Living Root Bridges in Meghalaya: Distance, Trek & Complete Visitor Guide

There are approximately 100 known, documented living root bridges in Meghalaya, though local experts and researchers note that over 240 individual examples exist across various remote forests and community lands.

The village of Nongriat is the most famous for its incredible Umshiang Double-Decker Living Root Bridge. Other notable villages known for these natural root wonders include Mawlynnong (near the Riwai root bridge), Nongbareh, and Mawkyrnot

The famous Double Decker Living Root Bridge trek in Nongriat, Meghalaya, is considered physically demanding and difficult. It is not technically complex, but it requires going down and climbing back up roughly 3,500 steep stairs one way (about a 2,500-foot change in elevation) over a 3.5 to 4-kilometer trail.

Living root bridges are located in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya, primarily within the rugged, rainy Khasi and Jaintia hill districts. Grown by the indigenous Khasi tribe using the aerial roots of rubber fig trees, these bio-engineered structures span local rivers and deep forest gorges.

The Rangthylliang 1 root bridge, also associated with nearby Mawkyrnot village in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, is widely considered the longest known living root bridge, measuring over 50 meters (around 160–175 feet) in length.

Whether a living root bridge is open depends on the specific day of the week and the location in Meghalaya, India. Today is Sunday, meaning major sites like the famous Double Decker Root Bridge in Nongriat are closed today by local village and government order for rest and maintenance. On normal weekdays and Saturdays, they are open from roughly 5:00 AM to 5:00 PM.