Attabad Lake — the famous one
Attabad is the lake on every Pakistan travel poster, and it earns the attention. Born of a catastrophic landslide in January 2010 that dammed the Hunza River, it drowned 19 km of the old Karakoram Highway and turned a disaster into the most photographed water in the country. Speedboats and traditional wooden boats run all day in season; jet-skis and lakeside glass pods have made it Hunza's playground.
Visit in the morning for still reflections, and combine it with upper Gojal — the Hussaini Suspension Bridge and Passu Cones are within thirty minutes through the Attabad tunnels.
Borith and the quiet alternatives
Borith Lake, a short jeep climb above Hussaini village, is everything Attabad isn't: silent, slightly saline, ringed by bare hills with the Passu Glacier moraine behind. It's a stopover for migrating ducks in spring and autumn, and the lakeside guesthouse terraces are among the most peaceful lunch spots in Gojal.
Serious walkers should look at Rush Lake in Nagar — at roughly 4,694 m one of the highest named alpine lakes on earth, reached by a spectacular 4–5 day trek via Hopper Glacier with Spantik and Malubiting filling the horizon. And although it's in Ghizer rather than Hunza, Phander Lake is worth the detour west for its deep-blue water and trout fishing.
