- What – Weekend (2N3D) Trek from Bangalore, India
- When – Visited in 2008.
- Travel –
- 250 -270Km car ride from Bangalore.
- Highlights –
- Beautiful Irpu falls, Trek on a grassland, very green during monsoon
- Reasonably good hike. One should have gone on small hike otherwise it can be tiresome because of overnight travel and long walk
- Lowlights
- Overnight Travel and then starting for the trek in morning makes it tiresome
- Be careful of leeches during monsoon
- Suitable Time Period
- Winter is best time to visit. Monsoon is good too if you can cope up with leeches. Summers can be avoided as there is no tree cover.
- Arrangements – Bakpackers
- STAR Rating – 4/5 , Good if one like hikes.
Whats There ?
Trek to Brahmagiri is like walking towards dream world. It is one of the best place to see beautiful grass land.
Trek starts from Irpu Falls, walking around the grass & group of trees near the fall. The climb goes through leech ridden tropical forests to grassland and shola i.e;high in the hills where grass is dominant vegetation. After walking for 2-3 hours one can relax at the forest department guest house called “Narimale Camp”. It is only place where one can stay on hill top. From Narimale Camp one can visit Brahmagiri peak, and Manikal Caves. While going to Munical Caves one actually crosses Karnataka border and enter into Kerala.
Best Time To Visit ?
One can visit after monsoon from Oct-Jan, however best time is Dec-Jan when there is least leech trouble and enjoy chilly weather.
How To Reach?
We went with a trek group called Bakpackers, so for us there was no need to arrange any vehicle or catch bus & Its quite convenient too :).
If you are traveling on your own, following info is useful (Taken from this blog).
Brahmagiri wildlife sanctuary is a restricted area and one has to take permission from Range Forest Officer(RFO) at Srimangala village. Call the RFO a few days in advance and inform your trekking plans so that they can arrange a mandatory escort for you. Getting permits is easy and hassle free. To reach Srimangala, take a KSRTC bus to Gonikoppal from Bangalore, which is 6 hours journey. Change buses here and travel for another hour to Srimangala. Pay the necessary fees at Srimangala RFO office and get your permits. You can also shop here for groceries you will need for your stay at the top. Irpu falls, where the trek begins is another 30 minutes by bus. There are not many buses from Srimangala to Irpu and you may have to hire a jeep if you can’t get a bus.
Precautions to take:
- Travel with person/guide who knows the terrain well.
- Carry sleeping bag, medical kit etc. You are pretty much on your own on top so carry everything you feel is important 🙂
- Leeches: Leeches are the smartest creature on earth. It will crawl on you, start sucking your blood, and you even won’t know about it, because like a surgeon it too inject local anaesthesia 🙂
Our Itinerary
Day 1:
Departure from Bangalore by around 9:30 PM.
Day 2:
- Reach Irapu by 7:00 AM
- Freshen Up, Have Break fast
- Start the trek by 8.00 AM
- Trek to Narimalai Guest House by 1:00 pm.
- Have lunch and start the trek again to Pakshipathala / Munikal Caves.
- Return to Camp site by 6:00 PM and camp.
Day 3:
- Have Break fast and start the trek by 7:00AM to Bhramagiri Peak
- Trek to Iruppu Water Falls
- Play in Water Falls
- Start the journey back to Bangalore by around 10:00 PM
*Well everything got delayed by 2-3 hours for misc reasons, but this can be taken as a good reference.