Karnali River Rafting

The Karnali is Nepal's longest and largest river and with its tributaries, it drains most of the Far West of Nepal. The rapids are also pretty wild, with the river building to its climax in these lower canyons. In terms of volume, the river is comparable to the Sun Kosi, but the Karnali is more constrained by its canyon walls, giving bigger, more continuous and serious rapids. This constrained nature of the river means that any increase in volume has more pronounced effect on the difficulty of the rapids and this makes it a river that is best run at low flows. Highest extreme instantaneous discharge measured at Chisapani was an incredible 21,700 cusecs.

The trek to start of the river trip is pleasant and highly scenic. It climbs through mixed forest and then traverses two ridge tops with excellent panoramic views of the Bheri forests.

Itinerary

Day 01: Drive to Bhutwal by bus, camp at Bhutwal.
Day 02: Drive to Surkhet and overnight camping.
Day 03: Trek from Surkhet to Dhanigad, overnight camping.
Day 04: Trek from Dhanigad to Kareleghat, camp at the river bank.
Day 05: Rafting from Kareleghat and overnight camping.
Day 06: Rafting day and camping on the beach.
Day 07: Rafting day, camping on the beach near the confluence of the Seti River.
Day 08: Rafting day, camping on the beach after passing Bijura Village.
Day 09: Rafting to Chisapani, end of the trip, drive back to Kathmandu.

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