Irshalgad Trek - One Day Trek

" Irshalgad - One Day Trek "
Simple yet most enduring 

Image from base village Irshalwadi

 Irshalgad located in the Karjat region, lies between Karjat as well as Panvel and is accessible from both places. Transport facility is available on regular frequency from both the location, it is also accessible from NH48.

Difficulty level        :      Easy to Moderate

Endurance level     :      Moderate 

Height of the  fort   :      3300 ft (around 1127 mtr)

Base Village            :      Irshalwadi. ( Karjat - Maharashtra, India)

Best time to visit    :      Monsoon (good time -  best environment some times risky)

                                        Winter     (best time - most preferred time to visit)

                                        Summer  (average - more dehydration will  take place)

Entry Fees              :       NO fees are applicable.

Irshalgad has always been associated as a Fort but in actual its a pinnacle & not a Fort but you would be fascinated as the word Irshal itself means "pinnacle" & gad means "fort" as this would be one of the reasons you would find very less presence in our history.

Irshalgad has been considered to be under the Great Maratha Ruler - Shivaji Maharaj during the his regime as he had captured the complete region of Kalyan to Bhiwandi up to Rairi(Raigad) in May 1666. Irshalgad fort is also called the sister fort to Prabalgad.

The area of Irshalgad is not large but there are several natural water tanks you will come across on your visit. The water in these are like fresh water reservoir.

One of thee water reservoirs on the route to Irshalgad

How to reach Irshalgad :-

Railway Station : Nearest station are both Karjat as well as Panvel.

En-route Mumbai : If you are coming from Mumbai(western) then Panvel would be more convenient & if from Mumbai(central) & Pune then Karjat would be more convenient.

En-route Pune : If you are coming from Pune then Karjat would be more easily accessible to you.

Once reaching Panvel/Karjat railway station you need to head towards ST Deport, where there are regular bus service, you need to get down at the "Chouk Phata" stop on the Highway.

From Chouk, you have to go walking to base village Irshalwadi.(its around 60-90 min walk down)

Note : There is also Chouk Railway station but the frequency of the train are very limited.(only passenger trains running between Mumbai Pune halt there)

Road ways : Nearest known location Chouk Phata.

You need to catch the NH48 highway its easily accessible from Pune as well as Mumbai, you have to take right turn from the Chouk Phata to reach the Irshalwadi. Being an well known Mumbai Pune highway road conditions are too good & if you love driving then this journey is for you.

Trek Experience :

This trek was done in the month of March 2019, it was breezy out there with hot rays of sun falling on us. We a group of three friends started this journey in early morning with one of our friends catching the local train at around 5:19 am from Borivali Station. We took the route via Panvel as we all were staying in the western region. We reached Panvel railway station at around 7:30 am, from there we walked to the ST Depot located in the Panvel East (walking distance of around 5-10 min).

We had our breakfast over there & took the bus to Karjat at around 8.15 am( bus to Karjat are scheduled every 30 min)

Time Table at Panvel ST Depot

We reached to Chouk Phata at around 8:55 am( it took around 40 min) from there we headed towards the Irshalwadi Village, over there we had to cross the Chouk Railway station with the help of the FOB as shown in below image.

Chouk railway station

From there we walked past the local village to reach the Irshalgad, while passing you will encounter the well known "Morbe Dam". The beauty of the dam is, its always filled with water all month a year.

                                  

You will encounter this at the entrance of Irshalgad, the roads till here are well maintained & also the people over here are very helpful in guiding the way to Irshalgad. On crossing this passage you will come across a zigzag road passing through a mountain in vertical direction.

While passing through you will see this beautiful Morbe dam on the right side of the way

                                            

Once you cross the zigzag path you will get the below view of the Irshalgad. In the below photos you can see the extreme left side mountain is Irshalgad. While passing through this passage we were having Irshalgad on left side & on right side was the Morbe Dam.

                                              

After crossing this part we had to walk more 40 min to reach the base village i.e Irshalwadi.
Here you would see a small village of around 30-40 houses & a school with lots of greenery across this place even in summer.
                                             

After crossing this part we had to walk more 30 min, here you will come across the first water reservoir having fresh & cold water. The view from here is just memorizing.

          

We had reached over here by 12:30 pm in afternoon, after this we had to go through the wooden stairs as shown in the image above. It was a bit difficult but worth going, also the path ahead was of complete vertical climbing with the help of pockets in the rocks safely we reached the top at around 12:45 pm, the breeze blowing was just making us feel fantastic, the view from there was just the real treasure for all of us. 

