Is Khardung La really the world's highest motorable pass?

The short answer

No. Khardung La, the pass above Leh with the famous signboard and the row of shops selling "world's highest" T-shirts, is not the world's highest motorable pass. It is not even the highest motorable pass in Ladakh anymore. The official Leh district tourism page now calls it plainly "the second highest motor-able pass in the world after Umling La". That page still carries the old signboard figure of 18,379 ft, 5,602 metres, the number most riders grew up quoting. Wikipedia's entry on the pass, built from GPS surveys and SRTM satellite data, gives the actual elevation as 5,359 metres, 17,582 feet, well short of the signboard claim.

Khardung La held the popular title for decades mainly by repetition. No credible survey body ever certified it as the world's highest. By the time GPS devices became common in every rider's tank bag, the gap between the painted number and the measured one was impossible to ignore.

How the record actually moved

The certified record belongs to the Border Roads Organisation, and it has moved twice in recent years, both times in Ladakh.

In 2021, BRO's Chisumle to Demchok road over Umling La, about 52 km long, was measured at 19,024 ft. Guinness World Records sent five surveyors to verify the figure over a four month process, and the Director General Border Roads received the certificate on 16 November 2021.

Then in October 2025, BRO announced a new road as part of its Likaru, Mig La, Fukche alignment near the Chinese border, reaching 19,400 ft at Mig La, a figure the organisation's own release describes as overtaking its previous record at Umling La. That makes Mig La, not Khardung La and not even Umling La, the current highest point BRO has built a motorable road to in Ladakh.

Why the old signboard is still up there

Khardung La's elevation was never independently certified the way Umling La's was. The 18,379 ft figure traces back to early survey estimates that stuck for decades, repeated on maps, guidebooks and the pass's own signage long after better instruments existed to check it. Updating a signboard that tourists travel thousands of kilometres to photograph is not a priority for anyone, and the Leh district page now manages the contradiction by keeping the old number on display while stating the correct ranking in the same paragraph.

What this means for your ride

For a rider or driver planning a Ladakh trip, the exact metre count matters less than what it implies. Khardung La, Umling La and Mig La are all above 5,000 metres, and altitude sickness does not care which one is technically higher. Spend at least two nights acclimatising in Leh before attempting any of these passes, carry basic AMS medication after consulting a doctor, and turn back if you or a pillion show symptoms. Mig La sits on a strategic border alignment near Fukche and is not a tourist run the way Umling La is, so do not plan a trip assuming you can simply ride there for the record. Chase the view, not the number on the board.

Sources

• Khardung La Pass, Leh district administration
• Khardung La, Wikipedia
• Umling La: BRO gets Guinness World Records entry for world's highest motorable road, PSU Watch
• At 19,033 feet, world's highest altitude motorable road now in India's Ladakh, thanks to BRO, Swarajya
• BRO breaks its own record, builds world's highest motorable road at 19,400 ft in Ladakh, News On Air