Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0National Parks / Mountain / Sagarmatha
UNESCO World Heritage Site · Est. 1976
Home of Mount Everest — a national park of glaciers, deep valleys and the highest mountains on Earth, in the Khumbu region of eastern Nepal.
Sagarmāthā — the Nepali name for Mount Everest, meaning "head of the sky" — is a national park in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal, established in 1976 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
The park encompasses 1,148 km² of the Solukhumbu District and ranges in elevation from about 2,845 m in the lower valleys to 8,849 m at the summit of Everest. To the north it shares the international border with the Qomolangma National Nature Preserve of Tibet; to the east it adjoins Makalu Barun National Park; and to the south it extends to the Dudh Koshi river. A buffer zone of about 275 km² was added in 2002, and the park is part of the Sacred Himalayan Landscape.
Beyond Everest, the park holds more than 90 peaks — among them Lhotse, the world's fourth-highest, plus Cho Oyu, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Thamserku and Pumori. Its glaciers, high-altitude lakes and deep valleys feed the Dudh Koshi and Bhote Koshi rivers.
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0The Landscape
The terrain is dominated by rugged Himalayan relief — only about 3% of the park is forested, around 28% is grazing land and sparse vegetation, and nearly 70% is barren rock, ice and the high mountains themselves. The Gokyo Lakes, within the park, were listed as a Ramsar wetland of international importance in 2007.
Wildlife
The park shelters rare high-Himalayan mammals adapted to one of the harshest environments on Earth.
Photo: Tambako The Jaguar (edit by Niabot) · CC BY-SA 2.0The elusive ghost of the high mountains, hunting tahr across the steep slopes.
Vulnerable
Photo: Christian Mehlführer (edit by Böhringer) · CC BY 2.5A shy resident of the park's rhododendron and birch forests near Namche and Tengboche.
Endangered
Photo: Jagdish Singh Negi · CC BY 4.0A robust wild goat of the precipitous rocky slopes — key prey for the snow leopard.
Near Threatened
Photo: Bharatadhikarimb · CC BY-SA 4.0Flora
The small forested band in the lower park holds blue pine, fir, hemlock, juniper, birch and rhododendron, with bamboo in places. Above the treeline, vegetation gives way to alpine scrub, dwarf rhododendron and a carpet of lichens and mosses, before the barren rock and permanent snow of the high zone.
Photo: Nirojsedhai · CC BY-SA 4.0The Sherpa People
Long before the park's recognition, the Khumbu was home to the Sherpa — an indigenous community renowned for their mountaineering skill and deep spiritual connection to the Himalaya. Villages such as Namche Bazaar, Khumjung, Tengboche and Thame anchor the park, with ancient monasteries and sacred sites woven through the landscape. Sherpa communities play a central role in conservation, forest management and the stewardship of the high valleys.
Visiting
The park is the great prize of Himalayan trekking, reached on foot from the airstrip at Lukla.
The classic trek winds from Lukla through Namche Bazaar, Tengboche and Dingboche to base camp and the viewpoint of Kala Patthar (5,545 m).
An alternative high route to a string of turquoise glacial lakes and the panorama from Gokyo Ri.
Entry permits and a TIMS card are required. Stay on designated trails; hunting, logging and littering are prohibited.
Reference
From Everest to the Terai grasslands — thirteen parks, one extraordinary country.