Places to Visit Near Dehradun Within 100 km: The Local Shortlist

The Doon valley's real luxury is geography: hills on one side, the Ganges on the other, and everything worth seeing within a two hour drive. Guests at our homestays keep asking for one list with honest distances, so here it is, grouped the way locals actually plan it: pick one direction per day and never backtrack.

Up the ridge (northeast)

1. 1.Mussoorie (35 km, 60 to 90 min): the Queen of the Hills. Mall Road, Camel's Back, Gun Hill and the winterline in season. Full plan in our Mussoorie and Landour day trip.
2. 2.Landour (38 km): the quiet cantonment above Mussoorie. Char Dukan chai, the bakery walk, deodar lanes and Ruskin Bond country.
3. 3.Kempty Falls (48 km): the famous tiered waterfall beyond Mussoorie. Go early on a weekday; by noon in season it is a fairground. Our Kempty Falls guide has the route, costs and monsoon rules.
4. 4.Dhanaulti (60 km): deodar forests, the Eco Park and Dehradun's most dependable snow, late December to February. The snow day playbook covers timings.
5. 5.Surkanda Devi and Kanatal (75 to 78 km): the ropeway to the 2,700 metre temple ridge, then apple-orchard quiet at Kanatal. The best Himalayan panorama within a day of the city.

To the river (southeast)

1. 1.Rishikesh (45 km, about 90 min): the yoga capital. Suspension bridges, the Beatles Ashram, riverside cafes and rafting in season. See the Rishikesh day trip guide.
2. 2.Haridwar (55 km): Har Ki Pauri and the evening Ganga aarti, one of North India's great spectacles. The Haridwar guide has the timing.
3. 3.Rajaji National Park (via Mohand, about 25 km to the gate): elephants, leopards if you are lucky, and proper sal forest on a morning safari, November to June.

West and offbeat

1. 1.Paonta Sahib (45 km): the serene white gurudwara of Guru Gobind Singh on the Yamuna, across the Himachal border. Pair it with a riverside lunch.
2. 2.Asan Barrage and Conservation Reserve (40 km): winter waterbirds by the hundred, October to March. Bring binoculars and a thermos.
3. 3.Chakrata (88 km, about 3 hours): the anti-Mussoorie. A restricted-area cantonment ridge with almost no commerce, conifer forest walks and Tiger Falls just beyond. Locals' pick when the Mussoorie side is mobbed on a snow weekend. Our Chakrata and Tiger Falls guide covers the route, ID rules and whether to stay the night.
4. 4.Lakhamandal (via the Chakrata road, near the 100 km mark): an ancient Shiva temple complex wrapped in Mahabharata legend, for travellers who like their history quiet.

And inside the valley itself

Do not drive past what is already here: Robber's Cave and Sahastradhara fill a morning, FRI's grand campus fills another, and the Buddhist stupa at Clement Town, Tapkeshwar cave temple and the Rajpur cafe strip round out the slow days. The full city list lives in 12 best places to visit in Dehradun.

That is the honest 100 km map. Nothing on it needs an overnight bag; everything on it starts better from a warm valley bed. Plans in hand, the day trips master guide goes deeper on each route.