The town is situated in the India’s well known Pir Panjal Range in the Western Himalayas and lies within the boundaries of Gulmarg Wildlife Sanctuary.
Yousuf Shah Chak, who ruled Kashmir from 1579 to 1586, frequented the place with his queen Habba Khatoon and renamed it 'Gulmarg' ("meadow of flowers").
[12] After the end of British rule in India, Gulmarg became a part of the independent Dogra princely state of Kashmir and Jammu.
Work on the cable car project between Gulmarg and Apharwat Peak, which was commissioned in 1988 by Government of Jammu and Kashmir, resumed in 1998 after being put on hold due to security concerns.
[25] Gulmarg lies in a cup-shaped valley in the Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas, at an altitude of, 2,650 m (8,694 ft), 56 km from Srinagar.
[26] The natural meadows of Gulmarg, which are covered with snow in winter, allow the growth of wild flowers such as daisies, forget-me-nots and buttercups during spring and summer.
[14][11] The meadows are interspersed by enclosed parks and small lakes, and surrounded by forests of green pine and fir.
[14] Due to its high elevation, Gulmarg has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb) where the wet winter season sees heavy snowfall, especially for its latitude.
[14][11][13] Winter sports like skiing, tobogganing, snowboarding and heli-skiing take place on the slopes of Mount Apharwat reachable by a Gondola lift.
[16] Built by the French company Pomagalski, the Gulmarg Gondola is 2nd highest in the world[citation needed] reaching 3,979 metres.
[32] The two-stage ropeway ferries about 600 people per hour between Gulmarg and a shoulder of nearby Apharwat Peak (4,200 metres (13,800 ft)).
The high inflow of tourists has had an effect on the fragile eco-system of Gulmarg and activists have demanded tighter regulation to save the environment of the area from over-tourism.
[33] An accident occurred on 15 June 2017 due to an enormous pine tree being uprooted by a gust of wind and breaking the perspex windows on one of the gondola cabins, causing it to swing violently and its seven occupants to fall 100 ft (30 m) to the ground.
Made of grey brick with a green roof and decorated wooden interior walls, it has been described as a "Victorian architectural wonder".
[47] In 1920 the church saw the wedding of the brother of Bruce Bairnsfather; Miss Eleanor Hardy Tipping married Capt.
T. D. Bairnsfather, with newspapers describing the church as "very prettily decorated" and with the service conducted by Rev Canon Buckwell in the presence of both organ and a full choir.
The purpose of this organization was to dispense daily avalanche risk bulletins to visitors entering the unmanaged backcountry surrounding the Gulmarg ski area.