Langtang National Park Requests Mandatory Trekking Guides
In February 2025, an official letter from Langtang National Park was sent to the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN). The park officials requested that all trekkers, foreign and Nepali, should no longer trek solo and should have a trekking guide for the Langtang trek. They cited past years’ incidents of missing trekkers, injuries, and difficulties encountered by solo trekkers. This raises the question: Is solo trekking allowed in Langtang?
What does this mean for trekkers planning a Langtang trek without a guide? Let me summarize for those of you short on time and eager to go trekking: It doesn’t mean much yet. TAAN hasn’t set up any checkpoints since the pandemic.
For those wanting more details on what has become a yearly outcry about banning solo trekking in Nepal, let’s delve into what’s really going on.
Langtang’s “Ban” on Solo Trekkers: A Ban Already in Place?
The letter itself is puzzling. In March 2023, TAAN and the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) made a significant announcement, “banning” solo trekking in Nepal. Guides were declared mandatory, and TIMS cards were made available only through trekking agencies. Adding insult to injury, these new dictates were only aimed at non-Nepali trekkers. NTB and TAAN completely left out Nepali trekkers, despite large numbers of Nepali trekkers going missing, getting injured and indeed dieing when trekking.
The result? A mess. TAAN never established any checkpoints. In fact, there haven’t been any since the pandemic. The NTB claims you’ll be fined, turned back, etc., without a guide or a TIMS card. Yet, there are no checkpoints to enforce this. TAAN wrote to all their members after the Langtang letter, stating that all trekkers should have guides.
The Solukhumbu region completely rejected TAAN, NTB, and TIMS cards, stating they were useless and retaining the money raised themselves. Instead, they banned TIMS cards and created their own local permits.
Why Would Langtang National Park Make This Request?
Why would Langtang National Park request what is already supposedly in place? Why would they cite missing trekkers, injuries, etc., when not one trekker has been publicly reported as missing from the region in several years? In the 2000s, Langtang had serious issues with trekkers being mugged, assaulted, and robbed near Lama Village. These problems largely disappeared about ten years ago. Then, in 2015, the earthquake devastated the area. So, Langtang has had its share of challenges, but none seem to stem from trekkers going missing—at least not recently. This makes one wonder: Do I need a trekking guide for Langtang in 2025?
Again, it’s a bizarre letter, considering the “ban” is already in effect. Perhaps Langtang National Park is also wondering where the TAAN checkpoints are and are prompting them to act. Why? Well, the Churibu Rural Municipality has established its own checkpoint and is charging trekkers a fee to enter the Manaslu trek. Mardi Himal tried the same, and Solukhumbu (Everest) is currently doing it. Simply put, there’s revenue potential.
What’s even more bizarre is that TAAN, in perhaps their greatest act of speed in recent years, immediately sent out a letter to all trekking agents requesting they send a mandatory guide with all trekkers in the Langtang region. It’s a contradictory letter as this is what TAAN have been instructing trekking agents to do since 2023 anyway. And, if trekkers are going solo to Langtang then why would trekking agents need this letter? It’s not as if the solo trekkers will be calling into them and saying “We’re all off to Langtang without you. Just in case you want to tell us anything?”
One hypothesis is that If TAAN isn’t planning checkpoints, Langtang National Park might be considering setting up its own and disregarding TIMS cards and TAAN altogether. There’s a hint of this in the letter as they specifically requested guides for both non-Nepali and Nepali. The latter numbers have greatly increased in recent years due to the close proximity Langtang is to Kathmandu and increased wealth within Nepali youth circles. This letter may be a test balloon for the possibility of a highly profitable new rural permit. If it is, TAAN just swallowed the bait. If not, then a second hypothesis is that this is all just balderdash to put anxiety into solo trekkers to hire a guide and therefore buy a TIMS card for the upcoming season.
Are There *Any* Checkpoints in Langtang National Park?
Here things get even stranger! Yes, there *are* checkpoints in Langtang National Park—army and police checkpoints. It’s a wildlife reserve, and they’re looking to stop wildlife traffickers. They stop everyone entering the area, including trekkers, for a bag search and to check documents.
They do ask for a trekker’s Langtang National Park Permit and TIMS card. The National Park permit is essential. However, if a trekker doesn’t have a TIMS card or a guide, they’ve simply been allowed to proceed. Why? Well, they probably don’t want the hassle of fining a trekker for something surrounded by so much uncertainty and lacking official announcements from the Ministry of Tourism (the real people in charge of such mandates in Nepal). Moreover, the army post would likely face significant push-back from locals for turning tourists away—much like what happened to a checkpoint in Mardi Himal.