View of Morbe Dam from top

above. It a bit difficult but worth going, also the path ahead was of complete vertical climbing with the There is also a water reservoir on top & a cave has been made for staying up also.

Irony is you would get to see both the sunset & sunrise from Irshalgad.

                                                                      

As shown in the above image, on left side there is a big water reservoir from where you could see the sunset & on the right side there is cave from where you could see the sunrise.

                                                            

                                                                            Cave on the top

             

We started our descending journey at around 1:30 pm from the top & slowly and gradually we reached to the place where we had started our day. In between we also had lunch with few of the people who had come to trek & had sharing of our food as well as experience.

We reached Chouk Phata at around 3:45 pm & from there we took sharing cab to panvel railway station. Then we reached to panvel at around 4:30 pm, we had our evening breakfast & catched the train to Andheri at around 5:00 pm.

Again one more trek was completed & had left us with lots of memory which will be remembered for life time.

We reached Andheri at around 6:30 pm & from there everyone departed to the respective resident.

Note : Total Expense incurred for this trek was around Rs 200 per person( food you have to carry as there are very few stall over there serving food.

*For local food you can contact : Mr RAVINDRA PARDHI - 7798031319/7517051745*

References :-

If you are planning for trek at this beautiful place then following links may help you :

1) https://www.thrillophilia.com/tours/irshalgad-trek-panvel

2) https://adventures365.in/one-day-trek-to-irshalgad.html

3) http://www.traveltrikon.com/trip/irshalgad-night-trek

Lohagad Fort - Beginners Trek

                                 " A Trek for beginner "

If you are new to trekking & figuring the trek to start with then this is the one you should go with. Lohagad is amongst those beautiful place, where every time you go, you would be falling in love with it all over again such is the beauty of the place.

Difficulty level        :      Easy

Endurance level     :      Simple

Height of the  fort   :      3400 ft (around 1050 mtr)

Base Village            :      Lohgadwadi, is the base village. ( Pune - Maharashtra, India)

Best time to visit    :      Monsoon (best time - most preferred time to visit)

                                        Winter     (best - chill atmosphere)

                                        Summer  (average - as due to open environment more dehydration will  take place)

Entry Fees              :       NO fees are applicable.

                                       

                                       

Build in the 18th century, this fort was build for the military purpose during the era of 18th century.

Its located near the west of Pune in the Sahyadari ranges of maval in pune district. It is close to popular hill station Lonavala & Khandala, the fort stands tall at 3400ft above sea level.

Visapur fort is also situated near to it & is also known as twin fort of lohagad as it stands next to eachother. 

The base village also gets it name lohagadwadi from the lohagad fort.

How to reach Fort:-

Railways : Nearest railway station is Lonavala.

You need catch a train which can reach to Lonavala railway station & from there you can catch the local rickshaw/ tumtum to the base village lohagadwadi, it will take around 20-30 min. You can also check with the ST Bus as they are also plying but the frequency is very less.

Charges would be around Rs 50 per seat

Road ways : Nearest known location is Malavli.

You need to catch the NH48 highway its easily accessible from Pune as well as Mumbai also, you have to take turn from the Malavli village to reach the lohagad fort. Being an well known Mumbai Pune highway road conditions are too good & if you love driving then this journey is for you.

To note, road conditions from Malavli to lohagad fort are fairly upto average, it is around 6km distance journey from malavli to lohagad fort.

Trek Experience :

This trek was done in the  month of August, 2015, back then we were a circle of around 7 best friends & to explore the beauty with camera, a friend of us had brought 2 of his friends who turned out to be good at photography.

                                   

We started out journey from Dadar Station, we catched the early morning train Indrayani Express at around 5:50 am in the morning. It was heavily overcrowded train but due to friends, we enjoyed that journey of 2 - 2:30 hours in great fun.

We reached Lonavala station at around 8:20 am in morning, enjoying the cold breeze around us, we had started feeling pleasant by the environment around us.

From there outside the station, we had our morning breakfast of some tasty samosa, misal pav & tea. We took the rickshaw from there to reach the base village of lohagadwadi, it took as arounf 15-20min to reach & they had charged us around Rs 50 per seat.

The view which we got after getting down was just admiring greenery, waterfall, cloudy sky, cold wind blowing cross our body made our adnerline high. Slowly gradually admiring the nature & having fun we started our trek at around 9:30am, passing through numerous waterfall, bushes we enjoyed every moment of the journey. 

