Nyalu La (Nyalu Lagna) is a pass of about 4,990 m in northern Humla, on the high route between the Limi valley and Simikot. It is a road cut rather than a footpath, but no clearing equipment is stationed that high, so it chokes with snowdrift from late autumn to late spring.
Where Nyalu La is and what it connects
Nyalu sits on the ridge system north of Simikot, on the line that separates the drainage running down to the Humla Karnali from the trans-Himalayan country beyond. It is the pass that closes the Limi circuit: travellers who go north from Simikot to the border at Hilsa, then east into Limi, come back over Nyalu and drop toward Sallikhola rather than retracing the outward leg. The route description for that loop is set out on the Humla and Limi valley destination page, and this post deliberately does not repeat it.
From the Simikot side the approach runs north through Dharapori and Kermi, then climbs past the Phendol camping ground and up the long basin holding Selma Lake at about 4,570 m. Selma is the last unmistakable landmark before the ground tilts up toward the pass itself. From the Limi side the approach comes up out of the valley through pasture country and is longer, higher and more exposed for more of its length.
For the broader arrangement of the district, including where Simikot sits in relation to all of this, the Humla district guide covers the geography at overview level.
How high is Nyalu La, and how it compares
About 4,990 m, which is roughly 400 m higher than Nara La (Nara Lagna) on the border route and more than 2,000 m above Simikot. The number matters less than what it does to a body arriving from Nepalgunj a few days earlier, which is covered in the Humla acclimatisation profile.
| Point on the northern route | Approximate elevation | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Simikot | about 2,910 m | The airhead and the last town with services of any kind |
| Kermi | about 2,700 m | Lower than Simikot. The standard first sleep on the northern route |
| Selma Lake (Selima Tsho) | about 4,570 m | The last obvious landmark below the pass, and the usual turnaround |
| Nyalu La (Nyalu Lagna) | about 4,990 m | The crossing. Snow-blocked for much of the year |
| Nara La (Nara Lagna) | 4,580 m | The border route pass, on the other arm of the loop |
You will see Nyalu described as the highest motorable pass in one region or another. Those rankings are contested and they change with every new road cut, so this site does not make the claim. What is not in dispute is the altitude and what it does to an engine, a fuel budget and a person.
The approach from Simikot, as far as Selma Lake
This section is first-hand. In monsoon 2026 we rode north from Simikot as far as Selma and no further, and everything below describes that ground rather than the pass beyond it.
The track leaves the Simikot side and does what most of this district does, which is lose height before it gains any. The valley floor stage through Dharapori is warm and green in a way that feels wrong for where you are going. Kermi is where the northern route properly starts, because it is where you sleep low enough to make the next day survivable.
Above Kermi the surface degrades in a way that is easy to describe and unpleasant to ride. It is loose over hardpack, cambered outward more often than inward, and cut into slopes where the only thing between the outer wheel track and a long fall is whatever gravel has not yet gone over the edge. In monsoon the side streams cross the track rather than passing under it, and several of them were moving stones when we came through.
Higher up the vegetation gives out. Juniper scrub, then wind-cropped grass, then rock and the pale ground of a glacial basin. The air thins in a way you feel first in the engine and then in yourself, and the fuel consumption climbs exactly as much as the field notes said it would. There is nothing up here. No settlement, no shop, no signal and nobody to ask.
Why we turned back at the snowline
Near Selma Lake the snow started. Not a patch, not a drift you could ride round, but a continuous bank across the line the track takes, deep and consolidated and holding a wheel the moment you put one into it. This was in the middle of the monsoon season, which tells you how little the calendar means at that height.
The decision took about ten minutes and it was not a close call. Digging out a bike from consolidated snow at that height, alone, with no recovery gear beyond what fits on a rack, is a way of using up daylight you cannot get back. Above the snowline the ground steepens and the exposure increases. If a vehicle gets stuck up there it stays there, and then the problem is not the vehicle, it is walking down at dusk in wet clothing at an altitude where the body is already working badly.
So we turned round at Selma and went back the way we came. This is not a failure worth dressing up. Turning back at Selma is the normal outcome, not the exceptional one, and it is what the pass does to most people who go up to look at it outside the narrow windows when it is clear.
The useful thing a turnaround gives a reader is the shape of the decision. You will not be deciding whether the pass is crossable in the abstract. You will be standing at the lake, or on the ground just above it, looking at a snowbank, with a fixed amount of daylight, a fixed amount of fuel and no help within a day of you.
What the crossing itself involves
What follows is researched rather than witnessed, and it is written that way on purpose. Nobody from this site has been over Nyalu.
The pass is a road cut, which means the line exists and is gradable in principle. In the open windows, jeeps and motorcycles do cross it, and the Limi loop is completed on wheels. The top is a high, bare saddle with prayer flags, the standard furniture of a Himalayan pass, and the descent on the far side drops into the pasture country above the Limi villages.
