District Headquarter Kishtwar has located about 235 Km. from Jammu and about 280 Km. from Srinagar. There are two National Highways connecting the District viz.NH-1A and NH-1B. The general approach to the whole of the District is through road transport i.e. Taxi, Deluxe Buses etc. visitors coming from other parts of the country can also utilize the Flight or Train services up to Jammu/Srinagar. From Jammu / Srinagar, road transport services are easily available to reach District Headquarter Kishtwar and to other Tourist Spots of the District. One can have the view of River Chenab while approaching to Kishtwar.
Reaching Here
The main hub to reach Kishtwar is Jammu. It is approximately 235 Kms from Jammu to Kishtwar by road. There are a lot of Deluxe Buses operated by various Private agencies as well as J&K SRTC. The whole journey costs about 6 -7 Hrs. form Jammu. and 5 – 6 Hrs from Udhampur by bus. The fair is being Rs.250-300 per seat of buses operated by private agencies and Rs. 200 for SRTC buses. for further clarification of fairs log to http://www.jksrtc.nic.in . Well, you can also take Sumo as well as taxies, etc from Jammu and Udhampur.
The road can be divided into four main spots as:
Jammu – Udhampur : 65 aprox (by road), – NH-1A – {50 Kms (by Train)}
Udhampur – Batote : 55 Kms – NH-1A
Batote – Pul Doda : 55 Kms – NH-1B
Pul Doda – Kishtwar : 60 Kms – NH-1B
On the way from Jammu to Kishtwar you come across Udhampur, Kud, Patnitop, Batote, Pul Doda, Thatri, Drabhsalla, Hasti also. There are several places on the route which have been developed for the convenience of the motorist. Among them are Jajjar Kotli, Kud, Pantnitop, Ramgarh, Pull Doda, all having tourist bungalows and provisions for meals, snacks. The Way to Kishtwar is quite enjoyable and thrilling too. The road is fine with several sharp inclines and hairpin bends and is being maintained by Border Road Organization (BRO). You will enjoy the beauty of the valley whole the way. And don’t forget to relish the local food items like Rajma- Chawal with pure desi ghee. On the way from Batote to Kishtwar at local hotels.
Other Major Routes from Kishtwar:
Kishtwar- Srinagar Road via Sinthan Pass ( 83 Kms. )
The Sinthan Pass is at 12.5K feet and ignored as one of the barren passes until a few years ago. Sinthan Pass is now quite popular because of wonderful connectivity although some patches are under process, one can drive from Srinagar to Sinthan Pass. It’s an enjoyable ride, at least near Sinthan Pass. There are various water streams around Sinthan Pass. The water of these springs is the purest and digestive. There was a proposal to export the water of this spring in bottles to other parts of the country. Of course, some treatment may be required for bottling purposes. Locals here are against the construction of concrete structures but they feel the need to develop this place as an eco-friendly tourism destination to regain its glory as it has a chain of tourist spots from Achabal to Daksum to Sinthan Top. Besides, Kokernag is also connected to Verinag, another scenic resort known also for the springs and origin of Jehlum River via link road.
Kishtwar-Himachal Road via Paddar ( 160 Kms.)
India’s 9th most dangerous road i.e., Kishtwar-Killar Road. The road is winding, in some places only wide enough for one vehicle, and in many places bordered on one side by cliffs and on the other side by a drop of hundreds of meters (many hundreds of feet) unprotected by guardrails. The last 50km of road to the start of the ascent proved to be extremely scary. Words cannot describe the road and pictures do not do it justice. Some tourists had dubbed the track the ‘Almost Killer’ Road.
Other Major Link Routes within District Kishtwar:
Kishtwar- Ghan Road via Sarthal
Kishtwar- Bimal Nag Road via Drabshalla
Kishtwar- MughalMaidan Road via Bhandarkut
