Rolling green hills, clouds kissing the mountains, forest trails, bamboo shrubs, and a dozen waterfalls, the Kudremukh Peak trek has it all; No wonder it is called the Himalayas of the south. The scenery keeps changing on the trek and will surely amaze anyone. Coming under the Chikmagalur District of Karnataka, the trek to Kudremukh is one of the most exciting treks in this region. It is the third highest peak after Mullayanagiri and Bababudangiri. Absorb the beauty of the Western Ghats as you walk up the trail. Very few people know the fact that the Western Ghats are considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the natural beauty and for being an icon of environmental balance. The lush greenery of the hills can never fail to mesmerize a soul.
You’ll cross several cascading waterfalls and narrow streams, thick forests with a variety of trees, and the whistling of birds will keep you entertained all throughout. And finally, when you’ll reach the peak, the picturesque view from the top and the chilled wind will absolutely blow you out of your mind and make you numb for a few minutes, before you regain your consciousness to feel the enchanting magic of the place. So if you are bored with the city lights in Bangalore, then forget everything and join us for this weekend trek to Kudremukh and find yourself amidst nature.
Read the FAQ or call us before booking 7760710005 or 9482070194
Day 1 – Saturday
Note:
Important:
After an early grab and quick freshening up, everyone now gears up for a bumpy jeep ride to the Kudremukh Trek Base. The ride is adventurous as one crosses coffee plantations, muddy roads with waterfalls and streams as well on the way.
The trek to Kudremukh starts of the Forest Department Office after collecting the permits. The Trek needs to start off as early as 6 AM with strict policies of return time and leave no litter.
Our trek leaders shall now brief you about the entire Kudremukh Trail and certain tips on ascending and descending. We then hit the trail with our Tempo being high and with Plan The Unplanned’s traditional cheer dance.
At the beginning itself, after a few minutes of walking there will be a stream crossing. In monsoons, the flow and depth of the streams would be quite heavy.
After the stream crossing, there is a slight ascent on a muddy path surrounded by ferns, several shrubs and lush green grass. This continues for around 1 to 1.5 km and then there comes an elevated plain and a stand-alone tree which is called Ontimara. (Lonely Tree)
On the left on Ontimara, the trail becomes flat for some time, on the right one can see the Kudremukh valley and Somavati river flowing below. The trail soon converts into a forest trail- dark shola forests with water streams. There are a lot of leeches at this point, be aware, but it’s difficult to actually avoid them. After another stream crossing, there are open meadows. It is an amazing feeling to trek through dense forests, with open meadows in between. The transition of scenery keeps the thrill till the end.
Kudremukh peak becomes visible after some point. The clouds will come closer and nearer as if to kiss and hug you. Amidst the open meadows, after further walking, there is a board by Forest Department Office stating the direction and distance (7 km) to Kudremukh peak.
After another dense patch of trees, is another stream of water, and the last water source before the peak. After stream crossing, there is a steep ascent. On the right, the view is mesmerizing, clouds passing over rolling lush green hills. Try taking few time lapse videos here. After further ascend you reach the second Ontimara.
Before reaching the Ontimara, be amazed by the Kudremukh range all around. From the Ontimara, the view on the right is enthralling- rolling vibrant green hills, full of energy passing all their energy on to you. After the Ontimara, the trail is a mix of narrow paths between dense forests, bamboo shrubs and steep ascents.
The whole of Kudremukh valley opens up after some point. The structure of the mountain and resemblance to horse can be understood and clearly seen from here. The left-most part of the mountain which resembles the face of a horse the front portion like the stomach and the top like the back of a horse. We will now climb the “horse’s back” part of the mountain and the climb is steep and zig-zag.
The zig-zag steep climb is difficult comparatively but the views encourage to keep going. In monsoon, it usually rains much, along with winds that one will feel as if the raindrops are slapping you. This part of the trail will surely give you the thrill of a monsoon trek.
After the end of the zig-zag point, pause for some time to look and appreciate how far you have come. The rolling hills, lush green and full of life, the open meadows, the grasslands everything on the trail is just perfect, why go to Scotland when you can experience this in India itself.
At the end of zig zag point, there is a rock cluster with a blue arrow mark showing the direction to the peak. One the left there are some ruins which used to be a British Rest house. The last part of the trek is not a steep climb because of the shape of the mountain. It is a level walk past green fields.
At the peak, there is Forest Department Board as well showing the details of Kudremukh peak and other peaks of Kudremukh national park.
Wait sometime there to see the hills and clouds play peek-a-boo. After some time start the descent, capturing and soaking in as much as possible. Leech bites, heavy rains, gusty winds nothing can stop you conquer the peak if you really want to. Come back rejuvenated with a thousand memories, a lot of epic captures and a bunch of new friends.
Elniru means Sweet coconut, it is said that water is as sweet or tastes similar to coconut water. The ride to Elniru is through muddy roads and one can drive till the motorable area. Then one has to descend down a little to reach the waterfall. On the way, there comes another beautiful waterfall, which looks like wallpaper. Don’t be overwhelmed by that waterfall itself as that isn’t our destination.
