Sagarmatha National Park

If you're trekking to Everest Base Camp, you'll spend most of the walk inside Sagarmatha National Park. You need an entry permit to do it, and the park has rules covering wildlife, trees, water, waste and building. It's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which sounds as if it should change your daily trek. Mostly it doesn't. UNESCO doesn't issue your permit, collect your fee or run the trail. The park office and the local government do.

We tell trekkers to think of the park as more than a fee. It's the whole protected area around Everest: the mountains and glaciers, the forests below them, the animals that live there, and the Sherpa villages where you sleep each night. The fee is just the door.

The short version: Foreign visitors pay NPR 3,000 per entry. The permit is checked at the park gate at Monjo, on the second morning of the trek. Everest Base Camp, Kala Patthar and the Gokyo lakes all sit inside the protected area. The rules come down to a few habits: leave wildlife and plants alone, don't build or light fires, keep water clean, carry out your rubbish, and don't fly a drone without proper permission.

Sagarmatha National Park entry fee: what you pay and where

The park charges per person, per entry. Nepal Tourism Board's fee table lists the rates below, and the park office's own service charter shows the same three amounts. NTB also says children under 10 enter free.

The charter shows these as VAT-inclusive amounts. If an agent's quote adds 13% on top, ask what it covers.

This is the Sagarmatha National Park entry fee and nothing more. There is no separate UNESCO entrance charge. It also differs from the other payments that get lumped in with it.

On the standard Lukla-to-base-camp route, a foreign trekker deals with two government permits:

The municipality's own page gives those Trek Card rates, names the Tourist Information Center in Lukla as the service point, and asks only for a passport. This local card is separate from the park permit.

Two other charges sit in different categories. Your trekking company's service charges are part of your package price, not a government fee. Climbing permits for peaks such as Island Peak are separate too, and you don't need one for base camp.

Older guides still mention TIMS. Our Everest Base Camp package lists just the two permits above and no TIMS card. Rules on TIMS and guides have shifted since 2023, so confirm the current position with our team when you book. If you walk in from Jiri instead of flying, an extra permit for the Gaurishankar Conservation Area will be added.

Where to get it: Park fees can be paid at the Tourist Service Center in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, or at the relevant entry points. Independent trekkers can arrange them directly.

If you trek with Places Nepal Treks, you do not need to arrange the permits yourself. We arrange all required permits on behalf of our guests, and our guide carries the permits and handles the required checkpoints along the Everest Base Camp route.

For our Everest Base Camp Trek, the required permits are included in the package price, with the total permit cost currently NPR 6,000.

The important distinction is simple: you must have the required permits, but you do not necessarily have to arrange them yourself when trekking with us. 

How long is it valid? Official sources price it per person per entry, and we couldn't find a validity period in days. For a normal in-and-out trek to base camp, one permit covers you. If your plans involve leaving the park and re-entering, ask the park office or your agency first.

Where does the money go? The park office recorded 48,804 foreign visitors and about NPR 155 million in revenue in the 2080/81 Nepali fiscal year, roughly mid-2023 to mid-2024. UNESCO's description says the government passes half of the park's revenue to buffer-zone communities. We couldn't find a current official breakdown of how your NPR 3,000 is divided between trails, staff, conservation and villages, so we won't guess.

Where the park starts on the way to Everest Base Camp

Most treks begin with the flight to Lukla at 2,860 m. Lukla isn't part of the strictly protected core, but it's close. The park office says the buffer zone, declared in 2002 and covering 275 km², reaches down the Dudh Koshi valley as far as Lukla. From Lukla the trail drops to Phakding at 2,610 m, where most groups sleep the first night. Our Lukla to Everest Base Camp route guide covers that stretch in detail.

On the second morning you reach the park gate at Monjo. UNESCO puts the southern edge of the World Heritage property almost at Monjo, which fits. On our itinerary the guide handles the formalities and permits are checked at the gate. From there the trail continues to Jorsale, the Hillary Suspension Bridge and the long climb to Namche. UNESCO adds that a Nepal Army unit is deployed alongside park staff for protection and law enforcement.

The Trek Card is registered earlier, at Lukla. It's a local government matter, not a park one.

Is Everest Base Camp inside the park? Yes. Base camp sits on the Khumbu Glacier at 5,364 m, well within the protected area, and so does Kala Patthar. The Gokyo lakes are inside too, and have been a Ramsar wetland of international importance since 2007. Mount Everest is within the World Heritage property on the Nepal side, and UNESCO says the northern boundary follows the main Himalayan divide along the Nepal-China border. Trekking to base camp and climbing Everest are separate activities inside the same protected area. Your entry fee covers walking in, not climbing.

