Bangalore - Chickmagalur - Sringeri - Agumbe route explained...!!

[vinayak007]

Hey guys...!!

i recently did a Bangalore to Sringeri - Agumbe drive in a friend's swift recently would like to key in a few words for people who'd like to seek some info on the route.

I've driven to kudremukh - Hornadu and nearby places twice over last year in my Santro on this route. As much as the scenery was breathtaking, the roads were equally pathetic in stretches. We did a Bangalore - Kudremukh overnight haul without knowing much about the roads and had to pay a price for it. So most of my learnings come from there...!

The drive upto Chickmagalur is sweet and crisp, to say the least...NH48 is a breezee till Hassan, from there a bypass section leads u to Chickmagalur via Belur road. perfect roads till this point.

From chickmagalur, one needs to take the Mudigere road. Point to note: After driving for abt 10Kms from Chickmagalur, u would have to take a deviation towards Aldur. We did the mistake of proceeding to mudigere and from then on to Kudremukh...this stretch is really bad iced with a lotta potholes, please avoid it !!

What really surprised me was that the Aldur route is as good as a road can get !! The key is to go straight ahead towards Ballehonnur which should be abt 50Kms from chickmagalur.

Now, from Ballehonnur a road leads to Hornadu. I have no words to describe this route really...!! it's probably the best of western ghats that iv'e tackled so far...thought it's a single lane road, i didn't have to negotiate much traffic here. The forests just get thicker and one will experience vegetation ranging from teak forests to bamboo shoots...abt 20 Kms from this point u come to place called Balleholle and from this point the road leading upto Hornadu is simply mesmerizing !! the twists and turns get tortuous and coffee plantations in abundance, with a light drizzle to go by, u are left brooding if this is heaven on earth !!

Hornadu is a place that's beautifully perched in the beautiful Kudremukh valleys with a lot of greenery...from here Kalasa is abt 10 Kms which leads us to our next station Kudremukh...It comes as quite a bonus that the roads in kudremukh are well maintained...gets one wondering, why can't bangalore city roads ever be like this !! There's one govt maintained Bhagavati nature camp, where if u stop by, please make a point to have the mouth watering Chicken delicacies that the local cook Shetty prepares !

A little further away from Kudremukh u have a point called SK Border from where u could proceed towards Karkala or take a hike to Dharmasthala via Bhajagoli, where if u stop by should have the local fish !! another section of road (NH 13), equally good leads you to Sringeri....this is again an amazing stretch but slightly gets narrow at times and u need to be careful of approaching jeeps...

From Sringeri one could go upto Agumbe which is about 30Kms. No kidding here, but the roads are damn straight and neat that one could learn driving here In fact, i dont remember going below 5th Gear for a good 20Kms stretch ! In Agumbe do make it a point to get a glimpse of the sunset point, descending a bit will take you to Hebri enroute the Sitanadi nature camp.
From Hebri one could proceed to udupi via Manipal which is again quite a decent stretch...

Phew, that's quite a lotta writing...! Will detail on the Bellahonnur - Jaipura - Sringeri route a while later

Cheers,
Vinayak

[akroy]

Nice account of roads, Can you suggest a good place in those regions for a night stay to beat the dry weather of Bangalore?

Abhi

[s.prashanth]

Originally Posted by akroy

Nice account of roads, Can you suggest a good place in those regions for a night stay to beat the dry weather of Bangalore?

Abhi

can Stay at Chikmagalur , couple of good hotels, chikmagalur s kind of the central place to visit Sringeri and Hornadu

[deepakhon]

Try Eagle Eye resort. This one is en route to Sringeri from Chikamagalur. I stayed there once and I liked it.

IndiaReviews - India and Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) Specific Reviews

[akroy]

Thanks deepakhon and prashanth, Lets see if I can make out a weekend trip there sometime soon...

Abhi

[vinayak007]

Hey Abhi,

if u'r not so much into Resorts and fancy places, i would suggest u make plans to stay in the Forest Dept's Nature camps. These are camps which which offer comfortable tents, rooms or dormitories for acco. u would need to call up the Range Officer of Karkala division to book your tents...
It's kinda rustic and i'm sure one would love such experiences..There's one in Kudremukha called Bhagavati Nature Camp. There's a nice little lake there to loiter by and they do arrage for Jeep drives to the peak where if u'r lucky enough u could spot a sambar or Wild Bison and things like that...

If u decide to go for River Rafting during the season, u might want to go all the way to Sitanadi nature camp in Hebri...Private tour operators (Jungle Lodges) do provide an entire white water Rafting. They also do provide a Kayaking package which is carried out in the Varahi dam for about a thousand bucks.

Vinayak

[rpmx1000]

Hmmm..I'm planning to Drive to Sringeri , Udupi and Kollur this weekend from Bangalore.

Have you tried the route via Tumkur, Tiptur, Arsikere , Bhadravati (NH206)
and then divert on NH13 via Mandagadde and Koppa (This route seems to suggest about 347 km of driving.

Sringeri to Udupi is via Karkala , so that should not be an issue.
Do let me know if you have tried that?

[MCR]

@rpmx1000,
The best route would be:
Bangalore - Magadi - Kunigal - Hassan - Belur - Chickmagalur - Aldur - Balehonnur - Sringeri.

This way you can avoid Traffic on the Peenya and Nelamngala Sector of NH4.
Also the roads are good upto Aldur and from Aldur its average with some good stretches till Sringeri.