Area guides / Azad Jammu and Kashmir / Rawalakot & Poonch
Area guide
Rawalakot & Poonch
Banjosa Lake, Toli Pir and the Pearl Valley hills
Region
Azad Jammu and Kashmir
When to go
April to October
Getting there
By road from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, commonly via the Azad Pattan corridor; journeys take longer than the distance suggests. Banjosa is an easy half-day from Rawalakot.
Spots
4 key places
Overview
About Rawalakot & Poonch
Rawalakot, the capital of Poonch District in the Pir Panjal range, is a practical base for AJK's gentler hill country. Banjosa Lake, a pine-ringed reservoir at about 1,980 m, is 18 km away, and the open grassland ridges of Toli Pir are about 30 km up the mountain road.
By road from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, commonly via the Azad Pattan corridor; journeys take longer than the distance suggests. Banjosa is an easy half-day from Rawalakot.
Day trips from Rawalakot
Stay in Rawalakot and make day trips: Banjosa for the lake and pines, Toli Pir for the ridges and views. A local driver helps on the steep hill roads.
Toward Bagh
North toward Bagh, Sudhan Gali and Las Danna climb into forest and open slopes, with Sudhan Gali the approach to the Ganga Choti trek in the May-September season.
Field Guides
All places →Rawalakot
Rawalakot sits in the heart of Poonch District, surrounded by wooded slopes, villages, and rolling mountain country. Often associated with the name Pearl Valley, it works best not as a sight to rush through but as a practical base: stay here, then make day trips toward Banjosa, Toli Pir, Ghori Mar, and the quieter countryside around the town. Unlike the more remote northern valleys of AJK, Rawalakot has the advantage of a functioning town around it, with markets, restaurants, accommodation, and everyday services.
Banjosa Lake
Banjosa is a calm, pine-ringed lake at about 1,980 m in the hills near Rawalakot, in the Poonch district of Azad Kashmir, one of the most easily reached and family-friendly escapes in the region. It began as a dam across the Banjosa River, a tributary of the Poonch, and today covers roughly 1.5 square kilometres of still water framed by dense pine forest and low mountains, with rest houses run by the AJK Tourism and Archaeology Department and the Pearl Development Authority strung along its shore.
Toli Pir
Toli Pir is one of the signature landscapes of the Rawalakot region: rolling grasslands, exposed ridges, and wide skies rather than dense settlement. Around 30km from Rawalakot, the climb steadily leaves the town behind before opening onto high country where several mountain ridges appear to radiate into the surrounding valleys. The summit area is associated with the remains of an old shrine, but the main attraction is the landscape itself, reaching across a remarkable spread of Poonch on a clear day.
Sudhan Gali
Sudhan Gali sits high above the surrounding valleys, where roads from the Bagh and Chikar sides meet among cool forests and open mountain slopes. It is a destination in its own right, but its importance to travellers comes largely from its position beneath Ganga Choti — the settlement works as the staging point for hikers preparing for the 3,045m summit. Even without making the full climb, the high setting, forest walks, and changing views across the Bagh hills make Sudhan Gali worth stopping for.
Resorts
All resorts →GreenPak stays in this area are listed on the region guide.