Is Namche inside the park? The answer is less tidy than most guides suggest. The park headquarters is in Namche Bazaar, and the whole area is run as one protected zone. On paper, though, the settled Sherpa areas are treated differently. UNESCO says villagers' properties were excluded from the park by legal definition, and the park office says the buffer zone includes the settlements inside the park. We couldn't find an official village-by-village list, so we won't say which lodge sits on which side of a line. Nothing changes for you: one permit, the same rules.

How big is it? The two official figures differ. The park office gives 1,148 km². UNESCO lists the World Heritage property at 124,400 hectares, about 1,244 km², and says the buffer zone isn't part of it. Either way, the trekking corridor is a thin strip through a much larger area.

What the park protects, from pine forest to moraine

The climb from Lukla to Kala Patthar crosses several ecological zones, and it helps to know what you're passing through.

NTB describes pine and hemlock forest at lower elevations, giving way above about 3,500 m to silver fir, birch, rhododendron and juniper. That's the walk from Monjo to Namche and on to Tengboche: dark forest, river noise and suspension bridges. Above Pangboche the trees thin and the valley opens up. Past Dingboche you're on glacial moraine at Dugla and Lobuche, and the last day to Gorak Shep and base camp is rock, ice and sand. Our elevation guide shows how the gain plays out day by day.

The forest is the smallest part of the park. UNESCO says about 69% is barren ground above 5,000 m, roughly 28% is grazing land and only about 3% is forested. That ice matters beyond the mountains, too: UNESCO describes the area as a major source of glacier-fed fresh water for people downstream.

The people who live in it

Sherpa families were already farming and herding here when the park was declared in 1976, and they still do. UNESCO counts more than 20 villages and links the park's conservation record to local Buddhist practice, including restraint around hunting and killing animals. On the ground you see it in the mani walls, the monasteries, the walled barley and potato fields and the yak trains on the path. This is a working valley, and it's why the trek has teahouses at all.

Walk clockwise around mani walls and chortens, keeping them on your right, and ask before photographing people or ceremonies. When a yak train approaches, step to the uphill side of the trail and wait.

Wildlife in Sagarmatha National Park: what lives here and what you'll see

There's a difference between what lives in the park and what a trekker will see.

Think in terms of where animals live. In the lower forests, look for birds such as the danphe and blood pheasant, and know that musk deer and black bears live there but keep out of sight. On steep rock above the trail you may spot Himalayan tahr or ghoral. In the high, rocky ground above the tree line, pikas are the small mammals to watch for. Wolves, lynx, snow leopards and red pandas are also on the park's species lists. Sightings are rare enough that no trek should be planned around them. Choughs, snowcocks, snow pigeons and griffon vultures range across the higher slopes and are the birds you're most likely to notice.

UNESCO adds a note of hope: snow leopards returning to the park suggests the habitat suits both predator and prey. It's a real conservation signal, but it isn't a sighting promise.

That ranking is our judgement from habitat and how shy these animals are, not sighting data, and we won't put a percentage on it. Wildlife guides place tahr on steep rocky slopes around Phortse and Pangboche. Red pandas favour lower forest, not the high trail to base camp.

Birds are your best bet. NTB names the danphe (Himalayan monal), blood pheasant, snowcock, snow pigeon, red-billed and yellow-billed choughs and Himalayan griffon. Other sources add the bearded vulture, also called lammergeier. Sources disagree on how many bird species the park holds. NTB's park page says 118, while other sources go past 200, so treat any single number with caution. To improve your odds, ask your guide where to slow down.

Watching responsibly. Keep your distance and use a zoom lens rather than moving closer. Don't chase animals or block their escape route. Don't feed them, and don't use food or sounds to draw them in. Yaks and dzopkyo are livestock, not wildlife, but the same courtesy applies on the trail.

The rules inside Sagarmatha National Park, in plain English

We're a trekking company, not lawyers. This is a plain-English summary of the main law and the park's practical guidance, so check the official text if you need exact wording.

The legal basics

Nepal's National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act sets the ground rules. Nobody enters a national park without an entry permit or written permission. Beyond that, the Act treats a few kinds of behaviour as off-limits unless an authorized official signs off in writing. They fall into four groups.

The first is anything involving animals: hunting, carrying weapons or poison, or bringing livestock in to graze. The second is anything involving plants and ground: cutting, burning or clearing vegetation, digging, or removing stone and soil. The third is building or occupying land, which covers a hut, a shelter or a farm plot. The fourth is water, meaning you can't block or divert a stream or spring.

