Hingol National Park

Hingol National Park (1988), Pakistan'S Largest National Park, On The Makran Coastal Highway · Aghor, Balochistan

Hingol is Pakistan's largest national park, a wild stretch of Makran coast and desert mountain along the Makran Coastal Highway west of Karachi, and it looks like nowhere else in the country. Wind and rain have carved its mudstone cliffs into strange shapes, and two of them have become famous: the Princess of Hope, a standing figure on a ridge above the road, and the Sphinx of Balochistan, a crouching, lion-bodied form that really does look carved. Nearby are the mud volcanoes of Chandragup, sacred to Hindu pilgrims, and the cave temple of Hinglaj Mata, one of the holiest Hindu shrines in Pakistan, which draws a great pilgrimage every spring. The coast has Kund Malir, a long empty beach where the desert meets the Arabian Sea. Ibex, urial and marsh crocodiles live in the park. Most visitors come as a long day or weekend from Karachi, since the highway opened the coast in the 2000s. There is almost nothing here in the way of facilities, and Balochistan has its own security problems, so go with a local driver and check the advice before travelling.

Makran Coastal Highway (N-10), Lasbela and Gwadar districts, Aghor, Balochistan, Pakistan

The park is crossed by the Makran Coastal Highway and has no gate for the road; a park fee may be collected at checkpoints. Kund Malir is about four hours from Karachi and the Princess of Hope a little further. There are checkposts along the highway and foreigners may be asked for passports or advised to travel with an escort. Facilities are minimal: carry fuel, water and food.

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