Why this ride
The highest point is about 4,150 m. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Srinagar-Leh Highway · short arc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 123 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 56
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Srinagar-Leh Highway
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 112 km this is Srinagar-Leh Highway, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 112 km
- Named road
- Srinagar-Leh Highway
- Pass
- Zoji La
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Sonamarg
Sonamarg means meadow of gold, and in spring and early summer, when the flowers come out on the grass, the name seems fair. It is a broad, high valley of the Sindh river, at roughly twenty-seven hundred metres, about eighty kilometres north-east of Srinagar on the road to Ladakh, surrounded by snow-streaked peaks, pine forests and glaciers. In winter it is buried in snow, and it was once a stop on the old Silk Road routes that linked Kashmir to Central Asia, with caravans of traders, pilgrims and mules passing through on their way to Leh and beyond.
Read the complete Sonamarg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sonamarg is where the day begins. Next is Zoji La.
2. Zoji La
Zoji La is the door to Ladakh, and it has a reputation to match. At around 3,500 metres, it is the pass that connects the green, wet Kashmir valley with the high, dry country beyond, and the transformation on the far side is startling: one moment you are among pines and flower meadows, the next you are looking at pale, bare mountains, sand-coloured slopes and a sky of unbroken blue. The reason is simple. The Himalaya catches the monsoon on one side and leaves the other in a rain shadow, so you cross not only a pass but a climate boundary.
Read the complete Zoji La write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Zoji La comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kargil.
3. Kargil
Kargil sits at about 2,700 metres in the Suru valley in Ladakh, a town of tin roofs, apricot trees and mountains the colour of ash. Most travellers know it as a night stop on the road between Srinagar and Leh, which is about right, but it has a character of its own. Most of its people are Shia Muslims of Balti descent, and the call to prayer carries across the river valley beneath peaks that stay snowy for much of the year.
Read the complete Kargil write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 123 km.
Leg by leg
Sonamarg to Zoji La
Sonamarg → Zoji La is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zoji La to Kargil
Zoji La → Kargil is 99 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Srinagar-Leh Highway: Srinagar to Kargil · 204 km
- Srinagar-Leh Highway · part 1 · 226 km
- Srinagar-Leh Highway: Srinagar to Dras · 142 km
- Srinagar-Leh Highway · 457 km