Rohtang Pass 2026: Opening Date, Permit & Best Time To Visit

Yes. As of the last check for this guide, the Manali to Rohtang road is open for the 2026 season. It reopened on 17 May 2026 once the Border Roads Organisation finished clearing the winter snow, and it should stay open until the season’s first big snowfall, usually in late November. One storm can shut the top for a day or roll back an early opening, so treat any date as weather-dependent and check the night before you drive. The road is also closed every Tuesday for maintenance, which catches out plenty of day-trippers who did not plan around it.

Rohtang has no fixed calendar date. The Border Roads Organisation clears the snow every spring and opens the road once it is safe, which lands in mid-to-late May most years and slips toward the end of May in a heavy-snow winter. Closing works the same way in reverse: the pass shuts with the first serious snowfall, generally in late November. Here is how the last few seasons have run, with the 2027 projection based on the usual pattern.

If you are planning months ahead, pencil in the third week of May and keep the trip flexible by a few days. Travellers consistently report that the most reliable snow-and-clear-sky combination is late May into June, then again through September and October after the monsoon clears.

Every vehicle going up to Rohtang needs a permit, and there is no counter you can pay at on the day. You book it online in advance on the official portal, rohtangpermits.hp.gov.in. The daily quota is capped to protect the glacier, so slots for weekends and holidays go within minutes of release.

How to book the Rohtang permit online

• Open rohtangpermits.hp.gov.in a day before you plan to go.
• Register with your phone number and a photo ID.
• Pick your travel date and whether you want ‘up to Rohtang’ or ‘beyond Rohtang’.
• Enter the vehicle details: registration number, fuel type, and upload the RC and PUC certificate.
• Grab a slot when the quota releases at 10 AM or 4 PM (they empty fast on weekends).
• Pay the Rs 550 fee online and download the e-permit.
• Carry a printout or the digital permit, plus the original ID and vehicle papers, for the checkpoint at Gulaba.

One more charge to budget for: Manali levies a green or congestion tax on tourist vehicles entering the area, roughly Rs 200 to Rs 500 depending on the vehicle (indicative). Keep that receipt with your permit. If you are heading only to Sissu or Lahaul through the Atal Tunnel rather than over the pass, you do not need a Rohtang permit at all.

Rohtang Top is about 51 km from Manali, and the climb takes two to three hours depending on traffic and the checkpoint queue. The road leaves Manali, passes Kothi, then Gulaba where your permit is checked, climbs to Marhi (the main tea-and-food halt with the snow-activity points), and tops out at the pass. Leave Manali by about 4:30 AM to beat the jam and catch the good morning light.

By road

A private taxi from Manali runs about Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,000 for the round trip (indicative, and it climbs on weekends). Shared cabs work out cheaper per head. Local and HRTC buses run toward Gramphu and Lahaul, but a private cab or self-drive is far easier for a Rohtang day trip.

By bike

Renting a motorcycle in Manali is the classic way to do Rohtang, and a Royal Enfield or Himalayan goes for roughly Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 a day (indicative). Carry your permit, licence and vehicle papers, ride in daylight, and respect the slush stretch near Rani Nallah, which turns to mud after rain.

By air and rail

The nearest airport is Bhuntar (Kullu), about 50 km from Manali, with flights from Delhi and Chandigarh. There is no direct railhead near Manali. Most travellers take the toy-train-linked Joginder Nagar line or arrive at Chandigarh, then continue by road.

Rohtang Pass sits at 3,978 m on the Eastern Pir Panjal, about 51 km north of Manali, and it is the gateway between the green Kullu valley and the high desert of Lahaul and Spiti. The name loosely translates to ‘pile of corpses’, a grim nod to the traders and shepherds the weather claimed here over the centuries when this was an ancient trade route to Ladakh. That history is part of why it draws people: crossing it still feels like reaching somewhere remote.

