Makalidurga Night Trek

Reaching a towering height of 4,430ft, the Makalidurga Hill with its lush vegetations, challenging routes and fascinating views, serves as a wonderful trekking destination. While the vicinity witnesses a large flow of adventure enthusiasts during the day, it also experiences a same amount of trekking enthusiasts during the night time.

Location :

State : Karnataka

Location : 60Km from Bangalore City

Nearest town : Doddaballapur town

How to reach :

1. Bangalore-Yelahanka-Doddaballapur-Makalidurga Railway station

2. Makalidurga is well connected through roads from Bangalore towards Doddaballapur via Yelahanka.

Things to carry along :

1. Water and Snacks

2. Comfortable Trekking clothes :Tracks,Raincoats,Tshirts

3. Torch light in case of Night trek.

Personal Experience :

Start following the railway tracks that leads towards the peak of Makalidurga. Hiking around 3km, you will finally reach the base of the Makalidurga Hill.  Hereafter, continue trekking through the tracks and after reaching a railway crossing with a signboard '54/400', take steep left.

After taking left you will be reaching a temple ,take rest for some while .And then the route will lead you to the base of the hill. There are several ways to the top of the hill but one way will lead you directly lead you to the top of the hill without much difficulties . But if you want the real trekking experience and exploring the routes ,there are other ways also indicating with arrow marks but having a GPS would be useful, so that you avoid getting lost .

Finally you will reach at this point and that is the entrance to the top  of the hill.

A shiva temple is present at the top of the hill .

We had a CampFire finally and the clouds were partially passing beneath us and it was a wonderful moment out there.

                                                                                                                                                 

 The night was very cool and the fog was clearly visible . We woke up at 6am and the climate was like in the above pic.If you are a photography enthusiast you will love this place.

Towards the west side of the hill , a lake which is similar in shape to the map of South American continent can be seen after reaching midway.

            Have a Good Trek. Enjoy Trekking......

Madhugiri Trek

At 3,930 ft (1,200 m) elevation, Madhugiri is a single hill. It is the second largest monolith in Asia.Nestled on its steep slopes is a fort. Antaralada Bagilu, Diddibagilu, and Mysuru Gate are the three gateways of the fort. A series of doorways leads to the hill. The ruined temple of Gopalakrishna is located at the top.

Location : 
State : Karnataka
Location : 107 Kms from Bangalore City.
Nearest Town : Tumkur (43 Kms).

How To Reach :

From Bengaluru there are two ways to reach Madhugiri:

• via Nelamangala, Dabaspete (in Dabaspete take a right turn), Urdigere, Koratagere to Madhugiri (102 km). For this route there is a KSRTC bus every 25 min from Bengaluru(Majestic).
• via Tumkur, Koratagere to Madhugiri (114 km).

From Tumkur, there are two ways to reach Madhugiri:

• on leaving Tumkur, there is a deviation that goes via Siddara Betta and Chennarayana Durga to Madhugiri,
• the other deviation goes directly to Madhugiri via Koratagere.

Things to carry along :
1) Water and snacks
2) Medical Kit
3) Hiking shoes

Personal Experience :
               Our journey started off from Bangalore. Madhugiri Trek was the first one we choose to start with and it was 25th September 2015. We started from majestic at 8 am in a Ksrtc bus headed towards Pavaguda . It took a 3 hours journey to reach Madhugiri town and by 11 am ,our first sight was the madhugiri hill.

              We started off towards the hill and its a 5 minute walk from the busstop. It was a sunny day and the sky was clear. There were no clouds above and we felt like having a terrible day.

At the first sight it looked like a small hill and the steps made us feel that it wasn't a trek, but at the end we realized that its more than a trek.

The entrance gives the start to the top of the hill.

At the start the stones are carved into steps and its a easy walk through it .

Thereafter as you progress up ,you will find railings at one side that will make your walk easy for a while.

By the time you reach this spot, it will be a good view to see but thats only a 1/4th of the hill you have reached.

Its a mesmerizing view of the town from the spot but its still half way up.

This is the most dangerous part of the trek . Its a narrow steep and the railings are not present for quite about 15 to 20 steps. You have to be atmost careful taking step by step , if you  miss your foot seriously you will be half way down falling from the stone and injuring very badly.
          Unfortunately, there is nothing to take support of like trees or else, since its a single stone you will have to be careful enough.
           Have shoes that have good grip and that will help you to climb easy without any difficulty.
By the time you cross this spot you are only half way up. here after you have to walk on your own. there are no railings and no steps carved further. its only the stone and your strength that takes you up.

Everytime you see up , you feel like its the top but as you progress you find more of the hill visible to you.

The only thing that helps thereafter is the arrow marks that leads your way up.

There you are at the top finally,the Madhugiri Fort. 

The Sceneric View from the top is really good point of view for photographers.

Have a Good Trek . Enjoy Trekking.......