Karnala Fort Trek

Mumbai, the dream city for so many, is surrounded by many beautiful hills and naturally appealing places. So, one day we were exploring on Internet, all we can go locally to have some peace from the hustle-bustle of the city. We were surprised by the number of places that we could go to visit, but we were more focused on trekking and hiking activities, as that would also help us to remain physically active.

The target

Anyway, so based on the difficulty level of the various treks, we settled on Karnala Fort as the first trek that we would go on. So we did some research on the place. There are a couple of things that we like to know before going anywhere - timings and parking facility. Our research showed that Karnala Fort also has a bird sanctuary which made us even more eager to visit the place. The place also has a paid parking facility.

So, we did out research and decided to go to Karnala Fort on 26th Feb (Saturday). We left early morning around 6:45 am on our bike. It was a pleasant journey towards Panvel, even if we did get lost on the way courtesy of Google Maps. We had to travel 20 kms extra because of that but we reached by 9:30 am at our destination. By the time we reached we are both every hungry.

Entrance to Bird Sanctuary

We parked out bike(They have a Pay & Park facilty), purchased the tickets for the bird sanctuary, as that is the entrance to the Karnala Fort. We had to pay 100 extra for the camera we were carrying.
Just on the opposite side of road there was a small restaurant catering to the visitors, where we had some light breakfast. Once, the hunger was satisfied we started our trek towards the fort. Till some distance there is a tar road, which we covered and reached the area where different species of birds were kept in cages.

Inside the Jungle

We spotted few owls, peacock etc. It was sad to see those birds in cages. We moved forward and reached a small bridge which led to a large open space in front, where people could sit and relax. On the right there was a well made path. We did not explore that path but if out guess is right that would have been easy way to reach to the Karnala Fort. We, instead, decided to take the rout through the jungle area on the left.

This route is also well traversed and we could see the dirt trail (almost 2 m wide) ahead of us. We pretty much followed the trail only. For first trek, the route we took was challenging, but not too difficult. We kept stopping in between to spot birds. We saw few birds and tried to take pictures also.

Its extremely tranquil and peaceful in the jungle. We could have just sat there for hours. We came across couple of groups on the same route. By the end of the trail, the route becomes difficult and a little taxing too, but we made it easily and reached the point where the easy way and the jungle path merge together.

Base to the Karnala Fort

We sat at the spot for some time to get some rest, have some water. At this spot there is a sign board which will tell you the direction of the fort. From there it was mostly following the trail left by previous trekkers and follow it to the base of the fort.

Fort Gate - View from outside

Once at the base there is only one way up and same path is also used to get down. When we reached the base there was a large group coming down. So, we waited till they were down and they started going up. There are some stone steps to reach to the entrance gate, which is in somewhat ruins now.

Blocked rooms (small cave openings).
P.S. One cannot go above the cave rooms

Once at top we explored a little bit and went to the various fort ruins spread on the hill top. There are few places where it is very dangerous to walk; so be careful if you are afraid of heights.

We made a new friend there, a thirsty dog, whom we gave our water to quench its thirst. We spent some time at the top, did some photography of the awesome view in front of us, fed a monkey one banana which was not very wise of us. There are some cave like rooms at the top but they are all flooded with water and are closed to visitors. We rested for some time on the cold stones in the shade, took some pollution free air in out lungs and then descended the same way we came back.

View from top

The descent was tougher than the ascent because of the loose gravels on the trail, so one needs to be very careful while descending. It took us almost three-four hours to go up and get back down. We stopped in between a lot to enjoy the chirping of the birds and the natural scenery. Once back at the bridge, we explored a little bit more and then headed back to the parking. On our way out we stopped at the small restaurant that is just inside the bird sanctuary and had a nice meal there.

From there we took our bike and went back home. Overall, for a first trek it was very enjoyable and fun. Few pointers for anyone who is planning to take up this trek:

• Carry at least one liter water per person. We only had 1 liter between the two of us but we managed as the weather was not so hot.
• There is facility of eating at the entrance of the bird sanctuary so don't worry if you are not carrying something to eat. In case you get hungry very quickly, please carry something to eat
• Since this was out first trek we wore sports shoes, which I would not recommend to others. Since there is loose gravel on the trail, I would recommend to wear proper trekking shoes.
• We went in the dry season but we will go again in the rainy season. I can only imagine the beauty of the place in the rainy season, so please do visit in the rainy season also.
• Trekking pole not necessary for this trek

OK then, I will close this treklog here. If anyone has any questions regarding this trek please comment on the blog or contact us at the below mentioned email ID.

Hill-Skippers.

arunesh.genie@gmail.com