Uttarakhand Delights – 8 Days

Uttarakhand, formerly Uttaranchal, state of India, located in the northwestern part of the country. It is bordered to the northwest by the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, to the northeast by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, to the southeast by Nepal, and to the south and southwest by the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Its capital is the northwestern city of Dehra Dun.

On November 9, 2000, the state of Uttaranchal—the 27th state of India—was carved out of Uttar Pradesh, and in January 2007 the new state changed its name to Uttarakhand, meaning “northern region,” which was the traditional name for the area.

Uttarakhand has a highly varied topography, with snow-covered peaks, glaciers, deep canyons, roaring streams, beautiful lakes, and a few patches of dusty plains in the south. Some of the highest mountains in the world are found in Uttarakhand. Most notably, these include Nanda Devi (25,646 feet [7,817 metres]), which is the second highest peak in India, Kamet (25,446 feet [7,756 metres]), and Badrinath (23,420 feet [7,138 metres]).

Uttarakhand can be divided into several physiographic zones, all running parallel to each other from northwest to southeast.

The northern zone, popularly known as the Himadri, contains segments of the Zaskar and the Great Himalaya ranges, with elevations ranging roughly from 10,000 to 25,000 feet (3,000 to 7,600 metres). Most of the major peaks are located in this zone. Adjacent to and south of the Great Himalayas is a zone containing the Lesser Himalayas, known popularly as the Himachal, with elevations between about 6,500 and 10,000 feet (2,000 to 3,000 metres); the zone has two linear ranges—the Mussoorie and the Nag Tibba. To the south of the Himachal is a stretch of the Siwalik Range.

The entire area containing the Himadri, the Himachal, and the Siwaliks is broadly known as the Kumaun Himalayas. The southern edge of the Siwalik Range merges with a narrow bed of gravel and alluvium known as the Bhabar, which interfaces to the southeast with the marshy terrain known as the Tarai.

The combined Siwalik-Bhabar-Tarai area ranges in elevation from 1,000 to 10,000 feet (300 to 3,000 metres). South of the Siwaliks are found flat-floored depressions, known locally as duns, such as the Dehra Dun.