The specific hazards reported consistently are drift rather than fresh fall, ice on the shaded sections of the cut where the sun does not reach until late morning, and the general problem of an unpaved surface at an altitude where any recovery becomes a mountaineering operation. There is no plough. There is no gritting. There is no one whose job it is to know whether it is open. The only current information is whoever came over it last, and in Simikot that is a question you ask in person.
When Nyalu La is passable, and why it closes
The broad windows are the pre-monsoon weeks of May and June and the post-monsoon weeks from late September into early November. From late autumn through to late spring the pass is generally snow-blocked. That is the pattern, and every part of it can be overridden by a single storm.
The reason the closure is so absolute has nothing to do with how much snow falls and everything to do with what happens afterwards. On a road at lower altitude, snow is cleared or it melts. At about 4,990 m, in shade, on a north-facing cut, it does neither for months. It compacts, it refreezes and it becomes a solid feature of the road rather than weather sitting on it.
Unseasonal summer blizzards are the trap. A monsoon-season traveller reasonably assumes the snow problem is a winter problem, and it is not. Our own snowbank in monsoon 2026 was proof of that. Riding the corridor in monsoon covers what that season does to the road south of Simikot, which is a different set of problems entirely.
For the district-wide seasonal picture, the West Nepal seasons guide gives the general windows.
What you need before you attempt it
The area north of Simikot is restricted, and the permit is not optional or informal. The structure is a restricted-area permit charged per week, a two-person minimum on the application, and a registered Nepali guide. Checks happen at Simikot, at Muchu and at Hilsa. Rates change, so this site does not print them: the restricted-area permit guide explains how the system works, and the Department of Immigration or a Simikot operator has the current figures.
Beyond paperwork, the honest list is short and boring. Enough fuel to get back from wherever you turn round, which is not the same as enough to reach the far side. Recovery kit you can actually use alone. Sleeping gear rated for a night out at that altitude, because a night out is the realistic failure mode. And a plan agreed in advance with whoever you are travelling with about what triggers a turnaround, decided before anyone is cold and tired enough to argue about it.
The local advice is worth more than any of this. Talk to muleteers and drivers in Simikot before going up. They know what came over the pass this week and they have no reason to flatter you.
How to decide when to turn back
Set the rule at the bottom, not the top. A turnaround time, a fuel figure and a snow condition, all fixed before you start climbing. At altitude, tired and committed, everybody talks themselves further up the hill than they meant to go, and the ground above Selma is not somewhere to discover that about yourself.
The practical markers are simple. If the snow is continuous rather than patchy, stop. If you are digging, stop, because the first dig is never the last one. If cloud is coming down the basin, stop, because the track is only obvious while you can see it. And if anyone in the group has a headache that is not improving, go down, which is the one instruction in this entire post that has no exceptions.
Before you travel. Humla is a restricted border district and conditions change without notice. Roads close, flights are cancelled, permit rules and fees are revised, and the Hilsa crossing opens and shuts to different categories of traveller. Confirm the current position with the District Administration Office in Simikot, the Department of Immigration, or a registered local operator before you commit to a route.
Frequently Asked Questions
How high is Nyalu La?
About 4,990 m. It is roughly 400 m higher than Nara La on the border route and more than 2,000 m above Simikot at about 2,910 m. Elevations for high passes in this district vary between sources, so treat the figure as approximate.
Can you drive over Nyalu La?
Yes, in the open windows. It is a road cut rather than a footpath, and jeeps and motorcycles do complete the Limi loop over it. Outside those windows it is blocked by consolidated snowdrift and there is no clearing equipment stationed at that altitude to do anything about it.
When is Nyalu La open?
Broadly May and June before the monsoon, and late September into early November after it. From late autumn to late spring the pass is generally snow-blocked. Unseasonal summer blizzards close it too, so no window is a guarantee.
Where do most vehicles turn back?
Near Selma Lake at about 4,570 m, which is where the snowbanks typically start. It is the last obvious landmark below the pass and the natural place to make the decision, with enough ground behind you to retreat over safely.
Do you need a permit for Nyalu La?
Yes. Everything north of Simikot toward Limi and the border is a restricted area. The permit is charged per week, requires a minimum of two people on the application and a registered Nepali guide, and is checked at Simikot, Muchu and Hilsa. Check current rates with the Department of Immigration or a Simikot operator.
Is there anywhere to stay near the pass?
No. There is no settlement, no lodge and no shop between Kermi and the Limi side. Anyone going up is camping, and anyone caught out is camping whether they intended to or not. Carry gear that makes an unplanned night survivable.
How do you find out whether the pass is open?
By asking in Simikot. There is no authority publishing a status and no phone coverage up there to check with. Muleteers, drivers and lodge owners know what has come over recently, and that is the only current information that exists.
Is Nyalu La the highest motorable pass in Nepal?
Claims like that are contested and change as new roads are cut, so this site does not make one. What is reliable is the altitude of about 4,990 m and the fact that it is high enough for snow to sit on the road for most of the year.