Thajiwas Glacier, Sonamarg: Pony Price, Snow and What You Really See (2026-27)

Thajiwas is the valley of snow and meadow that hangs above Sonamarg, and the one sight almost every visitor to Sonamarg walks or rides to. Most guides to it repeat the same old pony price and promise snow all summer. This one gives what dated sources say in 2026, including the parts that disappoint. The rest of the valley is in our Sonamarg guide.

In short: Thajiwas is about 3 km from Sonamarg, on foot or by pony; no cars are allowed. It reopened on 16 February 2026 after about nine months shut. The Tourism Department pony rate is ₹1,350 to ₹1,650 return, and visitors in 2026 report paying ₹1,200 to ₹1,800. What you reach is a snow point below the glacier, and by summer the snow there may be gone.

What you actually reach at Thajiwas

Not the glacier. The trip ends at a snow point in the valley, with tea stalls and a view up to the ice hanging on the peaks. In June 2026 a local guide said it is "nearly impossible for ordinary tourists to reach the glacier now".

The glacier itself has shrunk to a remnant. A study by University of Kashmir researchers and others, reported in May 2026, puts it at 2.76 sq km, against about 54 sq km at the height of the last Ice Age: 95 per cent gone. An earlier study found it lost a third of its area between 1992 and 2020. Locals call it Hazarun Saal Ka Baraf, the thousand-year-old ice. It feeds the Sindh river.

Is Thajiwas Glacier open?

Yes, since 16 February 2026. It was shut to tourists for about nine months before that, which few guides mention.

That July closure is the pattern to expect: the authority shuts the valley for a day or two in bad weather. Ask your hotel or the taxi stand that morning.

How to get from Sonamarg to Thajiwas

On foot or on a pony. Motor vehicles are barred from the Thajiwas side: the Sonamarg Development Authority banned them, citing court directions of 2017 on the eco-sensitive area, and the district website says private vehicles are not allowed.

• On foot: about 3 km each way from near the taxi stand, through pine forest, then meadow and stream crossings. The first few hundred metres are the steepest. Allow 45 to 90 minutes each way; a walker in June 2024 took about 90 minutes and called the incline "very moderate".
• By pony: 30 to 45 minutes each way. Ponies start from the designated stand at Shutkadi. Since May 2026 they are banned from the highway and the footpaths, so anyone offering a pony on the road is breaking the order.
• Battery cart: in May 2024 the government tourism company ran three battery autos at ₹400 a person, with receipts. We could not confirm they still run in 2026. Ask at the stand: for elders, it is the only way that is neither a walk nor a ride.
• "Union taxi to the trailhead": some websites sell this for ₹1,500 to ₹3,000. Thajiwas is not on the Sonamarg taxi union's rate lists, and we found no official source for it.

Thajiwas Glacier pony ride price

The Tourism Department's list, as two travel sites reproduce it, is ₹1,350 return to Thajiwas and ₹1,650 return to the glacier point, each with one hour of waiting, then ₹225 an hour. A visitor in November 2024 confirmed ₹1,650 as the "official cost". We could not find the original list, or the newer notification that ran to 31 March 2026.

The ₹700 to ₹1,500 that almost every guide prints, and that our own pages showed until now, traces back to a blog from 2021 and a forum post from 2018.

• Expect a high first quote. A July 2026 guide reports openings of ₹2,500 to ₹4,000 in peak season, settling at ₹1,500 to ₹1,800.
• Fix everything first. The end point, the waiting time, and whether the price is per pony. One visitor in May 2026 ended up paying ₹15,000 with jackets and boots added.
• Ask for the rate card. A March 2026 guide says it is usually displayed at the pony stand.
• Extra "points". Handlers sell further stops, including a "Bajrangi Bhaijaan point". They are extras, not part of the listed ride.
• Enforcement exists. In April 2026 the Sonamarg police said 23 unauthorised service providers had been detained and fined, and booked one man for a forged licence.

Is there snow at Thajiwas, and in which months?

Less than there used to be, and for a shorter season. A pony operator told ETV Bharat in June 2026 that the slope now starts losing its snow as early as April, where it once held until May or later.

So the dated reports of good snow are from March and April. From May, treat snow as a bonus and come for the meadows, the stream and the view. Zero Point is higher and usually holds snow later, though a visitor in late June 2026 found it in patches there too.

Sledges, snow bikes and what you can hire

• Sledges: pulled up the slope by a man and ridden down. Several visitors call them unnecessary: "if you can climb by yourself do that".
• Snow bikes: restricted. A Sonamarg Development Authority circular of 31 January 2026 allows them only at Thajiwas Gate and the eco park at Shutkadi, 20 a day at each, and keeps them off the meadow.
• Coats and boots: guides report ₹150 to ₹250 a set. Visitors say the hirers push them hard: you do not have to take them if you came dressed for it.
• Food: tea stalls at the snow point sell Maggi, kahwa and tea. Cash only.

Is Thajiwas safe?

The walk is easy. The snow is where people get hurt. Two people died here within nine days in 2024.

• 25 May 2024: a tourist from Maharashtra died after falling into a cavity in the snow.
• 2 June 2024: part of the snow and ice broke off on a crowded afternoon. Two tourists were rescued; a local sledge puller aged 18, Manzoor Ahmad Khan, was killed.
• 27 January 2026: an avalanche hit the edge of Sonamarg town at night after an official high-danger warning. No one died.

Fees: what you pay at Sonamarg

Thajiwas has no ticket. The only fee is the Sonamarg Development Authority's vehicle entry fee, collected at the toll post at Shutkadi and made uniform in January 2026.

Ask for the receipt. In February 2026 the police registered a case against the toll contractor for collecting extra "sanitation fees" from tourist vehicles.

Thajiwas in winter

Sonamarg is reachable all winter now, through the tunnel that opened in January 2025. What happens at Thajiwas itself is less clear. Guides call the trail snowbound from November to April; a pony operator says he stopped for only about twenty days last winter; and for most of the 2025-26 winter the site was officially closed. Snow bikes are allowed only at Thajiwas Gate and the Shutkadi park. Check on the day what is running, and do not go up during an avalanche warning.

Thajiwas or Zero Point?

To do both in a day, go to Zero Point first, because vehicles may leave Sonamarg for the pass only until 1 pm, then Thajiwas in the afternoon. The details are in our Zero Point guide.

Time needed, and what to carry

• Time: two to three hours by pony, three to five on foot, with time at the top.
• When: one guide advises starting by 8 or 9 am and being back by noon.
• Films: Bajrangi Bhaijaan was shot in Sonamarg in 2015, and Race 3 in 2018 with Thajiwas as the backdrop.