None of this is aimed at trekkers, but it's why your guide will tell you not to cut a branch for a walking stick or stack stones at the trail edge. Stick to the established path too, since UNESCO lists informal shortcut trails among the park's management problems. Park staff and your guide can also add temporary restrictions for safety or conservation.

Waste and toilets

UNESCO names garbage disposal as one of the park's main obstacles, and points to a community group in Namche, the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, that works on it. The local municipality banned thin single-use plastics and drinks in plastic bottles from January 2020, though a later travel report says thicker bottles are still allowed. Carry a reusable bottle and a purification method rather than buying bottled water, and use your lodge's waste system. Pack out your own rubbish, and never burn plastic.

On toilets, use lodge toilets where you can. The Kathmandu Post has described human waste as a long-running problem along the trail. If you have to go outside, stay well away from streams and take your paper with you. We haven't found a specific park regulation for trekkers on this, so follow your guide's instructions.

Fires, firewood and camping

The Act requires written permission to cut, remove, burn or damage trees, plants and other forest resources. Don't collect firewood and don't light your own fires. UNESCO says firewood demand remains a pressure on the forests. Teahouse lodges handle their own fuel.

On camping, NTB lists camping among accommodation types in the park, but the Act's rules on structures and vegetation still apply. If you're on a teahouse itinerary you won't be choosing campsites. On camping treks the operator arranges permissions and locations. Don't pitch a tent on your own. Our teahouse to luxury lodge guide covers the accommodation options on the route.

Drones

Your park permit does not cover a drone. Flying one involves Nepal's civil aviation rules and, inside a protected area, separate approval from the park authorities. The park office's service charter also requires written consent from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation for commercial documentary filming. Fees and processes vary between sources, and we couldn't find an official published schedule for the Everest region. If you want to fly one, contact the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and the park office before you book flights, or ask us to look into it. If you haven't arranged everything, leave it at home. Rescue helicopters also work these valleys, which makes it a safety issue as well. Our drone rules guide has more.

What UNESCO status means, and what it doesn't

UNESCO listed the park in 1979 as a natural site, on the strength of its scenery and geology. Everest is the obvious headline, but the argument is broader. The mountains here are young and still rising, the valleys are cut deep, and the glaciers feed the rivers below. UNESCO also points to the highest-altitude ecosystems anywhere on Earth. It says Sherpa customs are part of why the area has stayed in good shape, which is why culture keeps appearing in a listing that is officially about nature.

That's a recognition, and it isn't a management role. UNESCO does not:

• issue your park-entry permit
• collect your NPR 3,000 fee
• run the Lukla flights
• manage your trekking company
• decide your daily itinerary

The park is managed by the Sagarmatha National Park office under Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. The local municipality handles the Trek Card. Airlines and Nepal's aviation authority handle flights, and licensed trekking companies run treks.

What UNESCO status does is put the park on an international list that Nepal reports to. UNESCO's page carries a series of state-of-conservation reports on the park, the latest listed for 2025. It's blunt about pressures such as tourism growth, illegal trails, lodge development, firewood and garbage. It also credits local communities and stakeholders with halting several development projects, including an airstrip extension at Sanboche.

Protected doesn't mean untouched. UNESCO records visitor numbers rising from 3,600 in 1979 to over 25,000 in 2010. The park office counted 48,804 foreign visitors in the 2080/81 fiscal year. The trail has villages, lodges, an airport, yak trains and helicopter traffic. The designation recognises outstanding value; it doesn't remove any of that.

Climate. UNESCO lists monitoring climate change effects on glaciers, plants, animals and Sherpa communities as a park priority. The park office says its glaciers all show signs of retreat and that new glacial lakes have formed in recent decades. Expect trail and snow conditions to vary from year to year. Your guide tracks that, not a brochure.

Planning your trek with the park in mind

Park entry is part of the practical structure of an Everest Base Camp trek, not an obstacle on the way to it. It comes with a fee, a gate, a set of rules and a place where people live and work.

Our Everest Base Camp trek includes both permits. You can join a fixed-departure group or arrange a private trip on your own dates, and the trip page has current dates, pricing and inclusions. If you're deciding on length, this 12, 14 or 16-day comparison helps. For timing, see the best time to trek Everest Base Camp.

Before you leave Kathmandu:

• Confirm the current park fee on the Nepal Tourism Board page.
• Ask your agency who buys the permits and whether they're in your package price.
• Carry your passport, and keep permit details somewhere you can reach them.
• Check for current route notices and seasonal restrictions.
• Bring a refillable bottle and purification tablets or a filter.
• Ask your guide about local rules and what's changed this season.

