Deservedly, the Fann mountains rank as one of the best trekking destinations in Central Asia. The scenery is at times truly spectacular.
The drama of steep and unforgiving rock faces ending in peaks over 5000m is punctuated with crystal-clear lakes in the valleys, fringed by juniper trees and rock flora. This is a lived-in landscape, too: shepherd families tend their flocks here in summer and might welcome you in for tea and fresh milk products.
It’s a small range, with easy access from several sides (Samarkand, Dushanbe, Khujand), and a good variety of routes to choose from. There are a number of well-trodden trails that connect the most scenic passes and lakes. Hikers that prefer to go off the beaten track can pick out unusual routes instead.
Table of Contents
Who is it for?
It’s for trekkers and climbers. If you are not into either trekking or climbing, the edges of the Fann mountains have some wonderful spots you can enjoy: the Seven Lakes and Iskanderkul.
If you want to do just a day’s hike and camp near a beautiful lake, you can pick bits from the Fann Lakes Ring: to Alaudin Lake from Vertikal Alaudin (45 minute walk), or to Kulikalon Lake from Artuch village (14 km one-way).
Multi-day trekkers should be prepared for a workout. Even the easiest trekking routes will still require you to ascend 700m per day. That’s not terribly difficult, it’s moderate. But it’s not for lazy bones: you should have at least a standard level of fitness.
If, on the other hand, you like your hiking with an extra side of dribble-on-the-chin-exhaustion, the Fann mountains are a good choice.
The Fanns are also a famous destination for climbers from the former Soviet Union. There is a lot of information out there in Russian, but increasingly also in English. We know climbers have their own websites with expert information, so we will not expand on this page.
General overview
On the map above, the red markers are the main cities from where you can approach the Fann mountains:
The yellow markers are the smaller towns where you can find direct transport to the trailheads:
- Panjakent
- Sarvoda
- Ayni (no direct links, but a local transport hub)
The blue markers are the trailheads and trail ends:
- Artuch
- Vertikal Alaudin
- Sarytag
- Hakimi
- Padrud
The green polygon in the middle is the heart of the Fann mountains.
Planning
You can find more general planning advice, as well as an overview of other trekking destinations at our guide to Hiking in Tajikistan.
Season and weather
The trekking season in the Fann mountains is short. July until mid-September is best: the weather is warmest and the snow will have receded everywhere except on the highest passes.
Summer rain showers in the Fanns are frequent but short. On higher elevations, the rain will turn to snow.
Chimtarga Pass and Kaznok Pass are usually reported snow-free in high summer. If you are going earlier or later, crampons and an ice axe are necessary.
June? Depends on how the winter was. If there was a lot of snow, the passes could still be blocked with a meter of snow, river levels would still be high as well, and nighttime promises to be cold. If there wasn’t a lot of snow in winter, June would be a bit colder than summer, but otherwise fine.
Climate change has made spring rains (snows) heavier, so there are more years now where the snow last well into June. Also, in combination with deforestation, heavy rain leads to avalanches, rock fall and mud flows. That’s another risk of early departure: blocked roads.
Questions welcome in the pre-season hike Q&A.
Late September to mid-October? You are chancing it. If winter comes early, passes get snowy early and temperatures will be well below zero at high altitudes. If winter comes late, it will be a bit colder than summertime but otherwise fine. As a bonus, since you will be trekking out of season, you will have the place to yourself.
Questions welcome in the post-season hike Q&A.
It is possible to hike in the Fann mountains between October and May but we assume you know what you are doing. If not – leave it to the professionals.
Food and camping
Make sure you have all the food you need before you head off. Panjakent, Khujand and Dushanbe all have good bazaars where you can stock up on supplies.
In Panjakent, you can buy gas cartridges for a camping stove in Armughon, on Prospekt Rudaki, +992 927746202 (English spoken). A small bottle cost 95 somoni. You can also buy cartridges at Artuch base camp, but the price is an inflated 20$. Somewhere else as well? Please let us know. Artuch camp also rents out tents and other camping gear.
If you are looking to buy fuel for a camping stove or camping equipment in Dushanbe, see the camping section in Accommodation in Tajikistan for details.
There’s nothing that we know of in Khujand, so if you are coming from there, you need to buy it beforehand in Osh or Bishkek – backpacker hostels usually have stock.
Maps, gpx files, guidebooks, trail markings
There are no trail markings in the Fann mountains. You can find quite a few gpx files of routes already on Wikiloc.
If you are looking to buy a map, there is one choice: EWP’s Fann Mountains Map.
Finally, if you are looking for more depth and more routes, the Trekking in Tajikistan guidebook is a good choice. It comes with gpx files of all routes in the book.
Health tips and possible dangers
Make sure you bring your passport and a print-out of your e-visa. There are checkpoints near Shing on the way to the Seven Lakes, and also beyond Hakimi.
Aggressive shepherd dogs can be encountered.
Altitude sickness is a real threat. The sun is very strong here, especially at altitude – protect yourself from dehydration, sunburn (factor 30 minimum) and heatstroke.
Diarrhea is common for travelers in Tajikistan. Wash your hands properly and filter your water; livestock lives at very high altitude.
If you break a leg, it will be worth having good insurance. There is no formal rescue service, and the area is remote. Mountains are a dangerous environment. We recommend battleface as the insurance of choice for adventurous travelers.
Low-impact trekking
Refuse plastic bags, and don’t throw your rubbish away. Use bio-degradable soap to wash clothes, and don’t wash them in a stream or lake to avoid harming the aquatic life.
