Passu Glacier Guide — The White-Ice Viewpoint Hike

GlaciersHunza Travel Guide

✍ Written by: Hunza-Tours.com Editorial Team ✔ Reviewed by: Didar Karim, Senior Trekking Guide 📅 Last updated: July 2026 ⛰ Field experience: Local ground team, resident in Gilgit-Baltistan

In short: Passu Glacier is upper Hunza's dramatic river of white ice, tumbling from the Batura wall almost to the Karakoram Highway near Passu village. The classic 1.5–2 hour viewpoint hike from Borith Lake is one of the best effort-to-reward walks in Pakistan — and belongs on every upper-Hunza itinerary.

White Ice vs Black Ice

Unlike nearby Hopper’s debris-darkened surface, Passu is a “white” glacier — clean, crevassed ice that glows in morning light. It flows off the giant Batura Glacier system, one of the longest ice bodies outside the poles, and its snout sits startlingly close to the road and villages.

The Viewpoint Hike

From Borith Lake a well-trodden trail climbs gently to a ridge overlooking the glacier’s frozen cascade — about 1.5–2 hours up, suitable for any reasonably fit walker, with the Cathedral-Ridge Passu Cones as a backdrop. It’s the centrepiece of our Passu Glacier Trek and a highlight of the longer tours.

Best Timing & Photography

Morning light rakes across the ice beautifully and skies are clearest before midday cloud builds. May–October gives reliable trail conditions; autumn adds golden foreground grass against the blue-white ice.

How to Include It

The half-day viewpoint hike fits any package with an upper-Hunza night (7-Day Khunjerab, 10-Day Adventure, all trek packages). Serious walkers can continue toward the glacier edge with a local guide, or tackle the full Patundas Trek that crosses the ice itself.