After further descend and a then little hike, one can hear the sound of falls in full flow and birds chirping. In some time, the Elniru falls become visible. It is a huge waterfall full of energy, feeling the water on your face is bliss. Taste the water, it actually tastes sweet 🙂
After a rejuvenating break at Elniru falls, move towards our Homestay- Bella Homestays. Bella Homestays is a beautiful cosy home away from home. It is a traditional style cottage with amazing views, surrounded by trees. The upper deck or aangan is a beautiful place for chai and the food tastes even better in such a setting.
You are given a warm welcome by the two friendly brothers Siddharth and Chandan who shall be at your hospitality and never let you down.
The interesting thing about traveling alone is that you get to meet new people from diverse backgrounds, and towards the end you are no longer strangers. Hence solo travelers are always welcome to join us on our trips. Read more about solo travelling here and get inspired! https://www.plantheunplanned.com/solo-yet-accompanied/
Safety and security is our priority at all times. Hence it is absolutely safe for women/girls to join us on our treks and travels. Our trek leaders accompany the team at all times, and our campsites are secured and safe for accomodation. We also have female trek leaders who accompany on most of our treks.
Yes, we do have options for picking a traveler on board with a few locations provided they are on the route to our destination. Following are the same:
Croma Store, Sony World Signal
Trinity Circle Metro Station
Yeshwanthpur Metro Station
Goraguntepalya Metro Station
Nayanadahalli Metro Station
Well, most of our treks are usually confirmed by Thursday and you would receive a BON VOYAGE mail that would contain details as regards Pickup Points ( Location and Timings ), Outdoor Leader ( Point of Contact ), Do’s and Don’ts. You’ll be added to Whatsapp Group for all the further updates.
There are two options for transportation:
PTU will arrange a vehicle. This will include the following –
Example – Shubham chose the ‘With Travel’ option. A seat would be reserved for him to travel to and from the base city, travel for activities, travel from and to homestay to trek base, or any other case.
PTU will not arrange any vehicle. If you choose this, you will have to arrange for your own vehicle for travelling for the entire duration of the itinerary. This means –PTU will not arrange any vehicle to or from the base city.
Example – Shubham chose the ‘Without Travel’ option. He will not be eligible to board a PTU arranged vehicle for any duration. Even if Shubham reaches the destination, say Gokarna, by bus or train, he will still be arranging auto/scooty for travelling within Gokarna.
Note: PTU will not be responsible for arranging vehicles in extreme scenarios, like private vehicle damage. We will only be accomodating people based on availability. No matter the distance, this would always be INR 1000 or more per person.
Note: Activities, stay, and food is the same for all customers in both cases.
Note: For All The Above Refund Cases Transaction Fees/Internet Handling Charges will be deducted from the overall amount and the balance amount shall be refunded. You can transfer your ticket to anyone so that you could save your hard-earned money
“Transfer to a future date is only possible only if you cancel between 3-6 days before the trek date and not on the day of departure or a day before”
For other trips and travels with us, and detailed terms and conditions check the following link: https://www.plantheunplanned.com/refund-cancellation-policy
Trk experience-Kudremukh
Thanks for being able to bring back trekking to Karnataka in these troubled times.My wife and me loved everything right from the journey to the beautiful Bella homestay of Chandan and the beautiful Kudremukh.Our Trek Leader Kavya Bhat was inspiring and was always motivating us.Thanks for so much memories and many friends we made.A big shout out to the entire PTU team got exellent arrangements.I will do lots more treks with PTU in a few weeks.
This was my first organized trek experience and I must say, hats off to PTU and our trek lead Shashi. The entire trip was very well coordinated. Even though Kudremukh is a challenging trek, the group made it fun and we were all successful at conquering the peak.
Great experience overall!
This was my first trek (Kudremukh Peak) with PTU and it was an awesome experience starting from transport facilities to food and stay , all the arrangements were done properly. The view was worth waching.
I went for kudremukh trek with plan the planned, this was my first experience with PTU and I really appreciate the complete execution of the trek starting with pick up point till the drop point. Food and homestay were pretty decent, good services offered by the Bella homesty, Jeep ride was something fun. Kavya has been a strong and motivating trek lead during the trek, though I had visited solo I din’t feel that I was out with strangers.. everyone were friendly and generous, we played games, took walks during our free time, got to learn lot of travel stories from different travellers.
I really like the fact of PTU keeping plan B if plan A fails.. though I was expecting elniru falls for the second day due some reasons we couldn’t make it there but the travel destinations were changed for Belur and halebidu which was not bad.
I would really love to recommend folks to have an experience with PTU atleast once..it’s really worth visiting with this group.
Had a wonderful experience(Kudremukh Trek) with PTU!! Trek leads Rahul and Jayadev were very cool and awesome!? Finally I found my wanderlust crew here?, all are very caring and helpful☺️! Learned many new games and little bit Hindi?. I’m sure it’s just a beginning and we’re gonna have a lot of amazing treks together?!