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Nepal’s highest mountains, and where you can see each one

The eight mountains above 8,000 m in Nepal, and the walks and viewpoints where each one stands in front of you.

Written 15 October 20262 min readBy Rujan Neupane

Nepal’s highest mountains, and where you can see each one
Photo: Jorge Díaz from Madrid, Spain, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

I’m Rujan, a licensed trekking guide living in Kathmandu. Of the fourteen mountains in the world above 8,000 m, eight stand wholly in Nepal or on its borders. You do not need to climb them to feel them: each has walks where it fills the sky. Here they are, highest first, with where I would take you to see each one.

The eight

  1. Everest, 8,849 m. On the border with Tibet. Best seen from Kala Patthar, Gokyo Ri and the hills above Namche; from far away, from Pikey Peak. Walks: the Everest Base Camp trek, the Gokyo Lakes trek, the Everest Panorama trek, the Pikey Peak trek.
  2. Kanchenjunga, 8,586 m. On the border with Sikkim, in the far east. Seen close from its north and south base camps, Pangpema and Oktang. Walk: the Kanchenjunga Circuit trek.
  3. Lhotse, 8,516 m. Joined to Everest by the South Col. Its great south face is seen from Chhukung and Dingboche; from Kala Patthar it stands beside Everest.
  4. Makalu, 8,485 m. A sharp four-sided pyramid east of Everest. Seen from Makalu Base Camp in the wild Barun valley, and from afar on the Everest trails. Walk: the Makalu Base Camp trek.
  5. Cho Oyu, 8,188 m. On the border west of Everest. It rises above the Gokyo lakes and the Ngozumpa glacier. Walk: the Gokyo Lakes trek.
  6. Dhaulagiri, 8,167 m. Above the deep Kali Gandaki gorge. Seen at sunrise from Poon Hill and Khopra Ridge, and from Marpha and Jomsom. Walk: the Ghorepani Poon Hill trek.
  7. Manaslu, 8,163 m. In the middle of Nepal. Its twin summit rises above Samagaun on the Manaslu Circuit. Walk: the Manaslu Circuit trek.
  8. Annapurna I, 8,091 m. The first 8,000 m peak ever climbed, in 1950. Its south face closes the Annapurna Sanctuary. Walk: the Annapurna Base Camp trek.

Seeing them well

  • The clearest air is from October to December; in spring the views are often hazy by midday.
  • The first hour after sunrise is the best: the mountains turn gold and cloud has not yet formed.
  • Heights differ slightly between sources; the ones here are the most widely used today.

See where they stand on my map of the regions, and the best places to watch the light in the best sunrise viewpoints.

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Written by Rujan Neupane

A freelance guide in Kathmandu, trained, with a deep interest in photography and in Nepal's photography history. I walk these routes and write these pages myself.

About me How I walk

Walks where this matters

Manaslu Circuit13 days · ChallengingRead Annapurna Base Camp10 days · ModerateRead Ghorepani Poon Hill5 days · EasyRead Everest Base Camp12 days · ModerateRead

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