Sindhupalchok Districtसिन्धुपाल्चोक जिल्ला

Sindhupalchok climbs from the Indravati and Sunkoshi valleys northeast of Kathmandu to the glaciated Jugal Himal on the Tibetan border, spanning roughly 300 m to over 7,000 m. The Araniko Highway follows the Bhote Koshi — one of Nepal's best-known whitewater rivers — through Bahrabise to the Kodari–Tatopani border crossing, for decades the main overland route between Nepal and China, with the Tatopani hot springs a long-standing pilgrimage stop. The district's east falls within the Gaurishankar Conservation Area, and the Buddhist Hyolmo villages of the Helambu valley in its northwest are a classic trekking destination reached over the Shivapuri ridge from Kathmandu.

No district suffered more in the April 2015 earthquake: more than 3,550 people were killed in Sindhupalchok — the highest district death toll in the country — and roughly 97% of its houses were destroyed. The disaster accelerated an existing decline; the 2021 census counted 262,624 people, down 0.88% per year from 2011. The economy rests on terrace farming, livestock and remittances, alongside a dense cluster of hydropower plants on the Bhote Koshi, Balephi and Indravati rivers and adventure tourism in the Bhote Koshi gorge.

Sindhupalchok is also the source of Kathmandu's most important infrastructure project: the Melamchi Water Supply Project, which diverts the Melamchi river through a 26.3 km tunnel to the capital. Melamchi water first reached Kathmandu in March 2021, with a first-phase design capacity of 170 million litres per day, though a catastrophic flood and debris flow down the Melamchi valley in June 2021 buried the intake works and has forced repeated, seasonal interruptions since. The district headquarters is Chautara, a ridge-top town in Chautara Sangachowkgadhi Municipality.