Just a handful of people in Islamabad know about this exciting trek very near to them. Panjpeer is the highest point of the Danoi Ridge in Kotli Sattian. It is called Panjpeer because of a shrine it has at the top. Locals believe this was a place where five buzurgs came and got settled. It is at an altitude of approximately 1800 meters.
Danoi trek starts from the Lehtrar rest house on the Lehtrar road. This road links Islamabd to Bagh via Kotli Sattian. Total distance between Islamabad and Lehtrar town is around 40 Kilometers. Rest house is behind the petrol pump just a little ahead of the main bazaar. The trek starts behind this rest house and is actually an abandoned jeep road. In a couple of hours, this trek reaches Danoi rest house while passing through a beautiful pine forest. Danoi rest house has a height of approximately 1300 meters.
If you have less time, another option is to skip the first part and start the trek from Danoi rest house itself. A metalled top road comes to it from Lehtrar. Follow the Lehtrar road for a further few kilometers towards Kotli Sattian till a place called as Thum Mor from where a road turns right towards Baba Saeen Matka Sharif shrine in Kamra. There is also a sign board indicating this shrine. Total traveling distance from Islamabad to Danoi is around 60 kilometers. If you are coming on your own vehicle, you can park it here. Tell the rest house guards to take care of it, and they will do it well. The rest house was built in 1928 and is right in the middle of the beautiful pine forest. You can also spend the night here through an advanced booking from the forest department office near Sawan station, Rawalpindi.
From Danoi, follow the road going towards Kamra and Nar. To avoid the long zig zags of road, you can take short cuts at many points during the initial stage. You will also see some arrows helping you for the directions marked by ASG. Continuing with the short cuts and the road, the road turns in to a rough jeep track. Soon, you will be able to see Murree and Patriata on your left towards west.. Enjoying the pine forest and the beautiful views this trek offers, you will reach a place where there are big boulders stretched over a large area. This part is the specialty of this trek. Nowhere else on the whole region, you will find any thing like this. It is not just these large stretched boulders, throughout the trek you will notice large rocks of very unique size and structure. Continuing on the trek will take you to Panjpeer . The total travel time from Danoi to this place is 2-3 hours. Panjpeer offers some great panoramic views of the whole region. On clear days, you can see Makra and other mountains of Kaghan area on your north while different peaks of Kashmir are visible on the east.
From Panjpeer, you can walk down back to Danoi if you have your vehicle parked there. Otherwise, another option is to drop down on the other side towards East to the Jehlum river through Nar. This trek ends at Azad Pattan where a bridge links Azad Kashmir to this part of Punjab. Public transport can be taken from Azad Pattan that will reach Islamabd in around 90 mins via Kahuta and Sihala. Though it seems much less from the top, the trek on the way down takes around 3-4 hours.
