Sharan Forest Guide: Kaghan’s Quietest Corner
Pakistan Locals Team
15 August 2026 · 3 min read
At a glance
- Location
- Naran
- Region
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Best time
- April to October; monsoon is lush but the track gets slippery
- Duration
- 1 to 2 days
Everyone on the Naran road passes Paras, and almost everyone drives straight through it. Above that ordinary bazaar village hides the best forest in the Kaghan Valley: Sharan, a dense stand of deodar, kail and fir at about 2,450 metres, with a handful of forest huts, a camping ground, and a meadow ridge above it that most Naran tourists never hear about. If Shogran feels like a car park in July, Sharan is the antidote.
The quick answer
Turn off the N-15 at Paras, 5 to 6 hours from Islamabad on the Naran road. A rough track climbs to the forest: local 4x4s run it, and the strong walk it. Stay in the forest department huts or pods, and give the next morning to the 3 to 4 hour trek up to Manshi Top. April to October is the season.
Getting up the track
The Sharan track is the filter that keeps the crowds out: rough enough that ordinary cars stay in Paras, short enough that a jeep does it well inside an hour. Hire at Paras and agree the price for the return, or walk it as a warm up if your legs are the point of the trip. After rain the track turns greasy, which is worth respecting in monsoon weeks.
The forest itself
Sharan is what these mountains looked like before the timber went: tall, dark, wet and loud with birds. This is one of the better moist temperate forests left in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the reason to come is simply to be inside it. Walk slowly, sit often. Morning mist through the trunks is the postcard, and in early summer the forest floor runs with wildflowers.
Staying overnight
The forest rest area has department huts and camping pods, simple and clean, plus space for tents in season. Capacity is small, which is exactly why the place stays good, so book ahead for summer weekends and carry cash. Nights are cold at 2,450 metres in every month. Food is basic: bring supplies or arrange meals when you book, and pack out everything you pack in. Our camping guide covers the gear side.
Manshi Top
The trek above Sharan is the second reason to come. Three to four hours of steady forest and meadow walking brings you out on Manshi Top near 2,900 metres, a green crest with the Kaghan Valley folded out below and Malika Parbat on the horizon on a clear day. It is the best effort to reward walk in the lower valley, needs no technical anything in season, and sees a fraction of Siri Paye’s traffic. Start early, carry water, and give the descent your knees’ respect.
Fitting Sharan into a Kaghan trip
The clean plan: night one in Sharan with the Manshi Top morning, then continue up the valley to Naran for Saif-ul-Malook and the high lakes. That order beats doing it in reverse, because after Babusar the forest would feel like a footnote, and Sharan deserves better than footnote status. The whole valley, stop by stop, is in our Kaghan Valley guide.
Ready to go? Browse Naran Kaghan trips with local hosts, or if you run camps and treks around Sharan, list them free and keep the bookings direct.
Questions people ask
Where is Sharan forest?+
In the Kaghan Valley, above the village of Paras between Balakot and Kaghan town. A jeep track climbs from Paras to the forest rest area at about 2,450 metres.
How do I reach Sharan from Islamabad?+
Drive the Naran road to Paras, about 5 to 6 hours, then the Sharan track by 4x4 or on foot. Ordinary cars park at Paras; local jeeps do the climb.
Can you stay overnight in Sharan?+
Yes. The forest department runs huts and camping pods inside the forest, and summer camps operate in season. Book ahead on summer weekends because capacity is genuinely small.
What is the Manshi Top trek?+
The meadow ridge above Sharan at roughly 2,900 metres, reached by a 3 to 4 hour walk from the forest. It is the best short trek in the lower Kaghan Valley and needs no technical skill in season.
Why visit Sharan instead of Shogran?+
Shogran has hotels and crowds, Sharan has forest and silence. If you want deodar and kail trees, birdsong and a real chance of seeing nothing man made, Sharan is the better day.
Pakistan Locals Team
The Pakistan Locals editorial team writes practical, on-the-ground travel guides to Pakistan, researched and fact-checked in consultation with our network of local hosts and guides.