Half the places worth seeing here are at the end of a track no ordinary car can manage. A jeep and a driver who knows the road are how you get there.
The jeep is the classic way to travel into the high and remote corners of Gilgit-Baltistan. The Karakoram Highway and the main valley roads will take a normal car a long way, but the places people remember most — a plateau above 4,000m, a village at the dead end of a side valley, the foot of a glacier — sit at the end of rough mountain tracks that only a 4x4 will climb. Hire a jeep, and a whole second layer of the region opens up.
What makes it work is the driver. The men who run these routes have been doing it for years and know every washed-out section, every blind hairpin, and exactly how much road is left after a rockfall. Sitting in the passenger seat as they ease a Land Cruiser up a track cut into a cliff is, for a lot of visitors, the most memorable thing they do in GB. It is not a theme-park ride — it is simply how people get around up here.
You don't drive these tracks yourself. You hire the jeep with its driver, agree the route, and let someone who reads the mountain handle the wheel while you watch the valley fall away below you.
| Deosai Plateau | The classic safari from Skardu (or Astore) onto one of the highest plateaus in the world. Open rolling terrain, wildflowers in summer, and big skies. Deosai guide → |
| Khaplu & Shyok side valleys | East from Skardu into the old Baltistan kingdoms — green villages, forts, and tracks leading toward the high country beyond Khaplu. |
| Shimshal | One of the toughest and most spectacular jeep roads in GB, climbing for hours into a remote Upper Hunza valley. Not for the nervous, but unforgettable. |
| Side valleys off the KKH | Bagrot, Haramosh, Ghizer and Nagar all have jeep tracks branching off the highway into quieter, less-visited country. Browse destinations → |
Hiring a jeep. Jeeps and drivers are hired from the valley towns — Skardu, Gilgit, Karimabad and others — usually for a fixed route or by the day. Rates vary with the route, fuel and season, so agree the price and exactly where you're going before you set off. Going through a known agency or guesthouse keeps things straightforward.
Best season: Roughly June to October. High passes and the rougher tracks only open once the snow clears in early summer, and they start closing again as autumn ends. Mid-summer to early autumn is the safest, most reliable window.
What it's like: Expect slow going, dust, narrow shelves of road, and river crossings. A half-day on paper can take far longer than the distance suggests. Bring water, snacks, warm layers for altitude, and patience — the journey is the point.
Safety: Trust your driver's judgement on the road, but don't be pressured into travelling in bad weather or after dark on exposed tracks. Rockfall and washouts are normal here, and the right call is sometimes to wait or turn back.
Jeeps with drivers are hired from valley towns such as Skardu, Gilgit and Karimabad, usually for a set route or by the day. Booking through a known agency or guesthouse is the simplest way to arrange one.
No — jeep safaris come with an experienced local driver. These mountain tracks demand someone who knows the road, the washouts and the conditions, so you ride along rather than drive.
The best-known routes include Deosai from Skardu or Astore, the Khaplu and Shyok side valleys, the dramatic road up to Shimshal, and side valleys off the Karakoram Highway like Bagrot, Haramosh and Nagar.
Roughly June to October. The high passes and rough tracks only open after the snow clears in early summer and start closing again as autumn ends, so mid-summer to early autumn is the most reliable window.
With an experienced local driver and good weather it is a normal way to travel in GB. The tracks are rough and rockfall or washouts can happen, so trust your driver's judgement and don't push to travel in bad weather or after dark on exposed sections.