LakeLow risk

Sukhna Lake

Shivalik foothills · Chandigarh

A rain-fed reservoir at the foot of the Shivaliks, Chandigarh's popular promenade and boating lake.

Visit-safety grade
Low

Genuinely low-risk. The main thing to mind is remoteness / rescue.

Remoteness / rescue5 pts
A town and basic help are not far off.
Water3 pts
Still water; standard boating and slippery-edge caution.

Score 8/100, 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
  • deep water and drowning risk during boating
  • crowded, slippery promenade near the water
  • extreme summer heat and sunstroke on the open embankment
The safety code · lakes
  • If it sits high, the thin air — not the water — is the real risk; don't race up from the plains, and learn the signs of AMS.
  • Alpine water and weather turn dangerously cold fast, even in summer — carry warm layers.
  • Remote shores mean slow rescue; share your plan and turn back with time to spare.
When to go
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Prime windowShoulderOff-season
Photos

Photos via Wikimedia Commons — full attribution on the credits page.

The essentials
Nearest town
Chandigarh
Elevation
347 m
Visit
Short walk
Approach
≈0.2 km each way · 5 m climb
Season
Year-round (best Oct–Mar)
Permits
1 to arrange (Chandigarh)
How to reach
Starting point
Chandigarh
Chandigarh
By air
  • Chandigarh (IXC)~8 km
  • Shimla (SLV)~45 km
By rail
  • Chandigarh~4 km
  • Kalka~17 km
By road

Drive to the roadhead Chandigarh. From Chandigarh (~4 km) shared taxis and state buses run the last leg to Sukhna Lake.

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
18°, clear skies· wind 3 km/h

Live from Open-Meteo at this spot, adjusted to 347 m. Mountain weather turns fast — treat this as a hint, not a promise.

Altitude & air
Low altitude
Elevation
347 m
Oxygen vs sea level
~96%
Est. SpO₂ (unacclimatised)
~97%
Air pressure
731 mmHg

No altitude effect for almost anyone.

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 Sukhna Lake(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.

More lakes
Serious
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Serious
Chandratal Lake
Himachal Pradesh
Low
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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.