Do not make camp fires! Yes, it’s romantic, and yes, all the Russians do it, but deforestation is a huge problem in Tajikistan, and the juniper trees you see around you are very slow-growing. This includes using dead wood. Lack of dead wood encourages locals to chop living trees. 70% of Tajikistan’s trees have disappeared since independence.
Trail starts / endings
Artuch
Artuch is the most popular place to start hiking in the Fann mountains.
Public transport from Panjakent goes until Artuch village. From the bus station, 2 km east of the central bazaar (OSM), 2 minibuses a day leave for the Rudaki Mausoleum in Panjrud (90 minutes, 60 somoni). A third minibus also makes a stop here before continuing 9 km to Artuch village.
From Artuch village, start walking, or take another shared taxi to Yakkakhona village (4 km, 15 somoni). In Yakkakhona, you can also stay at the guesthouse of Hazratsho.
5 km beyond Yakkakhona is Artuch base camp. It is a mountain lodge that offers hot meals, gear rental, camp spots for 2$, smelly dorms for 10$ and dingy cabins for 30$ (they have a website).
Questions and updates welcome in the Artuch Q&A.
Vertikal Alaudin
Vertikal Alaudin is a base camp for Russian-speaking mountaineers climbing the Fann mountains. Don’t count on finding a spare bed here. Instead, walk 45 minutes up, and camp near the crystalline Alaudin Lake. Forest ranger Ali may come around to collect a small park entrance fee. Locals sell hot meals at the lake in season for 20 somoni.
How to get there? From Panjakent and Khujand, you need to get a shared taxi to Dushanbe (50 and 120 somoni / seat respectively) and get off in Sarvoda. From Dushanbe, a shared taxi to Sarvoda goes for 50 somoni (2h30 min).
Once in Sarvoda, taxi drivers are willing to take you up to Vertikal Alaudin for 200 somoni, so budget solo travelers need to find fellow travelers or hitch a ride with locals going the same way.
Questions and comments welcome at our Vertikal Alaudin Q&A.
Padrud / Seven Lakes
All info on accommodation and transport options for Padrud in the Seven Lakes article.
Sarytag / Iskanderkul
All info on accommodation and transport options for Sarytag in the Iskanderkul article.
Hakimi
The least visited of the trailheads in the Fanns, Hakimi can be reached with a marshrutka from Dushanbe to Shahrinav (5 somoni, 1-hour drive, but you could wait for a while for it to fill up). From Shahrinav, a taxi can take you 15 km up the road for 30 somoni, after which you have to walk the last 15 km yourself. Or you might be able find an old Soviet jeep willing to take you up all the way to Hakimi (200 somoni).
There are no guesthouses in Hakimi.
Popular routes
Below we discuss some of the most popular routes within the Fann mountains. There are lots of options to combine and mix these if you are looking for longer/shorter routes. Wikiloc has gpx tracks for many of these trails already.
Fann Lakes circuit
This is the most popular trek in the Fann mountains. It’s easy to see why: Alaudin and Kulikalon Lakes are stunning, the hiking is not too strenuous and the surrounding mountainscape is stunning. A great trek to start off your exploration of the Fann mountains.
- Trail start / end: Artuch-Artuch
- Difficulty: moderate
- Duration: 4 days
Hakimi to Iskanderkul
Not a well-known option among independent trekkers, this trek dives into seriously rugged territory around the Mura Pass, offering magnificent views over the whole of the Fann region.
- Trail start / end: Hakimi / Sarytag
- Difficulty: moderate (but with glacier travel and deep river crossing)
- Duration: 4 days
Iskanderkul to Seven Lakes (hard way)
The hard way from the Seven Lakes to Iskanderkul goes over the 4115m Sarymat Pass, a true physical challenge. Not for beginners. But the views are nice.
- Trail start / end: Sarytag / Padrud
- Difficulty: very hard
- Duration: 3 days
Iskanderkul to Seven Lakes (moderate way)
Instead of trying to get over the Sarymat Pass, this route goes over the Dukdon Pass, and then turns into the Archamaidan Valley, over the Tavasang Pass.
An alternative would be to continue into the Archamaidan Valley past the pretty mountain villages of Zimtud, Guitan and Gazza, across the Igrok Pass to Artuch (5 days).
- Trail start / end: Sarytag / Padrud
- Difficulty: moderate
- Duration: 4 days
Alaudin Lake to Seven Lakes
A complete traverse of the Fann mountains, connecting wonderful lakes like Marguzor, Bolshoi Allo and Alaudin in one trek. The 4750m Chimtarga Pass is the highest pass you can cross in the area. You get up-close views of the highest mountain in the Fanns, Peak Chimtarga (5489m), but it is a very hard trek that presents danger if the weather turns bad.
After Chimtarga Pass, you can continue east past Bolshoi Allo Lake to the Seven Lakes, or turn south and head to Iskanderkul instead, over the 4300m Dvainoi Pass.
Questions about trekking conditions welcome in the Chimtarga Pass forum thread.
- Trail start / end: Padrud / Vertikal Alaudin
- Difficulty: very hard
- Duration: 6 days
Alaudin Lake to Iskanderkul
A short but technical, diverse and difficult route over the 4040m Kaznok Pass.
- Trail start / end: Sarytag / Vertikal Alaudin
- Difficulty: hard
- Duration: 4 days
Guides and tours
Should you get a guide? That depends on your navigation skills, mountain risk awareness and comfort zone, interest in learning about local culture and determination to carry your own gear, put up your own tent and cook your own food.
If you decide to take a guide or to join a group tour, we advise to plan your trip in advance. Reliable, skilled tour guides will be booked in advance during the short trekking season. The chances of finding a good guide on the spot are slim.
We can get you in touch with reliable local tour operators who can arrange a tour tailored to your needs and wishes – just send us a message through our custom tours form.