At around 10:30 we had our interval for having some home made tasty Paper Dosa ( credit goes to our friend's mummy for making it ready so early in morning).

                                    

There are also various small hotels serving delicious food near the base of the fort.

Restarting our journey ahead we had fun at our private waterfall we can say, also we can across some beautiful scenery worth admiring.

                                    

                                    

Passing through the scenery we reached the top of the fort at around 11:30, we would out there were small lake, well & a shiv ling on top of the fort.

The water was too cold, winding blowing across the body, raining continuously all this left our body shivering but again the moment was so high due to friends that none of us we feeling so.

                                   

The feeling of finally reaching the top, was marvelous & with such fun loving friends it was worth trekking.

We started our descending journey at around 1:30 pm, it took us around 2 hours to reach to the base village but it was also of great enjoyment.

We took the tumtum back to lonavala station & reached around 4pm over there.

We took the Deccan Express which is scheduled at around 4:30pm from lonavala, we reached to Dadar station at around 7:00pm.

It was time to depart to respective home worst part of the trek.

We were left with such beautiful memories in this trek which that made our friendship even deeper & it is due to this trek we are still best friends & continue to trek every now & then.

References : 

If you are planning for trek at this beautiful place then following links may help you

1) https://www.thrillophilia.com/tours/one-day-trek-to-lohagad-fort

2)https://www.tripadvisor.in/Attraction_Review-g1156430-d4088623-Reviews-Lohagad_Fort-Khandala_Lonavala_Pune_District_Maharashtra.html

3) http://www.365hops.com/lohagad-trek-eid283

Kalavantin Durg : Most Adventurous Trek 

If you are finding for a thrilling experience in trekking then "Kalavantin Durg"  trek is the one for you.

Difficulty level        :      Medium to hard level 

Endurance level     :      Medium

Height of the  fort   :      2300 ft ( around 700mtr)

Base Village            :      Thakurwadi Village ( near shedung phata)

Best time to visit    :       Monsoon(hard - due to steep and narrow steps its not advisable)

                                         Winter(best - chill atmosphere)

                                         Summer( average - as due to open environment more dehydration will take place)

Entry Fees              :       Rs 50 per person - Sanyukt Vanvyavstathapak Samiti ( for cleaning & guiding people at top of fort)

Kalvantin fort was basically built to keep an eye on the ancient ports of panvel & kalyan. There also caves on this fort which we uesd for storage of food in earlier days.According to ancient tribals, the fort was built for a queen named Kalavantin.

Steps leading up to the fort have been cut into the rock face of the hill. From the peak of this hillfort you can see Matheran hill, Chanderi, Peb, Ershal, and Karnala forts and also Mumbai city.

​On every Holi (Shimga) Festival, the Adivasi People of Machi-Prabal village observe the custom of dancing at the top of Kalavantin fort. These people have a long-standing relationship with this fort and it has become a part of their heritage.

How To Reach Fort:-

Railways : Nearest railway station is Panvel

You need catch a train which can reach to panvel railway station & from there you need to catch the ST bus which will take you to Thakurwadi, the base village to kalavantin fort.

Bus services are limited thus you need to reach Panvel railway station there early morning by around 6:45am to avail the bus facility which is scheduled at 7:00 am.Thus you can enjoy the maximum of the day. ( bus fare is around Rs 20 for one way trip)

Return ST Bus is scheduled around 3 pm in afternoon.

Also rickshaw services are there but they would be charging you around Rs 400-600 for one way trip

Road ways : nearest known location is Thakurwadi village

Thakurwadi village is located at distance of  hardly around 6km from Shedung phata, which is on NH48.

You need to catch the NH48 highway its easily accessible from Pune as well as Mumbai also, you have to take turn from the Shedung phata to enter the thakurwadi village. Road conditions are fairly good in this area.

Trek Experience : 

We, a group of 3 best friends had started our journey from Andheri station (Western Railways) at around 5am in the morning & reached to Panvel station at around 6:40am in morning. 

From there we took ST bus for thakurwadi which runs daily at 7:00am in  the morning, we reached the base village i.e. thakurwadi at around 7:30am there we had our morning breakfast(kanda poha, tea).

We started to ascend from there at around 8:20 am, slowly & gradually have sight seeing, enjoying the silence reach the first base camp prabhalgad plateau at around 9:40am.

Over there is the provision for night camping & also there are various tent providing people(charges for over night tent is around Rs 50-100 per person)

There is also provision for nasta & mineral water over there by local, at quite reasonable rates.

https://www.prabalgad.com/

From there onwards the real trek begins to kalvantin durg fort, going pass through thick forest, steep step carved out of stones we reached the 2nd base at around 10:40 am but till then all our energy was drain out.

