The biggest view for the smallest effort near Pokhara: a 90-minute climb to a grassy clearing with lodges, Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machapuchare filling the sky, and a gentle ridge walk to a Gurung village.
Australian Camp, named after the expedition groups who once camped here, is a meadow on a ridge north-west of Pokhara at about 2,060 metres, with a handful of lodges and a view that stops people in their tracks.
Take a taxi to Kande on the Baglung road, about 45 minutes, and climb for an hour and a half through forest and fields. From the clearing, Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and the sharp summit of Machapuchare rise directly ahead. Continue on a gentle ridge through Pothana to the Gurung village of Dhampus, with its stone houses and terraces, then descend to the road at Phedi.
The best plan is to stay a night: sunset and sunrise from the lodge terraces are the reason to come, and at this height there are no altitude concerns. This is also the start of the Mardi Himal trek.
A one-way walk between two points on the same road, so a taxi can drop and collect you.
The trail leaves the Baglung road at Kande, at about 1,770 metres, and climbs on stone steps through forest.
Emerge onto the grassy ridge with lodges and tea terraces facing the range. Linger, or check in for the night.
A gentle path through forest to the small lodge village of Pothana, where the Mardi Himal trail branches north.
Wander through Dhampus's stone houses and terraces, with Machapuchare behind the rooftops.
Steep stone steps drop to Phedi, where buses and taxis run back to Pokhara in about 30 minutes.
The route is inside the Annapurna Conservation Area: get the ACAP permit at the tourism office in Pokhara before you set off.
Taxi to Kande and back from Phedi, or local buses on the Baglung road from Pokhara's Baglung bus park.
Turn the walk into a two-day loop by sleeping at Australian Camp, or keep going up the Mardi Himal ridge.
Pokhara practical notes →
Starts right here and climbs to 4,250 m.
Sunrise and a ridge to Naudanda.
A boat across the lake and a stupa.
Two lakes, almost no tourists.
Rhododendrons and a famous sunrise.
Into the Sanctuary.
Wikimedia Commons photographs are used under their licences; Pexels photographs under the Pexels licence.
