Ride to Savanadurga Hills (25Dec2009)

Savanadurga is believed to be among the largest monolith hills in the world at an height of 1226 from sea level. It is a place formed by the union of two hills, Bili gudda and Kari gudda. It is situated at a distance of around 60 km to the west of Bangalore. From Bangalore take the magadi road and keep continuing with the magadi road, just before entering Magadi there is deviation on the left which lead to Savanadurga hills.

The Savandurga hills are frequented by pilgrims who come to visit the Veerabhadreshwara Swamy and Narasimha Swamy temple sited at the foothills. The Arkavathi river passes nearby through the Thippagondanahalli reservoir and on towards Manchanabele dam. There are no major hotels nearby. If you are willing to quench your appetite with light items like biscuits, Juices you can get it at the foothill of Savana Durga Rock.

Route : Bangalore - Sunkadakatte - Magadi - Savanadurga Hills - Bangalore

We were 4 guys on 2 Bikes. Me and Janardhan on my Thunderbird. Satish and Kumar on Satish's RX 135.

As usual we don't plan on any trips or adventures. It was instant decision and my interest was going for a trek to Savanadurga Hills, All guys agreed and immedietely we decided to go on a Sunday 25Dec2009. I left early at around 6.30AM because I need to pick up Janardhan near Hosmat, in the meanwhile satish and Kumar were waiting near Prassana theatre in Magadi road. We continued with our ride and at around 7.00AM, we started feeling hungry. We stopped at Sunkadakatte for a breakfast and we were keen on trying thatte Idly, stopped by a small hotel and that was a bad decision because the food was horrible. Grabbed some biscuits, juices and continued with our ride. The road to Magadi was too good and you can cruise at a good speed. After magadi the road is not so good but rideable. We reached savanadurga at around 9.00AM and Visited both the temples.

View of Hills from Temple

The view of the hills from the temple is simply amazing and it just looks like a small hill which can be climbed easily, but once you start trekking you would know how big it is. Trekking on Savanadurga is not a easy task because one slip can take you nowhere. Its not that difficult though, but please ensure you don't try stunts while climbing and proper care is taken while climbing the hills. There are arrow marks which directs you to top of the hill and I would suggest you to follow the arrow. We started trekking at around 9.30AM and as we continued to climb further there is a fort from which the view is amazing.

Steep Ascent - Start of Trek

Climbing further you would come across a pond and some cactus plants. Its a good places to click some pictures of scenaries and mountain. Then we continued with our climb, the rock started descending because we have to climb the second hill. Here you will pass by caves which is a wonderful location and once you reach to the top, you will find a Nandi temple and Flag pole. We took around 2.5 hour to climb to the top and we were there by around 12.00Noon, took some rest enjoying the view from there.

Top of the Hill - Nandi Temple

Once we were back with our energy, we decided to come down and coming down the hill was pretty easy we took around 45 minutes to come down. Please ensure you come down carefully and slowly, because there is chances to get slipped. We started from Savanadurga at around 1.00PM and we were there at home by 3.30PM. It was wonderful trek no wonder Savanadurga Rocks.