The top of the fort is hardly a rock away but the only twist was, the rock was vertical (10feets high) & we had to climb the rock through ropes.

Initally it was fear inside us which was stopping to do rope climbing at such height & brezzy environment but over coming our fear we tries & did it succesfully.

We finally reached the top at around 11:10am & had the feeling of overcoming our fear.

The view offered from top is just mesmerizing & you may get to see complete 360 deg view of surrounding from there.

We started to descend at around 12:30pm, while the hot sun was over us. We had our lunch at a local resident hotel placed below 2nd base at around 1:30pm.

                                        

                             

While descending down we happen to find a cave over there, with all due courage we 3 entered the dark cave till the end & figured out it to be a food storage location in ancient times. It was also a trilling experience for us.

We reached to our start point at around 3pm & took ST bus is scheduled at around 3:30 to 4pm & reached panvel station at around 5pm.

From there we reached our home by around 7:30pm safely & with lots of memory.

Note : Local are available at regular interval providing lemon juice/ kokam juice & other snacks for our ease.

Harishchandra Fort : A heaven for trek lovers😍😍😍

Harishchandra  Fort : A heaven for trek lovers😍😍😍

Its the 7th Highest peak in Maharashtra around the scenic sahyadri ranges & is the perfect trekking destination in Sahyadris.

Difficulty Level      :  Medium 

Endurance Level   :  Medium

Height of Fort        :   4510 feet (around 1375 meters)

Base Entry            :   Pachnai       (easiest)

                                  Kireshwar    (moderate)

                                  Nalechi vat  (toughest)

Harishchandra Fort, is famous for its hright, its toughness & the famous "Konkan Kada". The Main attraction of the fort remains the Konkan Kada(konkan cliff). Its a vertical overhanging, providing a panoramic of the surrounding hills & an enchanting sunset.

The fort is very popular to trekkers and nature lovers as it is one of the best to trek at any given time of the year.

It is a quite ancient fort with origin dating back to 6th century.

The best part of this fort is that there are all caves located on top of the fort, so that one can easily stay back in them. These caves are believed to be carved out around the eleventh century.

Amongst the biggest attraction of the fort is the Kedareshwar Temple.

The cave of Kedareshwar hosts a big Shivlingam, which is surrounded by water.

The four pillars surrounding the lingam represents  the four yugas of life on earth. The general belief is that each pillar represents the four yugas of life,  they are:-

1) Satya Yuga

2) Treta Yuga

3) Dvapara Yuga

4) Kali Yuga

As you can see clearly in the pic above, 3 pillars representing 3 yugas have already been broke & it is standing on the single pillar support. The general belief of the people is that the day this pillar breaks the last yuga i.e. kali yuga will also get over & the world will come to and end.

Travel Routes :-

1) Pachnai - The Easiest Way

Mumbai/Pune : We need to catch the Kasara Train, once you reach Kasara there are various ST buses & private vehicle plying to Rajur Bus Depot. From there you will be getting the ST buses/ Private Vehicle to Pachnai.

Once you reach Pachnai, you trek begins, with beautiful mist of the nature. On way to uphill you will pass through number of waterfalls.

                           

         
                                     

                                     

2) Kireshwar : Medium Trek 

Mumbai/Pune : You have to reach Kalyan railway station from there you have to go to the Kalyan Bus depot which is hardly 10 min distance from Kalyan railway station(west). 

From there you have to catch a bus to Khubi Phata, from there you have to walk through a dist of around 3-5km to reach the base village of Kireshwar.

From there the real trek begins, you may find a few of small hotels to have your breakfast there.

Once you begin your trek from there you would be coming across the depth of natural beauty all around.

Roughly you it takes :-

Khubi Phata to Base village(kireshwar)         : 1 hr 30 min

Base village(kireshwar) to Tolar Khind          : 1hr 15min

Tolar Khind to 1st hut above the rocky patch : 30min

Hut to Temple                                                  : 1hr

Once you reach the top, it is really worth trekking so much as the view & atmosphere will make you realize itself.

There are around 13 caves on the top of the fort, so you can also stay overnight over there.

Local have made food arrangement on top of the fort @ reasonable charge of around 100 Rs per plate.

Overall, you will be getting the best experience in this trek, which will be saved in your memories forever.

At last, it was just because of all these people that this trek was made remarkable.