Gangapurna Lake and the Annapurna range above Manang on the Annapurna Circuit

Is the Annapurna Circuit Open? Thorong La in October 2026

Yes, the Annapurna Circuit is open again, and Thorong La is being crossed. ACAP's update of 6 October 2026 listed the pass as open for crossing. On 7 October it said every trekking route in the Annapurna region was open except Nar Phu, and on 15 October it reported Nar Phu open too.

Update, 17 October: we have not seen an ACAP notice formally withdrawing its 30 September closure, but ACAP's own updates now describe the route as open. Its 7 October update still listed the road from Chame to Bhratang as closed to vehicles, so the walk starts at Chame. On the Mustang side, ACAP said on 12 October that Muktinath was fully accessible by road. Mustang police said on 13 October the Beni road was not yet fit for two-way traffic.

The board below is route by route, with the date each row was last confirmed and who confirmed it.

Which treks are open right now

7 routes · last confirmed 15 Oct 2026

Manang and the Annapurna Circuit

  • Annapurna Circuit TrekOpen

    Open. ACAP's 6 October update listed Thorong La as open for crossing, and its 7 October update said every Annapurna route was open except Nar Phu. On the ground, ACAP reported seven trekkers over the pass on 3 October and another team on 5 October. We have not seen a separate notice withdrawing the 30 September closure.

    Get there by: The Besisahar to Chame road reopened on 3 October. On 7 October ACAP still listed Chame to Bhratang as walking only, and Bhratang to upper Manang as open to vehicles. On 6 October it expected the Chame to Bhratang road to open within about a week. We have not seen that confirmed, so plan to walk from Chame.

    Confirmed 7 Oct 2026 · ACAP updates (3, 5, 6 and 7 Oct); TAAN advisory via The Tourism Times (6 Oct)

  • Tilicho LakeAccess changed

    ACAP said on 6 October that the trail was open as far as Tilicho Base Camp. TAAN said the same day that heavy snow had blocked it. On 8 October ACAP said local hotel committees were clearing the trail and expected it to be accessible by 10 October. We have not seen that confirmed, so ask us before you plan the side trip.

    Confirmed 8 Oct 2026 · ACAP updates (6 and 8 Oct); TAAN advisory via The Tourism Times (6 Oct)

  • Nar Phu Valley TrekAccess changed

    ACAP said on 15 October that the routes to Nar and Phu, from Nar to Nawal and from Nar to Kang La were open. It warned of snow, ice, strong winds and poor visibility around Kang La, the 5,306 metre exit pass. On 7 October ACAP had listed Nar Phu as closed at Kang La and Koto.

    Confirmed 15 Oct 2026 · ACAP update via The Tourism Times (15 Oct); ACAP update (7 Oct)

South Annapurna

  • Annapurna Base Camp TrekOpen

    Open. ACAP's 7 October update said every Annapurna route was open except Nar Phu, and TAAN's 6 October advisory said Annapurna Base Camp was safe and operating as usual. NTNC reissued its permits on 2 October.

    Confirmed 7 Oct 2026 · ACAP update (7 Oct); TAAN advisory via The Tourism Times (6 Oct); NTNC permit notice (2 Oct)

  • Mardi Himal TrekOpen

    Open. ACAP's 7 October update said every Annapurna route was open except Nar Phu, and TAAN's 6 October advisory said Mardi Himal was safe and operating as usual. NTNC reissued its permits on 2 October.

    Confirmed 7 Oct 2026 · ACAP update (7 Oct); TAAN advisory via The Tourism Times (6 Oct); NTNC permit notice (2 Oct)

  • Ghorepani Poon Hill TrekOpen

    Open. ACAP's 7 October update said every Annapurna route was open except Nar Phu, and TAAN's 6 October advisory said the Ghandruk to Ghorepani (Poon Hill) route was safe and operating as usual. NTNC reissued its permits on 2 October.

    Confirmed 7 Oct 2026 · ACAP update (7 Oct); TAAN advisory via The Tourism Times (6 Oct); NTNC permit notice (2 Oct)

Mustang

  • Upper Mustang TrekAccess changed

    NTNC reissued Upper Mustang, Jomsom and Muktinath permits on 2 October. ACAP said on 12 October that Muktinath was fully accessible by road, with all blocked sections cleared. On 13 October, though, Mustang police told The Rising Nepal the Beni to Jomsom road was not yet fit for two-way traffic, and the paper reported that no vehicles were entering the district while stranded trucks left. Ask us before you travel.

