Ziarat is a town in Ziarat District, Pakistan. It is a famous holiday resort of Balochistan and nearly every trip from Karachi to Quetta stops at Ziarat. Ziarat ("a Mahommedan shrine"), was the summer residence of the chief commissioner of Baluchistan, and sanatorium for the European troops at Quetta: 8850 ft. above the sea and 33 m. by cart-road from the railway. There is a good watersupply, and the hills around are well-wooded and picturesque. ziarat is also very famous for its juniper trees. The juniper forest in ziarat is the world's second largest forest for junipers. The junipers are considered to be the real treasure of ziarat. There are trees in valley which are more than 7000 years old. In ziarat a herb called ephidra senica is also found in abundance which is useful in extracting a chemical called ephedrine, an important constituent of various medicines especially the cough syrups. Ziarat is a snowfall region, while snowfalling the beauty of the juniper valley(ziarat) is on its verge. In winter season there is no business but with summer the charm comes back. The local dish of ziarat is "saji" athough it is a cultural thing but it has a great taste for everyone. The common languages spoken in the valley are balochi and pashto. More tourists visit the place in summer.
