Trek to Ghangad (Lonavala)

Posted by Dhruwin Charla on Mar 7, 2011 in Treking Experiences | 0 comments

Finally we did it. Yeah ! Ghangad was planned by us twice but we failed both times. Read my Ulhas valley trek blog. This was the third time we planned for Ghangad and finally got it done. This was as a one day trek, it’s a short one and very cute one. Anyone can enjoy this trek like anything and so did we.

The day started with journey from Mumbai to Lonavala in Indryani express in the morning 5.50 am. We travelled in the reserved coach. We were standing near the door and enjoyed the beautiful scenes of valleys which can be seen after Karjat. At 8.25 we reached Lonavala station and we had to rush to S.T stand as the first bus for Bhamburde – base for the trek is at 8.30 am. If you miss this bus, you have to wait till 12.30 pm. We ran towards the S.T stand and luckily did not miss the bus this time. It’s a beautiful journey from Lonavala to Bhamburde. It goes from Sahara – Ambey valley road and just before the Ambey valley it takes right turn. The road now becomes more thinner and the area is now more dense. It goes from mountains and small villages. Bhamburde is the last stop of the bus and we need to get down there for doing Ghangad.

At 10 am we reached Bhamburde. You can now see Ghangad (left) and Teilbaila (right). For Ghangad we have to go to Ekole village which is about a one kilo meter walk from Bhamburde through fields. After getting down at Bhamburde, you can see the temple of Ekole village. Just keep the aim of this temple and head towards the village through fields. There is a tar road too, but that goes circling from fields and its very long cut. As soon you reach Ekole you will see a tar road, walk on the road until you reach some huts. This tar road walk is about 15 minutes. Just before the huts 50-70 feet, you will be able to see a path from grass on left side. This is a very prominent path marked with arrows. This way will take you to the Garjai mandir. The temple of Garjai can be seen white colored from village on the Ghangad mountain.

Around 20-30 mins hiking takes us to the Garjai mandir. We took some rest here and had fruits. There is way from left side which goes straight upwards. We started climbing up from the left side of temple and reached the point where the ladder has been installed. There are some caves before the ladder. If you see on left side, you can see a huge rock which is a must see site on the fort. This huge rock is inclined on the wall of Ghangad and created a very nice shade beneath it. There are some idols too under the shade. Ahead of this huge rock, a little tricky route of two minutes from the edge you can get to a water tank. It’s a small water tank under the walls of the mountain. Water here was about to finish. So don’t be dependent on this tank if you are going after mid feb.

Then we climbed up the ladder and came across some more water tanks and caves. The water in this tank is badly polluted and is not drinkable. Going up from here, the climb becomes little more steep. After around 5-7 minutes, we came across the door of Ghangad. We now entered the fort and explored the top.

There is nothing much to explore. We just went on all the sides and had some photo session. You can see Sudhagad, Sarasgad, Teilbaila, Korigad and many more. There are some ruined walls of the fort at top.

Then we started the descend. It was a very quick descend. We needed to reach Bhamburde by 2 pm because the last bus from Bhamburde to Lonavala is at 2. If you miss this bus, you mostly have to spend the night there only. We had a short lunch break near Garjai mandir and quickly got down and reached before the bus arrived. Soon the bus came and we reached Lonavala by 3.30 pm. Had a decent food at Lonavala and then went to station.

We got into Decan express and reached Mumbai by 8 pm. This trek was really a unique one and we enjoyed it very much. Lot of photo sessions and very smooth trek. After doing this trek in January, we again did it in February  as a surprise birthday trek for a team member of TryTheThrill.

The ladder is just installed one year ago, before that the trek was difficult as the rock patch of 15 feet had to be climbed. The patch is not that tough but not for starters. Anyway, now Ghangad is easy trek and thrilling at times. It’s a short trek, takes maximum one hour from base for ascend. But be sure about the bus timings.

Click here to see pictures of Ghangad trek.