Dhorpatan

Dhorpatan is a broad grazing basin at around 3,000 metres in Baglung district, ringed by ridges that climb toward Dhaulagiri, and it is the only hunting reserve in Nepal: managed trophy hunting of blue sheep and Himalayan tahr is permitted here under licence in defined blocks, which is why the area has a different legal status from the national parks. For an ordinary visitor it is a walking area of open pasture, blue pine and fir forest, shepherds' camps in summer and a settlement of Tibetan refugees who have farmed here since the 1960s. Snow leopard, musk deer and wolf occur but are essentially never seen. The reserve is remote and access rough, and trekkers here are few.

What you actually see

• The open basin - wide grazing pasture ringed by ridges.
• Tibetan settlement - the refugee community farming in the valley.
• Shepherd camps - the summer grazing use of the high pasture.
• Dhaulagiri ridges - the peaks rising north of the reserve.

When to go

April to June and September to November. Winter snow closes the basin and the road. The monsoon makes the approach roads impassable in places. Autumn gives the clearest mountain views.

Honest expectations

Licensed trophy hunting takes place here, which some visitors will not want to encounter or support. Access is a long rough road and then walking. Accommodation is camping or very basic lodging. Wildlife sightings are effectively nil.

Nearby

Burtibang lies south; Dhaulagiri rises to the northeast.