However, if Langtang National Park encouraged the rural municipality in the area to create a local permit and checkpoint, that would likely generate funds for the area which may well be supported by the local municipality if implemented properly.
Do You Need a TIMS Card and a Guide for Langtang National Park?
Well, according to the letter, Langtang National Park are telling TAAN (who is responsible for such checkpoints) that there should be mandatory guides. Yet, TAAN doesn’t have one in place. TAAN, in return, are telling trekking agents that they should send a guide with trekkers … which again is a complete contradiction as they should be anyway.
There’s an alleged $125 fine that no one has been charged with yet. Again, there are no checkpoints to issue fines. This recent “news” about a Langtang National Park letter requesting that guides be mandatory has simply highlighted this lack of clarity.
Nepal lacks clear answers on this issue, which is bizarre, hurts the country’s trekking reputation, impacts local businesses negatively, and reduces the number of tourists coming to Nepal. The blame falls squarely on TAAN and NTB for this. For trekkers, the best advice is: If this is your first time trekking in Nepal, then yes, hiring a guide is a great way to learn, be safe, and gain experience trekking in Nepal (which can be a different experience than trekking in other countries). Even if you have experience trekking in Nepal, and you want to trek the difficult Ganja La Pass in Langtang then it’s highly recommended you take a trekking guide. For those who want to trek solo, the choice is yours—for now.
Get my Trekking in Nepal Guidebook & discover more than anyone else!
Looking for more insider tips and information like this? Get the most up-to-date, popular and dedicated guidebook to Trekking in Nepal in the world. Covering 29 full treks over 400 pages. The only trekking guidebook in the world with trekking links showing you how to link treks together! Available as an instant download or worldwide shipping for the paperback edition!
Take a look below and you’ll find out why this beats all other guidebooks!
Finally, someone explaining what’s actually going on! Was getting super stressed about my April trek, but now I can see it’s not as complicated as social media is making it out to be!
Thanks Sarah! Don’t stress too much – things on the ground are usually much simpler than they appear on FB and social media!
Mate just got back from Langtang in October – spot on about those army checkpoints! They just glanced at my park permit and waved me through, super chill about the whole thing. No guide with me.
Thanks for the update Marcus. Yes, the army are okay with everything thankfully.
They’re just trying to squeeze more money out of us tourists again! Why do people put up with them?! It’s expensive enough reaching Nepal. Then you’ve gotta worry about what’s true or not! These people are basically lying about checkpoints, cashing in, and making Nepal look so bad.
You’ve hit the nail on the head Emma. The situation would be much better if they’d either put up checkpoints and get it over with, or stop saying they are enforcing it when they are not in the least. It does indeed make Nepal look bad.
Lol same old Nepal… Remember when they tried this back in 2019? And 2023? Nothing ever changes except the date on these ‘announcements’.
Yes, it’s becoming a yearly event. Easier to stir things up online than actually to actually have checkpoints to ensure trekker safety it seems!
I was stopped on the 6th of March 2025 on the Dhunche checkpoint. Both soldiers and the park authorities stated that I need a guide. I tried to convince them for 15 minutes to let me go without one. They allowed me to go to Syabru Besi under condition that I get a local guide there. After questioning one of the Park Authorities officer he told me that they have stared to enforce this rule last week in order to calm some local conflict. He suggested that trying to go without guide can cause issues with some local groups. I decided to not buy a permit there, and turn back. Arghhh.
Sorry to read you ran into issues. It is a fluid situation at the moment. Time will tell over the coming season if checkpoints continue on like this along with national park and rural municipalities causing issues with no clear guidelines. If it’s any consolation, I would be wary of hiring any guide en-route these days too. TAAN and NTB have created such a convoluted unconfirmed situation that guide’s can only be hired via trekking companies otherwise they won’t be insured etc. You might have dodged a bullet there too. If other trekkers read this, and are in a similar situation, and are told they need a local guide. I’d get the guide to call a trekking office in Kathmandu and have the TIMS issued from there (easily sent via a photo), and have a confirmation message that the guide is covered by the trekking companies insurance etc.
The mandatory guide rule is making a mess of things. This is good information vs the Facebook doom scroll of people saying everything and nobody actually telling the truth! Trekkers to consider this. Thanks for you updates!
Hi Paul, thanks for the vote of confidence. Two decades of honest information right here!