Gulaba

Gulaba is a stretch of road and hillside on the Manali to Rohtang highway, roughly 20 km from Manali town. It is not a village in the traditional sense, though there is a small settlement. What most travellers know Gulaba as is a checkpoint, a viewpoint, and a snow stop, all rolled into one short pull over on a mountain highway.

Here is how it actually works. You drive out of Manali, pass through Palchan and Kothi, and climb through pine forest. Around the 20 km mark, the valley opens up, the trees thin, and the road reaches Gulaba. If you are heading to Rohtang Pass, this is where the permit barrier sits. Your vehicle registration and online permit get checked here. If you do not have a Rohtang permit, this is as far as you go. And in winter, when Rohtang is buried under snow and closed to all traffic, Gulaba is also as far as anyone goes. That is precisely why it became famous.

The name comes from Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir, who reportedly camped here on a military expedition in the early 1800s. The historical connection is a footnote. What draws people today is simpler: Gulaba is the closest point to Manali where you can reliably see and touch snow in winter and early spring, without needing a Rohtang permit. From roughly November to March, the slopes around Gulaba are covered in white, and small operators set up skiing, sledging, and snow scooter activities by the road.

In summer, Gulaba looks entirely different. The snow melts into green meadows, the Pir Panjal peaks line the horizon, and the Beas River valley drops away below. Most people drive through without stopping because they are headed to Rohtang or beyond. But if you pull over, the views from the road here are genuinely some of the widest and sharpest you get on this highway before the pass itself.

Gulaba also serves as the starting point for the Bhrigu Lake trek, one of the more popular short Himalayan treks from Manali. Trek operators drive their groups to Gulaba, and the trail climbs from here through forest and into alpine meadows towards the lake at roughly 4,250 metres. If you see groups with backpacks and trekking poles assembling near the highway, they are almost certainly headed for Bhrigu.

One thing to be honest about: Gulaba is not a destination you build a day around. It is a stop. A good one, sometimes a great one in winter, but still a stop. You drive up, take in the views or the snow, spend 30 minutes to an hour, and either continue uphill or head back to Manali. Setting the right expectation matters, because some travellers arrive expecting a full snow valley and find a stretch of highway with mountain views. In the right season, those views are worth the drive. In the wrong season, you might wonder why you came.