Moon Rock Cafe & Stay, Chopta: Our Room Before the Tungnath Trek
The rain got loud enough for us to hear it hitting the roof from inside our room. Then water began coming through in a few places. We had chosen Moon Rock Cafe & Stay for a quiet night and a valley view before walking to Tungnath the next day, so that was a disappointment. I still liked the location. I just would not leave out what happened when the weather changed.
We were three people travelling from Ransi after finishing our Madhyamaheshwar trek. Another walk straight away did not appeal to us. We reached the Chopta area, heard it was busy around the Tungnath starting point, and drove roughly two to three kilometres beyond it. Moon Rock gave us a room, space to park and time to rest. The next morning we would need to go back towards the trail entrance. That trade-off was clear when we stopped.
Watch our Chopta stay video
The video shows the room, balcony, cafe and the weather we had on this part of the trip. I photographed the village from above as well; the buildings sit on a narrow patch of hillside, with the road behind them and the valley falling away on the other side.
Why we stopped beyond the Tungnath starting point
Our trip had begun in Gurgaon, with Kartik Swami and Madhyamaheshwar already behind us. We had finished the Madhyamaheshwar walk the previous day and driven from the Ransi side to Chopta. I described that drive as about two to two and a half hours on our day, though I would not use it as a guaranteed journey time. We wanted Tungnath darshan, but not on arrival day. We needed a break.
Moon Rock is on the road past the trek starting point in the direction we travelled. In the video I estimated the extra distance at around two kilometres, and at another point said two to three. Treat that as a rough on-the-ground estimate. If you want to leave at dawn for Tungnath, check the current road distance from the property to the entrance rather than assume you can walk straight onto the trail from your room.
We had a car, which made the choice easier. There was parking in front of the cafe when we arrived, and our car was visible from the property. I cannot speak for parking availability on a crowded future weekend. Around the main trek starting point, parking looked more troublesome to us, which was one reason we kept moving. Here, we could get out of the car and settle in without joining the crowd near the trail.
I would make the same distinction when recommending it to a friend. If the whole point of a stay is to step out of bed and start walking to Tungnath, this location adds a short return drive. If the point is to spend the afternoon resting after another trek, that little separation from the busy starting area can be welcome. We were in the second group that day.
The place felt quieter than the busier area we had just passed. That mattered after back-to-back trekking days. It was also a small cluster of stays rather than a large resort town. The wider aerial photograph makes that clearer than my room walk-through does.
The room we took for three
We booked one room and the staff put down an extra mattress for the third person. The walls and much of the interior had a light wood finish. A bed, curtains and the balcony door took up most of the visible space. It looked new when we visited, and the room felt comfortable enough for a rest day. I have no verified room rate from the video, so I am not putting a price against it.
The attached bathroom seemed fine during our walk-through, and I pointed out a heater. Before booking, ask what kind of heater is supplied and whether its use is included; the video does not establish those terms. Likewise, the presence of a heater on our visit does not prove that every room has one. For our group, having an actual room and an extra mattress made more sense than taking a camp after the long Madhyamaheshwar day.
I did see Swiss-style camps nearby, so a room was not the only type of stay in this cluster. We did not take one or inspect its inside. I cannot compare camp bedding or bathrooms with the room we used. The photograph of the settlement shows some of the tents below the buildings if you are weighing those options.
The balcony was the room’s strongest feature. Two chairs sat outside the door, facing a long, wooded slope. Even with clouds hanging over the upper ridges, we had an open valley view rather than a view into the next building. I spent more time looking out there than checking the decor inside.
The open side of the building is also why I would ask for the particular room shown in the video, or at least confirm the direction of the balcony. I saw our view, not every room in the property. A photograph of one balcony is not evidence that each booking gets the same outlook.
The rain exposed the weak points
At first the cloud and light rain added to the view. Later it rained hard. We noticed water leaking from the roof in a few places, and the sound came through the room very sharply. I said in the video that it felt like sitting inside a tin box while rain fell on top of it. The walls did not seem to block much sound either.
That is not a minor footnote for someone coming here to recover before a trek. We were tired and wanted sleep. The room looked good in daylight and the valley outlook was lovely, but the leak and noise changed the night. I would ask to see the roof and check recent guest feedback if booking in a wet period. The property was still being worked on when we visited; I have not returned to see whether the problems were repaired.
The changing weather gave us one striking view. As rain moved across the opposite hillside, a narrow white waterfall became visible through the trees and mist. I could watch it from the property. There is no need to give it a name I cannot verify.
What the cafe was like
The cafe sits in front of the rooms. From outside, the Moon Rock name was clear on the red roof, and the parking area was beside it. Inside, there was considerably more space than I expected from the small roadside frontage: long seating along the walls, low tables and a row of chairs facing the windows. Large panes looked towards the valley. It was clean and pleasant to sit in, particularly when the weather turned.
The staff were polite and came across as professional to us. We could eat in the cafe, and room service was offered on our visit. I would still choose a table by the windows if I were back there in daylight. It lets you watch the cloud moving through the valley while you wait, which was part of why we had stopped in this quieter spot.
Food was more mixed. I found the taste average. On our visit, the kitchen had not received vegetables that day, so choices were limited. That might have been a one-day supply problem, but it affected what we could order then. The cafe had a menu and the space looked inviting; those things did not make the meal better than it was. If a particular dish matters to you, ask what is actually available before you sit down.
The photograph of tea and a fried snack on a low table records one of our cafe moments. I am not using that image to claim a menu name, price or verdict that the transcript does not give. It does show the kind of informal stop we made between the drive and the next trek.
Would I use this as a Tungnath base again?
If I had a car and wanted a quieter night, I would consider it. The room, balcony, parking and cafe worked well as a pause after Madhyamaheshwar. The view was the reason to stay outside rather than push for the closest bed to the trailhead. We did not come here to begin Tungnath on the same afternoon.
I would check three things before committing: whether the roof and soundproofing issues were fixed, what food is available that evening, and how I will get back to the Tungnath starting point in the morning. I cannot confirm a current tariff, the state of repairs or the property’s present room inventory from our visit. The property’s website exists, but its promotional descriptions do not replace a current check of the exact room you will use.
The final photo from this stay is the light breaking near the ridgeline at sunset. That was the view after a day of cloud, rain and a lot of doing very little. We needed that pause. The next morning, the plan was to head back towards the Tungnath trail.
For the part of the journey before Chopta, see my Ransi-to-Madhyamaheshwar trek account and Madhyamaheshwar stay near the temple. Those explain why a rest day mattered to us here.
