Fairy Meadows named by German climbers and locally known as Joot, is a grassland near one of the base camp sites of the Nanga Parbat.
April-May and September-October can be the best time to travel to the Fairy Meadows. Also, avoid going on weekends. This is the time when the place will see relatively less traveling because this is not the peak season.
To reach Fairy Meadows, you will have to take a jeep from Raikot Bridge. The track leading to Tattu village gets quite narrow after a while and one would need services of an expert driver. After an hour’s drive the jeep track will end around a km ahead of Tattu village and from there on, one will have to walk on foot.
It’s said to be one of the most dangerous roads in the world. Getting to Fairy Meadows is a huge risk that prevents many from enjoying the view. In 2013 the road was ranked as the second deadliest highway in the world, because it’s a ‘treacherous high altitude, unstable and narrow mountain road’.
Known as “Joot” among locals, the place was given the name Marchenwiese (literally “Fairy Tale Meadows”) by German mountaineers who were no doubt astounded when they first glimpsed this idyllic landscape.
It is a very popular tourist attraction among the locals and it can get very very crowded so avoid peak times like the midsummer months or during public holidays.
It is approachable by a fifteen kilometer-long jeepable trek starting from Raikot Bridge on Karakoram Highway to the village Tattu (Tato). The dangerous and narrow gravel mountain road from the bridge to the village is only open to locals, who provide transportation to visitors. In 2013, the World Health Organization declared it the second-deadliest road on the planet. From Tato onward, it takes about three to four hours hiking by a five kilometer trek to Fairy Meadows. The grassland is located in the Rakhiot valley, at one end of the Rakhiot glacier which originates from the Nanga Parbat and feeds a stream that finally falls in the River Indus. Since 1992, locals have operated camping sites in the area