at no extra charge.

Refunds are processed to the original payment method within 7-10 working days. Trip cancellations triggered by us (weather, force majeure, government restrictions) are refunded in full or moved to an alternate batch at your option.