Shounter is a valley in Upper Neelum Valley of Azad Kashmir from which one can reach the Astore Valley of Giligit-Baltistan via Shounter Pass.
The best time to visit this valley and pass is from May to August because most of the time it is being covered by snow. It can be accessed form the Kel Valley by a jeep track which gets opened for few month of the summer. This heavenly place has many picturesque and stunning places to see and visit. Lakes of this valley are famous in all over the Pakistan. The landscape is so breathtaking that one don not want to leave the valley once reached there.
Moreover govt. of Pakistan has allotted budget for a tunnel which would link the Shounter valley of Azad Kashmir and Rattu village of Astore, Gilgit-Baltistan. The tunnel would be approximately 10-12 km long and after completion the distance of Islamabad to Khunjrab (Pak-China border) would be shortened by 8 hours. So this would be the third route to reach Gilgit-Baltistan, two routes already operational (KKH and route through Babusar Pass).
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| Jeep track which leads to the Shounter pass which connects the valley to Astor valley of of Gilgit-Baltistan |
The number of picturesque lakes in the valley are:
- Chita Katha lake
- Lunda Sar lake
- Shounter lake or Spoon lake
- Baboon lake
- Parrian Sar
- Sar Wali Peak Base Camp Lake
- Asman Baik Sar/Lake
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| Shounter lake |
