Skardu is a city in Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan, and serves as the capital of Skardu District. Skardu is located in the 10 kilometres wide by 40 kilometres long Skardu Valley, at the confluence of the Indus and Shigar Rivers at an elevation of nearly 2,500 metres. The city is an important gateway to the eight-thousanders of the nearby Karakoram Mountain range. The town is located on the Indus river, which separates the Karakoram Range from the Himalayas

Shangrila was established in 1983 with the opening of the first Resort Hotel in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan. Shangrila Resort Hotel was founded by the late Muhammad Aslam Khan Afridi, the first commander of the Northern Scouts of the Pakistan Army. The resort is known for its restaurant that is built on the fuselage of an aircraft that had crashed nearby.

Shangrila was named after a book titled Lost Horizon by James Hilton. In the novel, the author narrates a tale in which an airplane crash landed near a riverbed, in the early 1920s. The surviving passengers came across some Buddhist monks from a nearby temple and sought their help. They were taken to a beautiful lamasery filled with a variety of fruits and flowers. The monks looked quite young, although they claimed to be hundreds of years old.[1][2] The idyllic place was called Shangri-la, a Tibetan word meaning "Heaven on earth". In 2015, one of the photo of Shangrila Resort was declared as the grand winner of the Wiki Loves Earth, 2015, after a worldwide contest.

Satpara Lake is a natural lake near Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, which supplies water to Skardu Valley. It is fed by the Satpara Stream. Satpara Lake is situated at an elevation of 2,636 meters (8,650 ft) above sea level and is spread over an area of 2.5 km². The completion of Satpara Dam downstream of the lake has enlarged the size of Satpara Lake