If your route goes beyond base camp, the same park covers the Gokyo Lake trek and the Everest Three Passes trek. Climbing a peak such as Island Peak adds separate climbing permits on top of the park fee. For a wider overview, see our complete Everest Base Camp guide.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Sagarmatha National Park entry fee?
For foreign visitors it's NPR 3,000 per person per entry. SAARC nationals pay NPR 1,500, Nepali citizens NPR 100, and children under 10 are free. Check the Nepal Tourism Board fee page before you travel.

Do I need a permit for Sagarmatha National Park?
Yes. Nepal's law requires an entry permit or written permission to enter a national park, and the Everest Base Camp, Gokyo and Three Passes routes all pass through this one.

Is Sagarmatha National Park the same as Everest Base Camp?
No. The park is the protected area. Base camp is one destination inside it, at 5,364 m on the Khumbu Glacier.

Is Everest Base Camp inside Sagarmatha National Park?
Yes, along with Kala Patthar, the Gokyo lakes and the Nepal side of Everest.

Where do you enter Sagarmatha National Park?
On the standard Lukla route, at the park gate at Monjo, between Phakding and Namche. UNESCO places the property's southern edge almost at Monjo. Lukla and Phakding fall in the buffer zone.

Is the park fee included in EBC trekking packages?
It depends on the company. Places Nepal's Everest Base Camp trek includes both the park permit and the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu permit. With any other operator, ask.

How long is the Sagarmatha National Park permit valid?
Official sources charge it per person per entry, and we couldn't find a validity period in days. One permit covers a standard in-and-out trek. If you plan to leave and re-enter the park, ask the park office or your agency first.

What are the rules inside Sagarmatha National Park?
Don't hunt or disturb wildlife, cut or damage vegetation, build structures, block streams, remove stone or soil, or light fires. Carry out your rubbish and follow instructions from park staff and your guide.

Can you camp anywhere in Sagarmatha National Park?
No. Structures and vegetation clearing need written permission under the Act, so camping goes through the operator's arrangements. Teahouse trekkers don't choose campsites.

Can you collect firewood in the park?
No. The Act requires permission to cut, remove or burn forest resources, and UNESCO flags firewood demand as an ongoing pressure.

Can you fly a drone in Sagarmatha National Park?
Not on a park permit alone. Aviation rules and park-authority approval are separate. Contact the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and the park office before you travel.

Can you feed wildlife?
No. Don't feed animals or lure them for photographs, and keep your distance.

What wildlife lives in Sagarmatha National Park?
Himalayan tahr, ghoral, musk deer, pika, weasel, jackal, black bear, wolf, lynx and snow leopard, plus red panda per UNESCO. Birds include the danphe, blood pheasant, snowcock, snow pigeon, choughs and Himalayan griffon.

Can you see snow leopards on the EBC trek?
Very unlikely. They live in the park, but they're elusive, and a trekker shouldn't plan around seeing one.

Can you see red pandas in Sagarmatha National Park?
Also very unlikely. UNESCO lists them as present, but they favour lower forested areas and are rarely seen.

Why is Sagarmatha National Park a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
For its natural value: the world's highest peak, young mountains, glaciers, deep valleys and rare species, closely tied to Sherpa culture.

When was Sagarmatha National Park added to UNESCO?
In 1979. The park itself was established in 1976.

Does UNESCO manage Everest Base Camp?
No. The park office, the local municipality and other Nepali authorities handle management, permits and the trail.

Does UNESCO charge trekkers a fee?
No. The fee you pay is the park's entry fee, collected by Nepali authorities.

How large is Sagarmatha National Park?
The park office gives 1,148 km², while UNESCO lists the World Heritage property at 124,400 hectares (about 1,244 km²). The buffer zone adds a separate 275 km².

Are Namche Bazaar and Tengboche inside the park?
The park headquarters is at Namche. Under the official descriptions the settled areas are treated as buffer zone, and we couldn't find a village-by-village list. Your permit and the rules are the same either way.

What should trekkers do to protect the park?
Pack out rubbish, stay on established trails, keep away from wildlife, respect monasteries and mani walls, avoid unnecessary fires, use a refillable bottle and follow your guide's instructions.

Does the park have different rules for trekkers and mountaineers?
Everyone pays the entry fee and follows the same Act. Climbers also need climbing permits, and Everest expeditions have waste-return rules and a refundable deposit.