Khunjerab Pass: Visiting the World's Highest Border Crossing

Where Is Khunjerab Pass, and How High Is It Really?

Khunjerab Pass sits in the Karakoram Mountains, on the northern edge of Gilgit-Baltistan's Hunza-Nagar district, exactly where Pakistan's Karakoram Highway meets China's National Highway 314 in Xinjiang. Different surveys put the elevation anywhere between roughly 4,690 and 4,730 metres, but 4,693 m (15,397 ft) is the figure you'll see most consistently — high enough that it's regularly compared to Mont Blanc (4,810 m) or Mount Whitney (4,421 m) to put the scale in perspective.
The name itself comes from the Wakhi language spoken across this part of the Karakoram: a combination of words referring to blood and to a spring-fed creek, often translated loosely as "valley of blood" — a nod to the pass's history as a dangerous stretch of the old Silk Road, where caravans were vulnerable to bandits. Today the road is fully paved and was completed in the early 1980s, but the setting hasn't softened much: bare scree slopes, glacial peaks, and herds of yak grazing right up to the roadside.

"To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries"

— Aldous Huxley

Permits, Fees, and Altitude: What Visiting Actually Involves

The good news first: there's no special travel permit or NOC required for foreign tourists to visit Hunza or Khunjerab Pass on the Pakistani side anymore — a valid passport, carried with you at all times, is sufficient. What you can't skip is the Khunjerab National Park entry ticket, sold at a gate roughly 35 km from Sost. Reported fees for foreigners have varied quite a bit between travellers' accounts — from around 800 PKR to figures closer to USD 40 equivalent — so it's worth budgeting on the higher side and carrying Pakistani rupees in cash, since cards generally aren't accepted at the gate.
If your plan includes actually crossing into China, the permit picture changes: you'll need a Chinese visa obtained in advance from an embassy or consulate, since there is no visa-on-arrival option at Khunjerab itself. Most leisure travellers don't cross at all — they treat the pass as a round trip from Hunza, walk up to the border marker, and head back the same day.

Planning Your Visit: Best Time, Getting There, and Practical Tips

Late May through September is the safest window to plan around. The road is generally clear, weather is as mild as it gets at this altitude, and the drive up from Hunza is straightforward rather than a snow-clearing gamble. From November to April, heavy snowfall regularly closes the route entirely, and even in early summer it's worth checking current conditions a day or two ahead, since late storms do happen
Most visitors base themselves in Karimabad or elsewhere in Hunza and do Khunjerab as a long day trip — about four to five hours each way, passing through Sost, the last proper town before the climb. If you're starting from Islamabad, expect a full day or two of driving (roughly 770 km, 10+ hours) to reach Hunza first, or fly into Gilgit or Skardu to cut that down considerably. The road itself is well-paved and graded gently for a high mountain route, but it is long, winding, and best not rushed