    Confirmed 13 Oct 2026 · ACAP update (12 Oct); District Police Office, Mustang, via The Rising Nepal (13 Oct); NTNC permit notice (2 Oct)

Conditions on a monsoon-damaged corridor change faster than any page. We re-check this board and stamp each row with the date it was last confirmed. But before you book a flight, ask us and we will confirm the corridor for your dates.

Is the Annapurna Circuit open?

Yes. The official word and the reports from the trail now agree:

  • Official status: open. ACAP's 6 October update listed Thorong La as open for crossing. Its 7 October update said all trekking routes in the Annapurna region were open except Nar Phu. We have not seen a separate notice lifting the 30 September closure.
  • On the ground: being crossed. ACAP reported seven trekkers over Thorong La on 3 October and another team on 5 October. TAAN said on 6 October that several groups had crossed in three days.
  • The road reaches Chame. Vehicles can drive from Besisahar to Chame as of 3 October. On 7 October ACAP still listed Chame to Bhratang as walking only, and Bhratang to upper Manang as open to vehicles.

So the circuit can be walked from Chame. Allow spare days for weather at the pass.

Thorong La pass: open for crossing since early October

ACAP's Manang update on the evening of 3 October said seven trekkers had crossed the pass that day. On 5 October ACAP reported that another team had crossed.

On the morning of 4 October, a trekker posting from Manang in the Annapurna Circuit Trek group on Facebook said the ACAP checkpoint had cleared them to climb to Yak Kharka and then High Camp. Checkpoint staff told them the pass should be fully open within a day or two, that others were already crossing, and that only one or two lodges were open at Thorong Phedi.

TAAN said on 1 October that ACAP expected the pass to reopen within five to six days. It also said ACAP had kept issuing permits for Thorong La and Tilicho throughout, on condition that trekkers register their route plan at the ACAP office in Dharapani.

ACAP's road and trail update of 6 October listed Thorong La as open for crossing, and the trail from Thorong La down to Muktinath as open. TAAN's advisory the same day, reported by The Tourism Times, said several groups had crossed in the past three days and expected conditions to normalise within a couple of days as more trekkers used the route. On 7 October ACAP said every trekking route in the Annapurna region was open except Nar Phu.

Tilicho Lake is still less clear. On 6 October ACAP said the trail was open as far as Tilicho Base Camp, while TAAN said heavy snow had blocked it. On 8 October ACAP said local hotel committees were clearing the trail and expected it to be accessible by 10 October. We have not seen that confirmed. Ask us before you plan the side trip.

Nar Phu and Kang La: open on 15 October

On 7 October ACAP listed Nar Phu as the one closed route in the region, shut at Kang La and Koto. TAAN had said on 6 October that some trekkers who tried to reach Nar Phu through Meta had turned back towards Koto.

ACAP's update of 15 October, reported by The Tourism Times, said the routes to Phu and Nar villages, from Nar to Nawal and from Nar to Kang La were open, with generally clear weather. It warned that snow, ice, strong winds and poor visibility can still occur at the high passes, and that an open trail does not guarantee safe conditions all day.

Why Thorong La closed in late September

The closure began as a three-day precaution and outlasted it.

On 24 September, Manang's District Administration Office banned trekking from 25 to 27 September after the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology forecast heavy to extreme rain and high-altitude snow. Assistant Chief District Officer Krishna Prasad Paudel named Tilicho Lake, Thorong La, Ice Lake, Kang La and Bhimthang, and asked trekkers already on the trail to shelter in hotels.

The forecast was right. Snow started falling from about 7am on Friday 25 September, from Humde at about 3,300 metres upward. By 30 September, Dhak Bahadur Bhujel, chief of ACAP's Manang unit, said more than 150 trekkers who had crossed or tried to cross Thorong La had turned back. He said 226 foreign trekkers had registered in upper Manang and 44 had come down.

On 30 September, days after briefly reopening the Manang route, ACAP closed Thorong La and Tilicho until further notice. On 1 October an ACAP official told the BBC: "We have been holding back all these people who want to go to the Annapurna Circuit trek, although we are under pressure from the trekking industry to announce the route open." About 700 trekkers were waiting in Pokhara to start.

