The Kaghan Valley runs 155 kilometres north-east from Balakot in the Mansehra district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, climbing from the foothills at around 2,100 metres up to the 4,170-metre Babusar Pass at its head. It is one of the most accessible alpine valleys in Pakistan — four or five hours by road from Islamabad — and in summer it becomes a minor highway of Pakistani tourists heading for cool air, pine forests, and the turquoise lakes that give the valley its reputation.
The Kunhar river, fed by glacier melt, runs the length of the valley and is one of the best trout-fishing rivers in Pakistan (buy a permit in Naran or Shinu before casting). The road up passes through Balakot — badly damaged in the 2005 earthquake and since rebuilt — then climbs past Kawai, Shogran (a pine-scented plateau with hotels and the classic trek up to Siri Paye meadow), and on to Naran. Naran, at 2,400 metres, is the tourist centre of the valley and the best base for onward trips: a small town of hotels and dhabas that fills up in summer and empties completely in winter, when the road closes.
From Naran, the classic excursion is to Lake Saiful Muluk, 10 kilometres up a rough jeep track, a glacial lake ringed by bare peaks and reflecting Malika Parbat ("Queen of the Mountains," 5,290 m). Local legend has it that a prince named Saiful Muluk fell in love with a fairy who visited the lake on full moons, and the fairy tale is still the reason Pakistanis come in droves. Further up the valley, beyond Batakundi and Besal, the road (open roughly mid-July to mid-September) climbs to the Babusar Pass, from where on a clear day you can see Nanga Parbat, the ninth-highest mountain in the world.
Come in May–September. Outside these months the upper valley is snowbound and the Babusar road is closed. The weather can turn fast even in summer: carry a jacket, and be prepared for landslides and delays on the road during the monsoon. Past Babusar, the road drops down into the Northern Areas and connects with the Karakoram Highway at Chilas — one of the great road journeys in Pakistan.