Most people who reach Tosh come for one thing: the well-trodden trail up to Kheerganga, with its hot spring and its steady stream of trekkers photographing the same ridge line. Fewer of them notice the second trail — the one that forks left just past the last guesthouse at the top of the village and disappears into the deodar treeline instead of climbing toward the pass.
Where the trail starts
Walk to the very top of Tosh village, past the last row of wood-and-stone homestays, and look for a narrow stone staircase between two houses rather than the wide dirt path everyone else is following. It isn’t signposted. Locals use it to reach a set of upper grazing meadows that most guesthouse owners won’t mention unless you ask directly — it’s not that it’s secret, it’s just not part of the standard pitch to first-time visitors.
What to expect
The climb is steeper than the Kheerganga route for the first forty minutes, through forest rather than open hillside, which means shade for most of the morning — worth knowing if you’re walking in September when the main trail gets uncomfortably exposed by midday. It levels out into a series of small meadows with a clear view back down the Parbati valley toward Kasol, and unlike Kheerganga, you’ll likely have them to yourself.
There’s no hot spring at the end, no dhaba selling Maggi and chai. What you get instead is quiet, and a genuinely different angle on the valley than the one in every Kasol Instagram post.
When to go
Best walked October to March, once the monsoon leeches clear out and before the meadows turn muddy with spring melt. Winter access depends on snowfall — after a heavy dump the upper meadows are only realistic for people carrying proper gear, not a casual half-day walk.
Practical notes
- Round trip from the top of Tosh village: roughly 3 hours at an easy pace.
- No facilities en route — carry water and snacks.
- Ask at your homestay for the current state of the staircase entrance; it gets overgrown in late summer.
- Mobile signal disappears within ten minutes of leaving the village.
