Tungnath Temple, Rudraprayag – Trekking & Connectivity

Tungnath Temple, Rudraprayag – Trekking & Connectivity

Chopta is located at about 25 Kms from Ukhimath, 40 Kms from Guptkashi, 45 Kms from Gopeshwar, 66 Kms from Rudraprayag, 202 Kms from Rishikesh Railway Station, 219 Kms from Dehradun Airport and 448 Kms from New Delhi Airport. Tungnath can be reached on the Kund-Gopeshwar road up to Chopta from Rishikesh via Chamoli-Gopeshwar-Chopta route. Buses and taxis ply along the route. The temple lies about 1.5 Kms below the Chandrashila Peak (4,000 m (13,123 ft)). The road to Chopta is just below this ridge and hence provides the shortest bridle approach path for trekking to the temple from Chopta, over a short distance of about 4 Kms.

In fact, the trek route to Tungnath commences just beside the road at Chopta and can be easily spotted. Apart from being a popular pilgrimage destination, Tungnath is increasingly becoming a popular trekking and adventure destination. The 4 Kms trek starts from Chopta and additional 1.5 kms trek leads to Chandrashila, situated at the height of 4000 mts. Of all the Panch Kedar trek routes, the route to Tungnath is the shortest and can be covered in approximately 3–4 hours.

The trek path is stone paved with benches provided en route at intervals to rest and enjoy the beautiful views of the Chaukhamba, Nanda Devi, Neelkanth and Kedarnath peaks. Generally, the pilgrimage to Tunganath is undertaken as part of the Panch Kedar trekking covering all five temples over 170 Kms route (road cum trek length) starting from Rishikesh in the order of: Kedarnath, Tungnath, Rudranath, Madhyamaheshwar and Kalpeshwar. Pilgrimage will be done in summer months (April to October), as the temple remains snow bound and unapproachable during winter. Few Tourists visit this place during winter to witness snowfall and avoid the huge rush of devotees.