There is a glacial lake in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, in the shadow of Trisul (7,120 m) and Nanda Ghunti (6,309 m), that contains human skeletons. The lake sits at 5,029 metres in a steep-walled hollow. When the ice melts in late summer, skeletal remains become visible around the lake margin and in the shallows. The remains belong to hundreds of people -- estimates range from 300 to 800 individuals -- who died in at least two separate events, roughly a thousand years apart.
Roopkund is not a secret. It has been on the adventure trekking circuit for decades, featured in a National Geographic documentary ("Riddles of the Dead: Skeleton Lake"), and studied by geneticists from Harvard, the Max Planck Institute, and institutions in India. But a 2019 DNA study overturned much of what was previously assumed about the bones, and the trek itself has been significantly restricted in recent years.
What the bones tell us
For decades, the dominant theory was straightforward: a large group of pilgrims, caught in a catastrophic hailstorm, all died at once around the 9th century CE. A 2004 forensic study supported this -- many skulls showed blunt-force trauma to the top of the head, consistent with large hailstones striking from above. No weapon marks. No evidence of epidemic disease.
The 2019 study, published in Nature Communications, complicated this picture considerably. Researchers extracted ancient DNA from 38 skeletons and found three genetically distinct groups:
Group 1 (23 individuals): Ancestry typical of present-day South Asians. Radiocarbon dated to approximately 800 CE. These individuals had diets consistent with the Indian subcontinent.
Group 2 (14 individuals): Ancestry typical of the eastern Mediterranean -- most closely related to present-day people from Crete and Greece. Radiocarbon dated to approximately 1800 CE -- a full thousand years later than Group 1.
Group 3 (1 individual): Southeast Asian-related ancestry. Also dated to approximately 1800 CE.
None of the 38 individuals tested were closely related to each other. The Mediterranean group ate distinctly different diets from the South Asian group, confirmed by isotopic analysis.
This means the skeletons at Roopkund are not from a single event. At least two separate groups of people, from vastly different parts of the world, died at this remote high-altitude lake in separate incidents roughly a millennium apart. How 14 people of Mediterranean origin ended up at a glacial lake at 5,029 metres in the Indian Himalaya around 1800 CE remains unexplained. The study's authors offered no definitive answer.
The trek route
The standard Roopkund trek begins at Lohajung, a small settlement at approximately 2,350 metres in the Pindar valley, accessible by road from Rishikesh via Karnaprayag and Tharali (roughly 220 km, a full day's drive).
The route runs approximately 53 km over 6 to 8 days:
Lohajung to Didna Village (10 km): The trail descends from Lohajung and climbs to Didna, a small village at roughly 2,400 metres, through mixed forest.
Didna to Bedni Bugyal via Ali Bugyal (12 km): The trail climbs through oak and rhododendron forest and then breaks above the treeline onto Ali Bugyal and Bedni Bugyal -- vast alpine meadows at around 3,354 metres. Bedni Bugyal is one of the most expansive high-altitude meadows in the Indian Himalaya, with views of the Trisul massif filling the northern horizon. A small lake, Bedni Kund, sits at the meadow's centre.
Bedni Bugyal to Patar Nachauni (4 km): A gradual ascent across the upper meadows.
Patar Nachauni to Bhagwabasa (4 km): The terrain changes sharply here -- a steep, rocky zigzag climb into the upper basin. The landscape transitions from meadow to scree and moraine.
Bhagwabasa to Roopkund (3 km): The final push to the lake, crossing a snow slope that typically requires crampons. Bhagwabasa, at approximately 4,800 metres, serves as the high camp.
Current trek status and permits
The Roopkund trek's status has been complicated since 2018, when the Uttarakhand High Court restricted overnight camping on alpine meadows (bugyals), specifically Bedni Bugyal and Patar Nachauni, to protect these fragile ecosystems from overuse and waste accumulation.
As of 2026, the situation is nuanced. The High Court ruling banned camping on the grass itself, not trekking through the area. Some licensed operators have resumed running Roopkund treks with modified camping arrangements (using designated campsites off the meadow grass or tent platforms). The trek is strictly regulated and requires forest department permits, a licensed guide, and registration.
If you are planning this trek, verify the current permit status with the Uttarakhand Forest Department or a licensed operator before booking. Regulations have changed multiple times and enforcement varies by season.
The trekking windows, when open, are typically May to June (pre-monsoon) and September to November (post-monsoon). October is generally considered the optimal month -- clear post-monsoon skies, stable weather, and the meadows turning gold.
What you should know before going
Altitude: Roopkund at 5,029 metres is a serious high-altitude objective. Proper acclimatisation is essential. The jump from Bedni Bugyal (3,354 m) to Roopkund (5,029 m) happens over just two days on most itineraries.
Difficulty: This is rated as a difficult trek. The final section involves steep scree and often a snow slope requiring crampons and ice axes. Not every trekker in a Roopkund group will be appropriate for the final push to the lake.
The skeletons: The remains are weathered and partially submerged, visible mainly when the ice has melted sufficiently (typically late September onward). Disturbing or removing any skeletal material is prohibited.
The bugyals: For many trekkers, the alpine meadows at Ali and Bedni are the highlight of the route, regardless of whether they reach the lake. These are among the largest high-altitude grasslands in the Himalaya, used as summer pastures by Bhotiya communities, and they are genuinely extraordinary in the post-monsoon light.