What happened
Kaghan Valley received heavy snowfall on Monday, 2 November, dropping temperatures sharply across the valley. Snow fell from early morning at Babusar Top, Saiful Muluk Lake, Battakundi, Basal, Lolosar Lake and Naran, and continued intermittently through the day. Police told Dawn that traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan was temporarily suspended because the Mansehra–Naran–Jalkhad (MNJ) Road had become slippery. The road has since been cleared for traffic as far as Naran, the commercial hub of Kaghan Valley, but tourists are temporarily barred from travelling beyond Naran towards Babusar Top until the weather improves. Hussain Deen, chairman of the Kaghan Valley Hotel Association, said tourists were still visiting the valley to enjoy the snowfall, with traffic allowed up to Naran, and urged motorists travelling from Balakot to Naran to drive cautiously in slippery conditions and strictly avoid rash driving. Abdul Rasheed Tanoli, the valley’s sub-divisional wildlife officer, said the road from Naran to Saiful Muluk Lake remains open to four-wheel-drive vehicles, and tourists are still arriving. He added that the tourism season was still on, but would most probably end in December, when the heaviest snowfall of the season suspends the valley’s communication system.
Source: Dawn
What it means for travellers
If you are heading north this week, Naran is currently the practical limit on this route, not Babusar Top and not Gilgit-Baltistan via the MNJ Road. That matters because the Naran–Babusar–Chilas road is the summer shortcut into Gilgit-Baltistan; with the section beyond Naran closed, travellers bound for Hunza or Skardu should use the Karakoram Highway via Besham instead, and allow extra time. For a short Kaghan trip, the news is better: Naran itself is open, snowfall sightseeing is under way, and the Saiful Muluk road is open to four-wheel-drive vehicles. Do not assume a normal car can make the lake road in these conditions, and do not plan a Babusar crossing until the bar is lifted. Winter tyres, chains where advised, daylight driving and a buffer night in Naran or Balakot are the sensible defaults now.
What to watch
Watch for the next police or district update lifting the bar beyond Naran, and for a fresh snowfall forecast for Babusar Top and the upper valley. The December end-of-season warning in the Dawn report is also worth noting: if you are planning a late-season Kaghan trip, treat every week from now on as conditional, and confirm road status on the morning of travel rather than at booking time.
