Passu Cones Guide — Viewpoints, Timing & Route

PhotographyHunza Travel Guide

✍ Written by: Hunza-Tours.com Editorial Team ✔ Reviewed by: Sultan Ali, Head Guide (Hunza) 📅 Last updated: July 2026 ⛰ Field experience: Local ground team, resident in Gilgit-Baltistan

In short: Passu Cones — also called Passu Cathedral — are among the most iconic mountain views in Pakistan. Their sharp, impossibly serrated skyline rises straight from the Karakoram Highway, making them a magnet for photographers, foreign visitors and road-trippers.

Best Viewpoints

The classic head-on view is from the KKH just south of Passu village, where the ridge lines up behind the road. Other angles: the Gulmit side (with river foreground), Borith Lake’s elevated rim, and the Passu suspension bridge for a leading-line composition. Sunset light warms the rock; sunrise silhouettes it.

When to Go

May to October offers reliable access and clear mornings; autumn (October) adds golden poplars to the foreground. The cones hold snow highlights into early summer, which photographers often prefer.

The Upper Hunza Route

Passu sits 20 minutes beyond Attabad Lake on the way to Sost and Khunjerab. A typical upper-Hunza day chains Attabad → Gulmit → Hussaini Bridge → Passu Cones → Borith Lake, all within a relaxed day from Karimabad.

Nearby Stops

Glacier Breeze café near Passu is famous for apricot cake; the Passu Glacier white-ice viewpoint is a half-day hike from Borith; and Hussaini suspension bridge — one of Hunza’s most adventurous photo ops — is minutes down the road.