Top 10 Glaciers in Pakistan
Pakistan contains more glaciated area than any country outside the polar regions, with approximately 7,253 glaciers covering around 15,000 km2 in the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, and western Himalayan ranges. The country is also the epicentre of the Karakoram Anomaly — a region where many glaciers have remained stable or slightly advanced since the 1980s while glaciers in adjacent ranges have retreated consistently. The approaches to K2, the second-highest mountain in the world, pass through some of the most spectacular glacier terrain on earth.
1. Baltoro Glacier, Gilgit-Baltistan
The Baltoro Glacier is 62 km long and covers approximately 750 km2, making it one of the longest valley glaciers outside the polar regions. It drains from the Karakoram's central axis and forms the approach route to K2, Broad Peak, the Gasherbrum group, and the Concordia amphitheatre — the highest concentration of 8,000-metre peaks in the world. The Concordia confluence, where the Godwin-Austen Glacier meets the Baltoro, sits at 4,690 m and provides views of K2's south face, Broad Peak, and G4, all within a single panorama. The Baltoro approach takes seven to ten days on foot from Askole; Pakistani high-altitude porter teams are mandatory for logistical reasons and heavily regulated. The glacier surface is largely debris-covered on its lower sections; the upper glacier and tributaries are white.
2. Biafo Glacier, Gilgit-Baltistan
The Biafo Glacier, 67 km long, joins the Hispar Glacier at the Snow Lake (Lukpe Lawo) snowfield to form the Biafo-Hispar system — approximately 100 km of continuous glacier travel, the longest glaciated traverse outside the polar regions. The Snow Lake neve at approximately 4,800 m is one of the largest accumulation areas in the world outside the ice sheets. The Biafo-Hispar traverse is a two-week ski mountaineering expedition of increasing difficulty, requiring full glacier skills and high-camp camping capability. The Biafo is also notable for its relative stability under the Karakoram Anomaly.
3. Hispar Glacier, Gilgit-Baltistan
The Hispar Glacier, 53 km long, is the counterpart to the Biafo in the Biafo- Hispar traverse, descending from Snow Lake to Hispar village in the Hunza valley. It is one of the more accessible Karakoram glaciers: the Hispar village road end is reachable from Karimabad (Hunza), and the lower glacier has been visited by trekkers since the early twentieth century. The lower Hispar is heavily debris- covered; the upper sections are clean glacier ice and snow.
4. Siachen Glacier, Gilgit-Baltistan / Kashmir
The Siachen Glacier, 76 km long and covering approximately 700 km2, is the world's largest glacier outside the polar regions and the site of the world's highest-altitude military conflict. Since 1984, the Indian and Pakistani armies have maintained positions on the glacier and adjacent peaks in the Saltoro Range, making civilian access effectively impossible. The glacier lies at elevations of 3,600 to 5,400 m. Its strategic situation has made it the subject of repeated bilateral demilitarisation discussions that have not yet resulted in a peace agreement. Scientific access for glacier monitoring is restricted but has been conducted under military coordination.
5. Batura Glacier, Gilgit-Baltistan
The Batura Glacier is 57 km long and descends from the Batura Muztagh massif directly above the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in the Hunza valley. It is one of the most easily observed large Karakoram glaciers: the highway passes within metres of the glacier's lateral moraine at several points, and the ice and debris front is visible from the road. The Batura has been classified as a surging glacier and has shown signs of advancing in recent decades under Karakoram Anomaly conditions.
6. Passu Glacier, Gilgit-Baltistan
The Passu Glacier and the adjacent Shishper Glacier descend from the Passu Cones — the distinctive serrated peaks above Passu village on the Karakoram Highway. The view of the Passu Cones and glaciers from the Passu road is one of the iconic mountain images of Pakistan. The Shishper Glacier has been surging actively since 2017, periodically advancing to dam the Hunza River and form Shishper Lake — a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) hazard that has damaged infrastructure multiple times. The villages of Hasanabad and Gulkin have flood warning systems as a result.
7. Khurdopin Glacier, Gilgit-Baltistan
The Khurdopin Glacier (also Khiordopin) is approximately 40 km long and has been active in glacier surge behaviour, advancing and retreating in cycles that affect the Shimshal River drainage. It is accessible from Shimshal village — a remote but increasingly visited trekking destination above the Karakoram Highway. The valley above Shimshal contains a concentration of Karakoram glaciers including the Yazghil, Virjerab, and Momhil.
8. Chogo Lungma Glacier, Gilgit-Baltistan
The Chogo Lungma Glacier is approximately 45 km long and drains from the Haramosh massif and the peaks east of the Karakoram axis toward the Indus valley. The approach from Arandu and Sassi in the Indus gorge reaches the glacier through steep terrain. The glacier has been subject to surging and has a complex medial moraine structure. It is less visited than the Baltoro or Biafo but has been explored by mountaineering expeditions since the early twentieth century.
9. Yengutz Glacier, Gilgit-Baltistan
The Yengutz (Yengutz Har) Glacier above Shimshal feeds into the broader Shimshal glacier system. The upper Shimshal valley — the region around Shimshal Pamir and the Chinese border — contains a concentration of remote glaciers that are almost entirely unstudied by outside researchers. Shimshal Mountaineering School has been developing local capacity for glacier monitoring in the region.
10. Yazghil Glacier, Gilgit-Baltistan
The Yazghil Glacier is approximately 30 km long and descends from the Yazghil Dome and adjacent summits above the Shimshal valley. Like the Khurdopin, it has been characterised by surge behaviour and has periodically advanced to threaten the Shimshal River crossing. The upper Shimshal valley trek accesses both the Yazghil and Khurdopin glacier systems over a multi-day route from Shimshal village.
The Karakoram Anomaly
The persistence of stable or advancing glaciers in the Karakoram while glaciers retreat globally has been extensively studied since first noted in the 1980s. The consensus explanation involves increased winter precipitation in the Karakoram driven by shifts in westerly circulation patterns, combined with reduced summer warming relative to the Himalayan regions to the south. The anomaly is expected to diminish as global temperatures continue rising, but it represents the most significant regional exception to the global glacier retreat trend currently documented by the WGMS.
Find Pakistan's glaciers on the map
All glaciers in this list are plotted on the interactive map. Filter to Pakistan to see the Karakoram concentration, and compare the Baltoro and Biafo approaches for planning an expedition itinerary.
Glacial lake outburst floods in the Karakoram
The Karakoram's pattern of surging and blocking glaciers creates a higher density of glacially dammed lakes — and therefore glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) — than almost any other region on earth. ICIMOD estimates that Pakistan has over 3,000 glacial lakes, of which approximately 33 are at high risk of outburst. The 2010 Attabad landslide dam was glacier-related in origin; the Shishper Lake GLOF events since 2018 have repeatedly damaged the Karakoram Highway and infrastructure in the Hunza valley. The UNDP and Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority maintain an early warning system for the highest-risk lakes.
Reaching the Karakoram glaciers
The Karakoram Highway (KKH, N35) connects Islamabad to Kashgar in China via the Hunza valley, passing within metres of the Batura Glacier snout and the Passu Cones. Gilgit-Baltistan province requires registration for foreign tourists, and the Baltoro Glacier approach requires a trekking permit obtainable through a licensed Pakistani tour operator. The Concordia approach from Askole is a seven- to ten-day round trip; the full K2 Base Camp and back is fourteen to eighteen days. Skardu is the air gateway (flights from Islamabad, subject to visibility); the road to Askole from Skardu takes six to eight hours.