Poon Hill Trek in June

June is a monsoon month on the Poon Hill trail. The trek still runs, the lodges stay open and the walking is easy, but you trade reliable mountain views for green hills, wet steps and far fewer people. Rain usually falls in the afternoon and at night, so your Poon Hill sunrise still has a real chance. Daytime temperatures run 24°C to 30°C in the lower valley and 12°C to 18°C at Ghorepani.

June is not the month most trekkers should pick. It is a good month for a specific trekker: someone with fixed June dates, a small budget, and no need for a postcard photo. The first week and the last week of the month are not the same trek.

When Monsoon Actually Starts in Poon Hill, Nepal

Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology puts the normal onset date at 13 June and withdrawal at 2 October. The last four years show how much that moves.

Year	Monsoon onset in Nepal	Against normal
2022	5 June	8 days early
2023	14 June	1 day late
2024	10 June	3 days early
2025	29 May	15 days early

So in three of those four years the rain had already started before 13 June. Plan for a wet June from day one and treat a dry first week as a bonus.

Nepal receives about 80 percent of its annual rainfall in the monsoon months, and Pokhara, your gateway city, is one of the wettest places in the country.

Early, Mid and Late June for Poon Hill Trek in June

Early June for Poon Hill (1 to 10)

This is the pre-monsoon time, when it holds. Days are hot and humid in the lower valley, and the air carries haze that softens the mountain views.

Mornings are often still clear enough for a good Poon Hill sunrise. Afternoon thunderstorms build from about 2pm. In years when the monsoon arrives early, this week looks like mid June instead.

Mid June in Poon Hill Trek (11 to 20)

The monsoon normally sets in now. Expect rain on most days, usually in the afternoon and overnight, and mornings that swing between clear and completely clouded in.

The haze clears once the rain starts washing the air. On a clear mid June morning, the view from Poon Hill is sharper than it was in the first week.

Late June for Poon Hill Trek(21 to 30)

You will experience full monsoon in late June in poon hill. Rain is heavier and more frequent, the forest is at its greenest, and the waterfalls between Ghandruk and Tadapani are running hard.

This is the quietest week of the whole year on the trail. You will often have a lodge dining room to yourself.

Poon Hill Trek June Weather by Place

Section	Altitude	Daytime	Night	June conditions
Nayapul to Birethanti	1,070 m	24 to 30°C	18 to 22°C	Hot, humid, afternoon storms
Ghandruk	1,950 m	18 to 24°C	12 to 16°C	Warm, cloud builds by midday
Tadapani	2,630 m	14 to 20°C	8 to 12°C	Cool, wet forest, misty
Ghorepani	2,850 m	12 to 18°C	6 to 10°C	Cool evenings, no freezing
Poon Hill at dawn	3,210 m	5 to 10°C	—	Cold wind, clear or clouded

Nothing on this trek freezes in June. A fleece and a rain shell are enough, and a sleeping bag is optional on this route.

What June Gives You

• The lowest prices of the year. Lodges are empty, rooms are easy and nobody is turning you away at 3pm.
• Green hills and full waterfalls. The forest between Ghandruk and Ghorepani looks nothing like it does in dry October.
• No booking stress. You can walk in and get a room, which is never true in October.
• Quiet trails. On some June days you will pass almost nobody between Tadapani and Ghorepani.
• Clear mornings after rain. Rain washes the haze out, so a clear June morning can be sharper than a hazy May one.

What June Costs You

• Views are a gamble. Some mornings at Poon Hill give you Dhaulagiri and Annapurna South. Others give you white cloud.
• Rain most afternoons. Plan to walk early and be in a lodge by mid afternoon.
• Leeches in the wet forest. Mostly between Birethanti and Ghandruk, and in the forest below Tadapani.
• Slippery stone steps. The steps near Ulleri and Tikhedhunga are hard work wet.
• Flight and road delays. Pokhara flights get cancelled in heavy rain, and landslides can slow the road.
• No rhododendrons. The bloom finishes by mid May, so June is green forest, not red forest.

Rain, Cloud and Your Sunrise

Monsoon rain in this region is not all day drizzle. It comes in bursts, mostly from early afternoon into the night, and it often clears overnight.

That pattern is the reason a June Poon Hill trek still works. You hike up from Ghorepani at about 4:30am, and the sky has had all night to clear. Mornings are your best time for monsoon month.

If the cloud does sit on the hill, a good guide will suggest a change. One of our trekkers, Colette Baumann, had cloud over Ghorepani and our guide Kumar reworked the last two days with the lodges that same evening.

She got a clear sunrise the next morning. Built in flexibility matters more in June than in any other month.

Leeches and Wet Steps

Leeches are the thing June trekkers ask about most, and they are more annoying than dangerous.

