Having endured another round of Covid-19 related government restrictions for close to two months, we were itching to go for a trip out. And what could be more refreshing than a trek in a pristine trail in nature, right? The Bidarakatte Trek turned out to be just that 🙂 .

Come to think of it, our doing the Bidarakatte Trek was kind of impromptu. Our friends had reached out to us to inquire if we would be interested in joining them for a trek up Savandurga, one of the Asia’s largest monolith hills. Unfortunately we had registered for a weekend bicycling ride for that day and therefore had to decline. But that got us browsing online content on the Savandurga trek. During this Jonaki came upon a trek called the Bidarakatte Trek. It was one which was happening around the Savandurga hill. From what we saw, it was less known but beautiful and much shorter. We immediately agreed that it was one that we would add to our list of treks to do. During our meal on Sunday we were discussing how our children’s college sessions would begin soon and how there would be limited chances for us as a family to go out on trips. By the end of this discussion we had decided that we would go ahead and do the Bidarakatte Trek, that too the very next day (a Monday) 😀

The Bidarakatte Trek is one which requires reservations to be done through the Karnataka Forest Department. Jonaki dealt the formalities for booking. We chose the 6:30am slot for the trek.

The start point of the trek was around 65 kms from where we stayed. So we left home by around 5:15am so as to reach there by 6:30am. Being early morning, traffic was thin most of the route. Though we were on tight schedule aiming to reach the start by 6:30am, that did not stop us from making short stops to enjoy some beautiful sights brought on by dawn. Here is one of them:

As we neared the starting point, we got our first views of the magnificent Savandurga. Here is a poor picture of what we saw from our car:

We reached sharp at 6:30am. I parked the car in the space outside the entry gate. Here is the entry gate:

Once there I called the forest guard on the number given in the booking. From our conversation I understood that we were the only ones booked for the day 🙂 . We were told to wait for our guide to come. Our tummies were rumbling already. So while we waited, we ate the sandwiches that Jonaki had packed for us. We were all set. All we needed now was for our guide to come.

Once our guide Govindappa came, we set off. The first part of the trail was through the Kempagowda tree park. With all the recent rains it was lush green all around us. The morning air was fresh, a bit nippy, birds were chirping all around us. And we were the only ones; a perfect setting! We were already exchanging how glad we were that we had come for this trek; and this was just the start of the trek 😀 .

As some tree cover dropped, we saw the Savandurga peak peeking out 🙂 .

This was again followed by some more walk through the tree park and then another peek of the peak.

We veered off the path just before the lake. This time we went through a bamboo patch and then through a stream.

Once we exited this patch, we were walking on rock; actually the neighbouring hill (Doddarabylu?). Here is our first view of the towering monolith rock from the base on the neighbouring hill we were walking on:

We then ascended to the top of the hill. The climb up, though not lengthy, was quite steep. But given the views we were getting and the fresh morning air, it was exhilarating. Here are some views of the climb itself:

The views from the top were just astounding the say the least. You have to be there to experience it. The fact that we were doing in the rainy season enhanced the whole experience; there was lush greenery all around and the air was clear. Here are some pictures (that cannot do justice to what we experienced though) that we took as we climbed and from the top:

The clouds during the trek also added magic to the views. Their formation changed continuously, many a times covering parts of the peak. Magical don’t you think? 🙂

At the top of the hill we had climbed, there was a water body formed in the rock itself. With all the recent rains, it was full. Govindappa told us that sometimes leopards visited it.

It was difficult to not continue going back to looking at the magnificient views of Savandurga and the surroundings. But eventually we decided to moved ahead to another section of the trek. This time to get the view from the other side of the hill that we had climbed. For this we first went a passage in the fort wall.

This brought us to another open flat section which had a largish water body again.

We decided to spend some time here taking in all views along this “edge”. From this side we could see the fort wall running across. It had been overgrown with vegetation. You can see it in the middle of the picture below:

Here is are some of the other pictures that we took from there:

Eventually we continued on the trail to the other side. To reach there we had to walk through some overgrown bushes, climb up a short tricky boulder and then eventually walk to the edge. And boy, what views awaited us! We had not expected to see the views that we saw 😀 .

We spent a good amount of time here, quite a bit of it just sitting and staring out. Once we had our hearts full (not really 🙂 ), we headed back the way we had come. When doing so I got the opportunity to try out some interesting photos:

There was one more attraction to see; a temple. So that is where we decided to headed to. We could see it at a distance. Here is a view of it from afar:

The walk to the temple required us to go down some steep slope edge of the rock, then walk across a flat patch of grass, through some overgrown bushes and finally onto the path that finally led to the temple. Here are some pictures that I took on the way:

The temple is now an abandoned structure. But it was still beautiful given the settings that it was in 🙂 .

This was the end of the trail around the hills. Shortly after we reached the temple, it started to drizzle lightly. This came like a cue that it was time to start back 🙂 . And that is what we did. Once back at the tree park, we decided to explore the lake that we had diverged from when we started the trail in the morning.

After spending around 15 minutes at the lake, we finally headed back to the entry gate. So were we happy with what we had experienced? What do you think from the picture below?

A resounding YES!

Once in the car, we decided that it would be worthwhile to just drive on the road that would lead to the starting point of the Savandurga Trek. Here is a picture of the monolith that I managed to take just before reaching the starting point:

Another quick stop that I made on the way back was the viewpoint for the Manchanabale Reservoir. Here is a picture from there:

Video

Here is a short video that I put together to show some of the views we experienced during the trek.

Recommendations

Now having done the trek, there are a number of recommendations that I like to share for anyone else who may be considering doing this trek. So here goes:

  • First is DO the trek. You will not regret it 😀
  • Remember to book the trek. Here is the link that we had used to do our booking
  • I would recommend choosing the 6:30am slot. You would get pleasant weather in almost all seasons
  • I think doing the trek in the rainy season is the best. The rains would have made the surroundings lush green and the “lakes” would have filled up. But be advised that some sections of the rock can become slippery, especially if it has not had the chance to dry sufficiently
  • Speaking of slippery rock, please wear hiking shoes with a good grip. Even on a non-rainy day, some parts of the hike are over steep inclines. So please wear one. You do not want to fall on the hard rock here
  • Speaking on inclines, only some parts have a steep incline/descent. Most of the trek is easy
  • Weekends may have some more visitors coming in. But I am fairly certain that it will still not be crowded (unless this blog post makes it super famous 😀 )
  • Having a fully charged phone. You will be taking a lot of pictures. Trust me on this 🙂
  • Take some water to drink for the trek
  • Wear a good hat. You will be exposed to the elements for most part of the trek as you will be climbing a hill

Want to know about some other interesting treks that you should look at? Here are a few others; Handi Gundi Trek, Kudremukh Trek, Unforgettable Double Decker Living Root Bridge.

Interested in knowing about about ancient and beautiful temples that are not too far from Bangalore? Check out The Ancient Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple, Wonders of Lepakshi Temple and Chennakesava Temple, Somanathapura

Have you done any treks that you felt were memorable? Let me know through the comments to this post.

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