Pakistan's deserts are more varied than most visitors expect, spanning a hot southern desert system and an unusual high altitude "cold desert" in the north.
Cholistan Desert, Punjab: Pakistan's largest contiguous desert, continuing the same system as Sindh's Thar Desert and India's Rajasthan Desert, home to Derawar Fort and the annual Cholistan Jeep Rally.
Thar Desert, Sindh: The Sindh portion of the same broader desert system, notable for its significant Hindu population living alongside Muslim communities, reflecting Sindh's religious diversity.
Katpana Cold Desert, Skardu: an unusual landscape, a cold desert at over 2,200m elevation in the Karakoram, combining sand dunes with a backdrop of snow capped peaks, a combination found in very few places worldwide.
Sarfaranga Cold Desert, Skardu: A larger dune field near Shigar, increasingly used for jeep rallies and off road motorsport alongside its natural desert landscape appeal.
What makes Pakistan's deserts distinctive as a group: Few countries offer both a classic hot desert system and a high altitude cold desert within relatively accessible reach of each other, each with different visitor appeal, desert safaris and forts in the south, otherworldly mountain backed dunes in the north.
See our Cholistan Desert guide and our Katpana Cold Desert guide for the two most distinct desert experiences.
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