They live in damp forest and leaf litter, mainly on the lower sections. They do not carry disease. They attach, feed and drop off, and the bite bleeds for a while because of the anticoagulant.

What actually works:

• Gaiters or long socks pulled over trouser legs
• A small pouch of salt in your pocket, sprinkled on the leech to make it let go
• Checking your ankles at every tea stop rather than at the end of the day
• Not pulling them off hard, which leaves the mouthparts behind

On the stone steps, trekking poles do more for you in June than any other gear. Wet slabs near Ulleri are slick, and poles take the risk out of the descent.

Getting Poon Hill Trek in June

The road is the reliable option in monsoon. Our package uses a deluxe tourist bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara, which takes 7 to 8 hours, then a public jeep from Pokhara to Kimche to start the walk.

Flights from Kathmandu to Pokhara run in 25 to 30 minutes, but June cloud and rain cancel them regularly. If you book a flight, keep a spare day in Pokhara.

Landslides can close sections of the Pokhara road after heavy rain. Delays of a few hours happen. Build one buffer day into a June trip and it stops being a problem.

What It Costs for Ghandruk Poon Hill Trek

Our Ghandruk Poon Hill Trek runs 7 days and covers about 40 km, with a maximum altitude of 3,210 m at Poon Hill.

Group size	Price per person
1	USD 620
2 to 4	USD 485
5 to 7	USD 423
8 to 10	USD 405
11 or more	USD 395

The price includes both permits, all meals on the trail, lodge accommodation, a licensed guide, the bus and jeep transfers, and two nights in Pokhara.

Permit	Foreign nationals	SAARC nationals
Annapurna Conservation Area Permit	NPR 3,000	NPR 1,000
TIMS card	NPR 2,000	NPR 1,000

Children under 10 pay no conservation area fee. We obtain both permits for you, so there is nothing to arrange yourself.

What to Pack for June

June packing is about staying dry, not staying warm.

• A proper rain jacket, not a poncho. Wind on the ridge makes a poncho useless.
• A pack cover and dry bags for clothes and electronics. Plastic bags work too.
• Two pairs of socks per walking day. Wet feet cause most June blisters.
• Quick dry trousers and shirts. Cotton stays wet for days in this humidity.
• Gaiters or long socks for the leech sections.
• Trekking poles for wet stone steps.
• A power bank. Solar charging is slow under heavy cloud.
• Insect repellent for the lower villages.

A down jacket is not needed on this route in June, and a sleeping bag is optional because Ghorepani does not drop near freezing.

Our 7 Day June Itinerary for Ghandruk Poon Hill Trek

Day	Route	Time	Distance
1	Arrive in Kathmandu	—	—
2	Kathmandu to Pokhara by tourist bus	7 to 8 hrs	200 km
3	Jeep to Kimche, trek to Ghandruk (1,950 m)	5 to 6 hrs	11 km
4	Ghandruk to Tadapani (2,630 m)	4 to 5 hrs	8 km
5	Tadapani to Ghorepani (2,850 m)	5 to 6 hrs	8 km
6	Poon Hill sunrise (3,210 m), down to Ulleri, drive to Pokhara	5 to 6 hrs	12 km
7	Pokhara to Kathmandu by tourist bus	7 to 8 hrs	200 km

In June we start each walking day early, so you reach the lodge before the afternoon rain. Days 4 and 5 are short enough that this is easy.

People Who Must Skip June for Poon Hill

Some trekkers should pick another month, and it is better to say so.

• Photographers who need sharp peaks on a set date
• Anyone with one sunrise attempt and no spare day to shift it
• Families with young children, because wet steps and leeches make for a hard first trek
• Trekkers who want the rhododendron forest in bloom, which means late March to mid April

Better Months Than June for Poon Hill

Season	Months	Views	Trail	Crowds
Spring	Mar to May	Good, hazy later	Dry	Busy
Monsoon	Jun to Aug	Unreliable	Wet, slippery	Very quiet
Autumn	Sep to Nov	Best of the year	Dry and firm	Busiest
Winter	Dec to Feb	Clear, cold	Cold, mostly open	Quiet

October is the strongest month on this trail, and our October trekking guide in Annapurna covers why, because they follow same route. Mid March to mid April gives you the rhododendron bloom instead.

Other June Options Nearby

If you are already coming in June, there are other routes in the Annapurna region worth comparing.

• Annapurna Base Camp Trek, 13 days. Reaches 4,130 m and includes Poon Hill. In June, check conditions on the avalanche section above Deurali before you commit.
• Upper Mustang Trek, 16 days. Mustang sits in the rain shadow behind the Himalaya, so it is one of the few Nepal routes that works well in monsoon.
• Ghandruk Poon Hill Trek, 7 days. Also listed as the Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek. The lowest and simplest of the three, and the easiest to adjust around weather.