Besisahar to Chame road: reopened on 3 October

The Marsyangdi, swollen by rain, ate the road at several places along the valley. On 3 October, Nabin Bista, information officer for the Dumre-Besisahar-Chame Road Project, said the road had reopened for vehicles. Crews had cleared the landslides at Khotro, in Nason Rural Municipality ward 3, and Koto, in Chame Rural Municipality ward 5.

ACAP's update that evening said the road above Chame, to Bhratang, is still damaged, but the walking trail is open. Local authorities in Manang told our team on 3 October that ACAP was aiming to reopen the road on to Manang by 4 October.

That date passed. On 6 October ACAP said Chame to Bhratang was open for trekking only and expected vehicles within about a week, while Bhratang to the upper Manang valley was open to vehicles and walkers. Its 7 October update still listed Chame to Bhratang as closed to vehicles. We have not seen a report since that vehicles are through.

During the storms, Chame was evacuated for landslide risk, and trekkers walking out told the BBC they crossed collapsed roads and swept-away bridges on the way down. Expect damaged sections on foot above Chame.

Annapurna Base Camp, Mardi Himal and Poon Hill: open

ACAP's notice of 27 September closed three routes:

  • the round Annapurna Circuit
  • the Manang route
  • the Jomsom to Muktinath route

It listed four more as awaiting confirmation of safe access: Annapurna Base Camp, Mardi Himal, Ghorepani Poon Hill and Ghandruk.

On 2 October, the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), which runs ACAP, reopened permits for every route in the Annapurna Conservation Area. The notice names Annapurna Base Camp, Ghandruk, Ghorepani Poon Hill, Mardi Himal, Khayar Barah, Jomsom, Muktinath, Upper Mustang, Sikles, Kapuche Lake, Tilicho Lake, the Annapurna Circuit and Nar Phu. We have marked the four southern routes open on that basis.

TAAN's advisory of 6 October said Ghandruk to Ghorepani (Poon Hill), Annapurna Base Camp, Mardi Himal and Sikles were safe and operating as usual. ACAP's 7 October update listed every Annapurna route as open except Nar Phu.

On the Mustang side, the Beni to Jomsom road was still blocked between Tilkenichaur and Tatopani on 1 October. Floods and landslides damaged it at 46 places, according to the road project chief. The road from Jomsom down to Dana was open. That matters for anyone finishing the circuit at Muktinath and planning to drive out.

ACAP said on 12 October that Muktinath was fully accessible by road, with all previously blocked sections cleared. The Rising Nepal reported on 13 October that traffic had resumed on the Beni to Jomsom road and that 536 stranded containers and trucks had left Mustang. Police told the paper the road was not yet fit for two-way traffic, and no vehicles were entering the district while the backlog cleared.

How many trekkers were stranded on the Annapurna Circuit

ACAP's checkpoint at Dharapani registered 590 foreign trekkers between 22 and 28 September, and 146 of them had already turned back by 30 September, according to ACAP tourism education assistant Bhupendra Gurung. ACAP said every trekker in Manang was safe. Helicopters were arranged for anyone ill, injured or running out of visa.

The BBC reported on 1 October that hundreds of trekkers had been flown out of Manang and Mustang. Across Nepal, the late-September landslides and rain killed about 30 people and affected more than 1,900 families.

Annapurna Circuit in October 2026: if you are booked

October is normally the best month on the circuit, and it can still be this year. The first days after fresh snow are slow ones, though, and the valley is still being repaired.

  • Talk to us before you fly. We can go through your dates and whether to start now or wait a few days. Contact us with your departure date.
  • Register at Dharapani. ACAP asks trekkers to give its Dharapani office their route plan. Check conditions again in Manang before going higher.
  • Build in spare days. Allow two or three, for weather at the pass and the damaged road above Chame.
  • Plan the exit. If you mean to drive out from Jomsom, check the Beni road first. Police said on 13 October it was not yet fit for two-way traffic.
  • Manaslu permit holders. If the 11 October Budhi Gandaki flood stopped your Manaslu trek, the Manaslu Conservation Area Project lets you make one entry into the Annapurna Conservation Area on the same permit, The Tourism Times reported on 15 October. See our Manaslu flood update.

We will update this page and the board as ACAP and the district publish changes. For the rest of Nepal after the August flood, see Is Nepal safe to trek after the 2026 flood? The Annapurna Circuit Trek page has the full itinerary.

Sources

FAQs for Is the Annapurna Circuit Open? Thorong La in October 2026

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