WaterfallSerious risk

Drung Falls

Baramulla district, near Tangmarg, on the Gulmarg road · Jammu & Kashmir

A snowmelt fall near Drung village above Tangmarg that freezes into ice in winter and roars in spring melt.

Visit-safety grade
Serious

Manageable with care. The biggest factor is water & current: Fast, powerful water — people are swept off their feet here far more often than they fall. Do not enter or wade above the drop.

Water & current20 pts
Fast, powerful water — people are swept off their feet here far more often than they fall. Do not enter or wade above the drop.
Flash-flood exposure14 pts
Narrow catchment — rain kilometres upstream can arrive as a wall of water under a clear sky.
Remoteness / rescue5 pts
A town and basic help are not far off.
Height & wet rock4 pts
A 18 m drop with algae-slick rock around the viewpoints and approach — the commonest cause of injury here.

Score 43/100, re-derived from the site’s real characteristics — never a marketing grade. A higher number is not “don’t go”; it is “go informed.”

Know before you go
  • freezing meltwater and icy rocks
  • slips on ice-glazed approach in shoulder seasons
  • sudden surge from upstream snowmelt on warm days
The safety code · waterfalls
  • Never enter the water above the lip, or step onto the smooth wet rock near the edge — being swept over is the commonest way people die at Indian waterfalls.
  • Watch from marked viewpoints only; moss-slick rock is far more slippery than it looks.
  • Check the whole upstream catchment's forecast — a clear sky here doesn't mean it isn't pouring above.
  • Peak monsoon flow is peak danger, not peak safety — admire the volume from well back.
When to go
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Prime windowShoulderOff-season
The essentials
Nearest town
Tangmarg
Elevation
2,400 m
Drop
18 m
Visit
Short walk
Approach
≈1.5 km each way · 120 m climb
Season
May–Oct flowing; freezes solid in winter
Permits
1 to arrange (Jammu & Kashmir)
How to reach
Starting point
Tangmarg
Jammu & Kashmir
By air
  • Srinagar (SXR)~33 km
  • Jammu (IXJ)~156 km
By rail
  • Udhampur~142 km
  • Jammu Tawi~155 km
By road

Drive to the roadhead Tangmarg. From Srinagar (~33 km) shared taxis and state buses run the last leg to Drung Falls.

Distances are straight-line (as the crow flies), computed from the coordinates. Real road distance and driving time in the mountains are longer — confirm current road status and the last motorable point with your operator, especially in monsoon and winter.

Right now
6°, clear skies· wind 1 km/h

Live from Open-Meteo at this spot, adjusted to 2,400 m. Mountain weather turns fast — treat this as a hint, not a promise.

Altitude & air
Intermediate
Elevation
2,400 m
Oxygen vs sea level
~74%
Est. SpO₂ (unacclimatised)
~92%
Air pressure
577 mmHg

AMS rare; some notice mild breathlessness on exertion.

Where it is
3D replay

See it in 3D

A Google-Earth-style flyby that drops in from orbit and traces the real approach trail up to Drung Falls(where it’s mapped in OpenStreetMap), over real satellite terrain — so you can read the climb and the lie of the land before you go.

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Coordinates, heights and depths are approximate, curated from public sources — good enough to plan and to gauge risk, not surveyed. The safety grade is a deterministic guide, not a guarantee; conditions change with weather, water level and crowds.