Gokyo Lakes Route Map: Stages, Distances & the Six Lakes

The Route in One Paragraph

You fly to Lukla (2,840 m) and walk the classic Khumbu approach up the Dudh Koshi to Phakding (2,610 m) and Namche Bazaar (3,440 m). After an acclimatisation day at Namche, the route parts company with the Everest Base Camp trail: instead of continuing east to Tengboche, you climb over the Mong La ridge (about 3,975 m) and drop into the Dudh Koshi's north-western branch, the Gokyo valley. From there it is a steady climb through Dole (4,110 m) and Machhermo (4,470 m), past the first two lakes, to Gokyo village (4,790 m) beside the third and largest, Dudh Pokhari. The trek's high point is the pre-dawn climb of Gokyo Ri (5,357 m) behind the village. You then retrace the valley to Namche and Lukla.

It is an out-and-back route rather than a loop, which sounds like a drawback and mostly is not: the return down-valley gives you the mountains in front of you rather than behind, and two days of easy walking to enjoy them.

Standard 12-Day Route Table

Distances are trail distances and vary by a few kilometres between GPS tracks. Walking hours assume a reasonably fit trekker carrying a daypack.

Total walking is roughly 92 to 100 km round trip with cumulative ascent near 4,800 m. Compared with Everest Base Camp it is a day or two shorter, tops out slightly lower, and spends far less time on glacial moraine — which most trekkers find easier on the knees.

The Six Lakes and Where They Sit

The Gokyo lakes are a chain of glacial lakes strung along the western flank of the Ngozumpa Glacier at between roughly 4,700 m and 5,000 m. They are counted from the bottom up, and most trekkers see three of the six without trying and four or five with a little effort. Collectively they form one of the highest freshwater lake systems in the world and are a Ramsar-listed wetland of international importance.

• First lake — Longpongo (about 4,690 m). Reached an hour or so before Gokyo village on the walk up from Machhermo. Small, often partly frozen in the shoulder seasons.
• Second lake — Taboche Tsho (about 4,710 m). The first genuinely striking one, an intense turquoise on a clear day, sitting directly beside the trail.
• Third lake — Dudh Pokhari (about 4,750 m). The largest and the one Gokyo village stands on. This is where you sleep, and where the Gokyo Ri trail starts.
• Fourth lake — Thonak Tsho (about 4,870 m). An easy hour and a half north of the village on a clear path. Bigger and wilder than the third, with almost no one on it.
• Fifth lake — Ngozumpa Tsho (about 4,990 m). Another hour beyond the fourth. The hillside above it, known informally as Scoundrel's Viewpoint, gives the finest close view of Cho Oyu and the full sweep of the Ngozumpa Glacier that anyone gets without climbing.
• Sixth lake — Gyazumba Tsho (about 5,100 m). A long, committing day from the village and rarely visited. Only worth it if you have a spare day, good acclimatisation and settled weather.

A realistic plan for the acclimatisation day at Gokyo is Gokyo Ri at dawn, breakfast in the village, then the walk out to the fourth and fifth lakes in the afternoon. That gives you the two best viewpoints on the trek in a single day without a second night higher up.

The Gokyo Ri Climb

Gokyo Ri (5,357 m) is the reason people come. It rises directly behind the village, a steep, unrelenting 570 m of switchbacks on scree and rock, and it takes most trekkers two and a half to four hours up and around an hour and a half down.

There is nothing technical about it. It is simply hard work at an altitude where hard work is expensive, and the last 150 m are where most people slow to a crawl. Practical notes:

• Start between 4 and 5 am to be on the summit for sunrise. Head torch essential; the lower switchbacks are easy to lose in the dark.
• Dress for the summit, not the walk. You will overheat climbing and then stand still in a cold wind for forty minutes at the top. Down jacket, hat, gloves and a windproof shell go in the daypack regardless of how mild it feels at the lodge.
• The view is the best in the Khumbu, and this is not a marketing line. From the summit prayer flags you see four eight-thousanders — Everest, Lhotse, Makalu and Cho Oyu — with the lakes below and the grey scar of the Ngozumpa Glacier running the length of the valley. Kala Patthar gives a closer Everest; Gokyo Ri gives a far better composition.
• If you are struggling, turn around. There is a false summit and several plausible stopping points with excellent views. Nobody's trek is ruined by stopping 100 m short.

Common Variants and Extensions

Gokyo plus Cho La plus Everest Base Camp (16–18 days)

The most popular extension by a wide margin. From Gokyo you cross the Ngozumpa Glacier to Thagnak, then the glaciated Cho La (5,420 m) to Dzongla, joining the main Everest trail for Everest Base Camp (5,364 m) and Kala Patthar (5,545 m) before descending the standard route. Adds four to five days and one serious high pass. You should be well acclimatised and comfortable with the idea of microspikes on ice. See the Cho La pass guide.

The full Three Passes circuit (18–21 days)

Gokyo sits on the Everest Three Passes loop, so the extension above can be extended again: add Kongma La before Everest Base Camp and Renjo La after Gokyo, and you have walked the grand circuit of the Khumbu. This is a significantly harder undertaking than Gokyo alone.

Renjo La out-and-back from Gokyo

Well-acclimatised trekkers with a spare day sometimes climb toward Renjo La (5,360 m) from Gokyo and return the same way for the view back over the lakes to Everest, without committing to the descent into the Bhote valley. A good use of a weather day.

Trimmed 11-day version

Dropping the Machhermo acclimatisation day gives an 11-day trek. It works for trekkers who have recently been at altitude, but it removes the single most useful rest day on the route and the one where the Machhermo rescue post gives its altitude-awareness talk. Not a saving we would recommend for a first Himalayan trek.

Key Landmarks on the Route

• Monjo checkpoint (2,835 m): where the Sagarmatha National Park permit is checked. Keep it accessible in a daypack pocket.
• Namche Bazaar (3,440 m): the Khumbu's hub — ATMs, bakeries, gear shops, clinics and the last reliable place to buy anything you forgot. Also the last hot shower most trekkers get for a week.
• Mong La ridge (about 3,975 m): the ridge crossing where the Gokyo route leaves the Everest Base Camp trail. A small settlement, a chorten and the point at which trekker numbers drop away sharply.
• Phortse Thanga (about 3,680 m): the river crossing below Mong La, and a common lunch stop. The climb out of it is the day's real work.
• Dole (4,110 m): a handful of lodges in a steep-sided pocket of the valley. First night above 4,000 m for most trekkers.
• Machhermo (4,470 m): home to a seasonal Himalayan Rescue Association post that runs a free afternoon talk on altitude sickness. Worth attending even if you think you know it all — see the altitude guide.
• Ngozumpa Glacier: the longest glacier in Nepal, running down the valley beside the lakes. The trail climbs its lateral moraine for much of the approach to Gokyo.
• Gokyo village (4,790 m): a cluster of lodges on the shore of the third lake, with bakeries and, in season, some of the better food on any Khumbu trek.