Top 10 Glaciers in Bhutan
Bhutan occupies the eastern Himalayas between India and Tibet, rising from subtropical lowlands in the south to peaks exceeding 7,500 metres in the north. Its glacier inventory encompasses several hundred individual ice bodies spread across the northern districts of Gasa, Lhuentse, Bumthang, and Trashiyangtse. These glaciers are the source of Bhutan's major river systems — the Paro Chhu, Wang Chhu, Punatsang Chhu, and Mo Chhu — and feed the hydroelectric infrastructure that provides much of the kingdom's electricity. The Bhutanese government has made glacier and glacial lake monitoring a national priority given the hazard posed by glacial lake outburst floods to villages and infrastructure downstream. Explore glacier locations across Bhutan and the broader eastern Himalayas using the glacier map.
1. Gangkar Puensum Glacier, Gasa District
Gangkar Puensum at 7,570 metres is not only Bhutan's highest peak but also the highest unclimbed mountain in the world — climbing above 6,000 metres has been prohibited in Bhutan since 1994. The glaciers descending from its multiple faces are therefore among the least disturbed high-altitude ice bodies in the Himalayas, with no evidence of crampon scratches or fixed rope damage anywhere on the upper mountain. The northwest face and its associated glacier system are visible from lower approaches and represent some of the most pristine glacial terrain in the Himalayan arc.
2. Tarina Glacier, Lunana Region
The Tarina Glacier is one of the principal ice bodies in the Lunana district, Bhutan's most remote inhabited region. The Snowman Trek — widely regarded as one of the most challenging treks in the world — passes through Lunana and crosses several passes above 5,000 metres, offering close views of the Tarina system. The glacier drains into the Pho Chhu river, which flows south through the Punakha Valley and which has been the source of major glacial lake outburst floods historically.
3. Thanza Glacier, Lunana Region
Adjacent to the Tarina system in the Lunana highlands, the Thanza glacier complex feeds the upper drainage of the Mo Chhu. The village of Thanza, at roughly 4,100 metres, is among the highest permanently inhabited settlements in Bhutan and its residents depend on glacier meltwater for summer water supply. The Thanza glacier has shown significant retreat in satellite-based inventories compiled over the past two decades, and proglacial lakes in the vicinity have expanded accordingly.
4. Raphstreng Tsho Glacier, Lunana
The glacier feeding Raphstreng Tsho, one of Bhutan's largest and most hazardous glacial lakes, is of critical importance for national disaster risk management. Raphstreng Tsho expanded dramatically during the 1990s and received international attention as a textbook case of a potentially dangerous moraine-dammed glacial lake. Drainage channels were excavated through the moraine dam by Bhutanese engineers and international technical assistance teams in the early 2000s to lower the lake level and reduce outburst flood risk.
5. Lugge Tsho Glacier, Lunana
Lugge Tsho produced a major glacial lake outburst flood in 1994 that swept down the Pho Chhu valley, killing 21 people and destroying crops, livestock, and infrastructure across several villages in Punakha and Wangdue Phodrang districts. The 1994 event was one of the most damaging glacial lake outburst floods in Bhutan's recorded history and prompted the national monitoring programme for glacial lakes that continues today. The glacier feeding Lugge Tsho has continued to retreat in subsequent decades, further expanding the lake.
6. Masang Gang Glacier, Northern Gasa
Masang Gang at 7,194 metres is one of the highest peaks accessible by foot in Bhutan's Gasa district. The glaciers on its northern and eastern faces drain into tributaries of the Paro Chhu and are relatively accessible by Bhutanese standards, being reachable by the Jomolhari trek routes that approach the peak from the south. The glacier views from the approach ridges are among the most dramatic accessible to trekkers in western Bhutan.
7. Jomolhari Glacier, Paro District
The glaciers of Jomolhari (7,326 m) on the Bhutan-Tibet border are the most visited glacier landscapes in Bhutan, approached by the Jomolhari Base Camp trek, which is one of the country's most popular trekking routes. The glacier's lower tongue is visible from the base camp at Jangothang, a flat meadow at around 4,080 metres that offers iconic views of the mountain's ice-encrusted south face rising sharply above the valley. The Paro River originates from meltwater from the Jomolhari massif.
8. Kula Kangri Glacier, Northern Bhutan
Kula Kangri at approximately 7,554 metres is one of the highest peaks on the Bhutan-Tibet border and the subject of some dispute about which side of the frontier it technically occupies. Its glaciers drain south into Bhutan's river systems and north into the Tibetan plateau drainage. The peak's remoteness means its glaciers are among the least documented in the region, but recent satellite-based glacier inventory work has confirmed significant retreat of the lower glacier tongues over the past several decades.
9. Tsenda Kangke Glacier, Eastern Bhutan
The northeastern corner of Bhutan near Trashiyangtse contains a less-studied cluster of glaciers draining from peaks on the Bhutan-Tibet border. The Tsenda Kangke system contributes to the headwaters of the Kuri Chhu, which flows south and eventually joins the Brahmaputra drainage in Assam. This eastern cluster of glaciers is particularly poorly documented because the district of Trashiyangtse has been closed to foreign trekking for most of Bhutan's modern history as a tourist destination.
10. Teri Kang Glacier, Gasa District
Teri Kang (6,526 m) in the Gasa district is accessible on the northern extensions of the Snowman Trek and is one of the peaks that defines the skyline visible from the remote villages of the Laya region. The glaciers on Teri Kang's northern flanks drain into Tibetan drainage systems, while its southern faces contribute meltwater to the upper Wang Chhu system. Laya village, at roughly 3,800 metres, is the northernmost permanent settlement served by road in Gasa district and provides the last resupply point for trekkers heading north toward the glacial high country.