At the top you get wide snow fields, the Pir Panjal peaks on one side and the first view of the Lahaul valley on the other. Snow Point, the flat area where most of the activity clusters, can get crowded by late morning in peak season, which is the real reason to leave Manali before dawn. The air is noticeably thinner up here, so move slowly, drink water, and give yourself time rather than sprinting up the snow the moment you arrive.

This is the question that has changed how people plan the trip. The Atal Tunnel opened on 3 October 2020, runs 9.02 km under the Rohtang ridge, and connects Manali directly to Sissu and the Lahaul valley all year with no permit and no seasonal closure. Rohtang Pass is now the scenic, snow-point route you take for the experience of crossing the pass itself. If your goal is Lahaul, Sissu or Spiti, use the tunnel. If your goal is snow and the pass, get the Rohtang permit.

Plenty of travellers now do both in a day: the tunnel out to Sissu for a waterfall and snow that needs no permit, then back over or up to Rohtang for the pass. It is the smartest way to hedge against a Tuesday closure or sold-out permit slots.

The pass is only open for about half the year, so ‘best time’ really means picking the right window inside that season. Daytime temperatures at the top sit around 12 to 20 degrees in summer and drop near freezing at night, so carry warm layers even in June.

Our writers found the sweet spot is late May into early June for guaranteed snow, or the fortnight after the monsoon in mid-September for the cleanest mountain views and the easiest driving.

Most of the action clusters around Snow Point near the top and at Marhi on the way up. Prices vary with the season and the crowd, so agree a rate before you start.

• Skiing and sledging:  hire boards and gear at Snow Point in early season for beginner runs.
• Snow-scooter and ATV rides:  the most popular quick thrill on the snow, run by local operators.
• Paragliding:  tandem flights run from Solang Valley on the way up rather than the pass itself.
• Photography:  the snow walls, the Pir Panjal skyline and the Lahaul view from the top draw shooters all season.
• Mountain biking and the pass ride:  a bucket-list ride for bikers, best attempted with the early-morning permit slot.

Buy or rent snow clothes and boots only from government-authorised dealers in Manali or Marhi, and skip the overpriced roadside touts near the top.

Rohtang works best as the high point of a wider Manali-and-Lahaul loop. These are the stops most worth folding into the same trip.

Solang Valley is the adventure hub of the area and needs no Rohtang permit, which makes it the natural companion stop or fallback. On the Lahaul side, Sissu has become a favourite in its own right since the tunnel opened, with an easy waterfall and snow you can reach even in winter.

It happens: a Tuesday closure, fresh snow, or a permit quota that filled before you woke up. You still have good snow options within an easy drive of Manali.

• Solang Valley:  snow, skiing and paragliding with no Rohtang permit needed. The reliable first choice.
• Gulaba:  the permit checkpoint below the pass holds early-season snow and is often open when the top is not.
• Atal Tunnel to Sissu:  drive through to Sissu for all-weather snow and a waterfall, no permit, no Tuesday closure.
• Sethan:  near Hampta, this quiet hamlet has deep winter snow and igloo stays when the pass is shut.

Any of these turns a blocked Rohtang day into a full one, and Solang plus the Atal Tunnel together give you almost everything Rohtang does without the permit gamble.

For two people doing Rohtang as a day trip from Manali, a realistic spend is a taxi at Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,000, the Rs 550 permit, the Manali green tax, food, and whatever you spend on snow gear and activities. That lands most day-trippers at roughly Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 per head, more if you ski or ride a lot (all figures indicative).

If you would rather not juggle permits, cab haggling and hotel bookings, a Himachal tour package folds Rohtang, Solang and the Atal Tunnel into one trip with transfers and stays sorted, and a local operator handles the permit for you. For the wider region, the Himachal travel guide covers the best times, routes and places to pair with your Rohtang day.

Rohtang Pass rewards a little planning far more than a spontaneous dash. Lock the day around the Tuesday closure, book the permit the moment slots open, and go early for the snow and the light. Do that and you get the classic Himalayan pass with room to add Solang, Sissu or the Atal Tunnel around it. When you would rather have the permits, cabs and stays handled for you, a Manali-based Himachal package is the low-stress way to see all of it in one trip.