Kedarnath Height, Location & the Facts That Matter

Kedarnath at a Glance — Every Number in One Table

Elevation figures are the ones used by BKTC and the Survey of India; you will see 3,553–3,584 m quoted in older sources depending on where the measurement was taken.

How High Is 3,583 Metres, Really?

Numbers on a page do not mean much until you feel them in your lungs. At 11,755 feet, Kedarnath is higher than any hill station most Indians have visited — Shimla is around 2,200 m, Nainital 2,084 m, even Auli tops out near 3,000 m. Of the four dhams, only Kedarnath crosses 3,500 m: Badrinath sits at 3,133 m, Yamunotri at 3,293 m and Gangotri at 3,048 m. That extra height is exactly why Kedarnath is the only dham you cannot drive to.

For context on the world stage: the temple stands higher than the base of most European ski resorts and roughly two-thirds of the way to Everest Base Camp (5,364 m). It is genuinely high mountain territory, held by a town that functions for only six months a year.

Where Exactly Is Kedarnath? State, District & PIN Code

Kedarnath is in Uttarakhand, not Himachal Pradesh — the two get mixed up constantly because both are western Himalayan states. Within Uttarakhand it falls in Rudraprayag district, in the Garhwal division, near the head of the Mandakini valley. The official postal PIN code is 246445, which you will need for helicopter bookings, hotel forms and the yatra registration portal.

On a map, the temple sits at 30.7352° N, 79.0669° E. From Haridwar it is about 240 km by road to Gaurikund, then 16 km on foot. There is no motorable road, no railway station and no airport at Kedarnath itself — the nearest airport is Jolly Grant, Dehradun, about 250 km away. If a website offers to drive you "to Kedarnath temple", treat it as the red flag it is; our yatra scams guide covers this exact trick.

The Climb: Gaurikund (1,982 m) to the Temple (3,583 m)

The famous 16 km trek is really a 1,600-metre staircase spread over a morning. You start at Gaurikund at 1,982 m, pass Jungle Chatti (2,300 m), Bheembali (2,700 m) and Lincholi (3,200 m), and arrive at the temple gates at 3,583 m. The gradient is manageable till Bheembali; the stretch after Lincholi is where the thinner air starts asking questions. Most fit pilgrims take 6–8 hours up and 4–5 down.

If the climb is not for you, ponies, palkis and kandis run at BKTC-fixed rates — current prices are on our pony & palki rates page — and helicopters fly from Phata, Sersi and Guptkashi. The full route logistics are in our how to reach Kedarnath guide.

What the Altitude Does to Your Body

At 3,583 m the air carries roughly 65% of the oxygen you get at sea level. For most healthy people this means breathlessness on stairs, a mild headache on the first evening and lighter sleep — all of which settle within a day. The rule that actually protects you is pacing: walk slower than feels necessary, drink more water than feels necessary, and do not race the pony track.

Pilgrims over 55, and anyone with heart, lung or blood pressure conditions, must carry a doctor's fitness note — health screening posts at Sonprayag do check. Diamox helps some people but talk to your doctor first; do not borrow a co-passenger's strip. Our packages build a night at Guptkashi (1,319 m) before the climb precisely so your body gets a halfway acclimatisation step rather than jumping from Haridwar's 314 m to 3,583 m in one day.

Temple vs Peak — Two Different Kedarnaths

A quiet source of confusion: the shrine and the mountain share a name. The temple is at 3,583 m. The Kedarnath peak — the massive snow wall in every photo behind the shrine — rises to 6,940 m, with the neighbouring Kedarnath Dome at 6,831 m. The peak is a serious mountaineering objective requiring IMF permits; no part of the pilgrimage goes up it. When someone says they "climbed Kedarnath", they mean the trek to the temple, and that is achievement enough at this altitude.

Just above the town lies the Chorabari glacier, source of the Mandakini river, and the site of Chorabari Tal — the lake whose breach caused the June 2013 flood. The temple survived, shielded by a massive boulder now worshipped as Bhim Shila. The rebuilt town, trail and the protective walls you see today all date from the reconstruction that followed.