---
title: "Godavari and Phulchowki: Gardens, Springs and the Valley's Highest Hill"
canonical: "https://lokoon.com/blog/godavari-phulchowki"
author: "Lokoon"
published: "2026-11-15T04:48:24.808427+00:00"
modified: "2026-11-15T04:48:24.808576+00:00"
kind: "blog"
---

# Godavari and Phulchowki: Gardens, Springs and the Valley's Highest Hill

> At the south-eastern edge of the Kathmandu Valley, a botanical garden and a forested summit offer flowers, birds and a full-day hike.

Follow the road south-east from Patan until the houses thin out and the hills close in, and you reach Godavari. It has been a retreat for city dwellers for generations, known for clean air, sacred springs and the national botanical garden. Above it rises Phulchowki, at about 2,780 metres the highest point on the rim of the Kathmandu Valley.
Godavari village
The National Botanical Garden. Established in the early 1960s, the garden spreads over a wooded slope with a stream running through it. There are sections for orchids, ferns, cacti, medicinal plants and rock-garden species, a Japanese-style garden, lily ponds and lawns shaded by tall trees. It is well kept and peaceful on weekdays. On Saturdays it fills with families and school groups. Foreign visitors pay an entry fee.
Godavari Kunda. A short walk from the garden gate, a spring feeds a stone-lined pool beside a cluster of shrines. The water is held to be connected with a sacred river of the same name in India. Once every twelve years a month-long fair draws large numbers of pilgrims to bathe.
The nine spouts. Further up the lane, water pours from a row of carved stone spouts in a small temple compound at the foot of the forest. Worshippers wash here before visiting the shrine to the local goddess.
A relaxed visit to all three takes about two hours.
Phulchowki
The name means "hill of flowers", and the mountain earns it. Its slopes are covered in dense, moist forest that changes with height, from chestnut and oak at the bottom to rhododendron near the top. In March and April the upper forest is splashed with red and pink blossom.
The birds. Phulchowki is regarded as the finest birdwatching site in the valley, with some three hundred species recorded. Mixed flocks of warblers, tits, babblers and laughingthrushes move through the trees, and several sought-after Himalayan species are found here. Serious birders come at dawn and work slowly up the road.
The summit. On top are a small shrine to the goddess of the hill, hung with bells and tridents, and a telecommunications tower. In clear weather the view takes in the whole valley on one side and a long line of snow peaks on the other. Snow sometimes falls here in midwinter, a rare treat near the capital.
Getting up
On foot. A trail climbs from near the nine spouts through the forest, cutting across the loops of a rough road. The ascent is around 1,200 metres and takes four to five hours; the descent about three. It is steep and unrelenting, and should be treated as a full day.
By vehicle. A jeep track winds to the summit in about an hour and a half. It needs a four-wheel-drive and is sometimes closed by the weather or for security reasons.
Partway. Many visitors drive or walk only the first few kilometres, which have the richest birdlife.
Safety
The forest is lonely, and over the years there have been occasional robberies of walkers on the mountain. Go in a group or with a local guide, start early, leave valuables behind and be down before dusk. An army post controls access near the top; carry identification. Leeches are abundant in the wet months.
Getting there
Buses and microbuses run from Lagankhel bus park in Patan to Godavari in about forty-five minutes. A taxi from central Kathmandu takes forty-five minutes to an hour. The road passes through the old Newar villages of Harisiddhi and Thaiba, both worth a brief stop.
When to go
- February to April: the best birding, and rhododendrons from March.

- October to December: clear views and cool, dry air.

- January: cold, with a chance of snow on the summit.

- June to September: lush and wet. The garden is at its greenest; the mountain trail is slippery.

Suggested plans
A gentle half day. Arrive mid-morning, walk the botanical garden, visit the spring and the spouts, have lunch at one of the garden restaurants or resorts nearby, and return by mid-afternoon.
A birding morning. Reach the foot of the hill at first light with a guide, bird the lower road for three hours, then visit the garden.
A full hiking day. Start walking by seven, reach the summit by noon, descend by four.
Why come
Godavari is where the Kathmandu Valley still looks as it did before the city spread: a village at the foot of a wooded mountain, with water running from stone spouts and orchids on the trees. A morning here is restful. A day on the hill above it is one of the best walks within an hour of the capital.

Source: https://lokoon.com/blog/godavari-phulchowki