Champadevi Hiking

If there’s one popular hiking in Nepal, Champadevi Hiking deserves the prominent spot. Close to Kathmandu, with a well-maintained hiking route, and shorter trail distance, it has been popular among every age group. Champadevi Hill sits just 20 km from Kathmandu, 30 minutes drive from Kathmandu, in Dakshinkali Municipality. It has two starting points, Khare and Bhanjyang, with the latter being more popular.

The culmination of this day hike takes you to Champadevi Temple, which holds the religious values of Hindu pilgrims. And for health-conscious hikers, it’s an ideal hilltop destination close to the capital, Kathmandu. Moreover, those seeking to get lost in the woods from the hustle and bustle of the city find Champadevi Hill a place to be, at least for a few hours.

Champadevi Hiking Cost

Most Nepali prefer hiking here with friends during the weekend. However, for foreigners, hiking here can be strenuous. Moreover, unguided in the deep forest, you may lose the trail.

Hence, if you’ve planned a guided Champa Devi Day Hike, we can help you. Here are the cost details of our guided Champa Devi Hiking for 2024.

Cost Details

Champadevi Hiking Itinerary (Phases)

Throughout this four to five-hour day hike, you’ll complete different phases. You’ll rest, rehydrate, or sit somewhere on the route for packed lunch and snacks. Also, there are some photographic locations on Champadevi Hills where you’ll stop for photographs.

Overall, you’ll stop on this hike in four to five noticeable spots.

Phase 1: Catch a bus from RNAC to Pharping Bhanjyang (30-40 minutes). Hike to Haatiban Resort (20 minutes)

If you’re taking public vehicles from RNAC and Ratnapark area, you should take a local bus to Pharping Bhanjyang. It’s roughly a 20 km distance and takes 40 minutes on a local bus to reach there.

If you have a private vehicle, you’ll reach even faster.

Upon reaching Bhanjyang, you’ll start the hike to Hattiban Resort, a 20-minute uphill walk. There’s also a road that links to this resort from Bhanjyang. It’s an uphill hike to the lodge.

Your Champadevi Hiking Route officially starts from here. With a hiking guide from NepTrek, you’ll get a short briefing session. Also, it’s a last stop to refill your water bottles. However, you can continue here if you’re alone.

Phase 2: Hike from Haatiban Resort to Champadevi Temple (2 hours)

After leaving Haatiban Resort, you’ll hike on the road for 30 minutes. However, the road doesn’t mean you’ll also encounter buses. You may experience some motorbikes and cycles.

From the road section, you’ll get a clear picture of different areas of Lalitpur, including Khokana. You’ll hike along a pine forest with a trail covered with pine litter.

The stone-paved stairs descend to a junction where the hikers hike up from Khare instead of Bhanjyang. Here, you’ll stop at a tin-roofed resting spot to rehydrate. Also, there are many bayberry plants around, which you can taste during March.

The hiking route becomes steep for 20 minutes until you reach another resting spot. Here, you may/may not find a small shop run by a woman. She usually sets up her mini shop and sells cucumber, papaya, tea, and other juices. But it’s a temporary shop.

From here, the trail to Champadevi Temple is a steep ascend. On a sunny day, you may feel the heat and sweat. Thus, a cap is highly recommended. There are a few shades where you could stop for rehydration. Also, some sections allow you to pick the beautiful view of the Kathmandu Valley.

About an hour’s hike from this small shop takes you to the top of Champadevi Hill, at Champadevi Temple.

Phase 3: Sightseeing, rest, and lunch at Champadevi Temple (1 hour, 2,180 meters)

With some tiring uphill hike on stone paved stairs takes you to the ultimate destination of this hike. You may not see the temple with a silver roof and four concrete walls as a temple. But, there are several different statues beautifully placed atop Champadevi Hill. It’s the highest point you’ll reach on this day hike.

Next to the temple sits beautiful seating with and without tin roofs. Surrounded by trees from all sides, you may feel the fresh air blowing on your face. You’ll get the freshness and liveliness of being in the woods.

You can stop for an hour, rest, rehydrate, and eat snacks/lunch.

Phase 4: Hike down to Pharping Bhanjyang from Champadevi Hill (2 hours)

Two hours of a total downhill hike from the Champadevi Temple takes you to Pharping Bhanjyang. While returning, near Haatiban Resort, two tiny tea houses serve tea, noodles, and dumplings. You can stop by one of these to make your belly happy again.

Upon reaching Bhanjyang, you must wait for the bus to return to Ratnapark.

Phase 5: Take a bus from Pharping Bhanjyang to Ratnapark (20 km, 40 minutes)

Dakshinkali bus departs from Bhanjyang at every 30-minute interval. Thus, you may need to wait to catch a bus to Ratnapark. Also, on some occasions, you may not get the bus for an hour or so.

Upon booking this day hike with us, we’ll provide you with the transportation service on time.

It takes 40 minutes for a local bus to reach Ratnapark once it leaves Bhanjyang.

Additional Info for Champadevi Hiking

Plan the hike on non holidays and week days

Non-holidays are best for Champadevi Hiking. As this hiking route gets filled with hikers on weekends, you may need a more peaceful hike experience.

Since only a few hikers hike here on weekdays, you’ll have a fantastic hike experience. Also, on non-holidays, you’ll get the Ratnapark-Bhanjyang bus quickly.

Carry adequate drinking water

Carrying two litres of water keeps you hydrated throughout this day’s hike. You can purchase a few water bottles at the shops in Pharping Bhanjyang. It would be best to carry a two-litre water bottle from your house. This way, you’ll return your water bottle rather than throw it on the trail.

There are no running water taps or shops en route to Champadevi Hill Hike. The last place you’ll find running water is at Haatiban Resort. Thus, carrying water on this trail is a must.

Most sections of this trail get direct sunlight. So, while hiking, you’ll feel the heat and thirst. Thus, carrying adequate water on this hike is among the essential thing you should take advantage of.

Carry snacks and packed lunch

There are no restaurants or tea houses on Champadevi Hiking Route. You may see one mini-shop owned by a local woman. However, there needs to be a fixed day for this to remain open.

Thus, it would help if you carried a pack of snacks and lunch for this day’s hike. Fruits like bananas and apples are highly recommended as they give instant energy. Also, the energy from these fruits sustains longer.

The best-packed lunch can be potato fries and fried rice with pickles. Eating these meals atop Champadevi Hill feels so good. Also, you’ll reenergize for the return hike to Bhanjyang.

Don’t litter on Champadevi Hiking Route

With more and more hikers on the route, Champadevi Hiking Route has become one of the dirtiest hiking trails in Nepal. Plastic water bottles, chocolate and noodle wrappers, and polyethene are major pollutants on this route.

NepTrek volunteered on Champadevi Hiking Route Cleanup Campaign to address this issue in May. With more than 25 volunteers, we collected 30 garbage bags full of non-biodegradable rubbish from the trail.

While hiking there, we request you not litter any non-biodegradable waste on the trails. And if you feel like volunteering, please collect some rubbish from the track.

Champadevi Hiking: Hire a licensed trek guide

If you can afford a trekking guide on this hike, go for it. A guide becomes your hiking partner and your caretaker throughout the day. Outdoor, particularly on hiking trails, you may get injured. During such times, your hiking guide provides you with timely first aid.

We recommend hiring a hiking guide for Champadevi Day Hike for safety and navigation.

After reaching Champadevi Temple, you can hike further to places like Bhasmasur and Chandragiri. There’s also a route down to Machhegaun. So, if you want to extend your hike further, our guide will navigate through the proper courses.