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Anyone been through this route lately? I am planning on a road trip from Bangalore to Wayanad this weekend. 2 cars and family. It will be night driving so please advise best route and any challenges (check post or jungle closed etc.). Thanks,

You can find latest update on this route at Bangalore - Calicut route thread and 'Misery of driving between Bangalore and Mysore' thread.

Road conditions are good, however do note that food options are limited and the entire route is 2 laned road.

Also, hope you are aware that Bandipur - Wayanad wildlife sanctuary check posts close from 9.00 PM till 6.AM, hence a complete night drive is not feasible.

If you meant an early morning start from Bangalore, you can opt for Bangalore- Mysore route itself since traffic will be less.

Night driving on this route is ruled out as the forest gates are closed from 9 PM to 6 AM.

If it is a night drive (past 9 PM at Gundlupet), the only route that would be open to traffic is Bangalore-Mysore-Hunsur-Gonikoppa-Kutta-Kattikkulam-Mananthavady-Kalpetta. Road conditions are OK (except for some patchy road reported between Kattikkulam and Mananthavady), but do drive slow as there's every possibility of encountering wildlife on the road during night time in the Tholpetty WLS between Kutta and Kattikkulam.

Thank You. What highways (NH, SH) should i be looking for on this route? I am driving for the first time so want to make sure that i stick to the proper route and don't get lost.

Any update on this route after your drive. Exploring this route from Bangalore to wayanad.

The road was in ok condition. Not sure about the condition now as its more than 6months since I travelled

From Mysore outer ring road, take the road towards Hunsur/Madikeri (SH88 - Redesignated as NH275 now). About 3 kms after the end of Hunsur bypass, you'll see a road forking off to the left with markings for Virajpet (The straight road goes to Madikeri). You need to take this road (SH90) to go to Gonikoppal which is about 40 kms from Hunsur. At Gonikoppal turn left onto SH89 to go to Kutta. Continue further on the same road via Tholpetti till you hit a T junction at Kattikkulam. You need to take a right turn towards Mananthavady from that junction to go to most places in Wayanad.

You haven't mentioned your eventual destination in Wayanad (Wayanad is a district - not a town). If going towards Kalpetta or Sulthan Bathery side, you can take the Mananthavady bypass (left turn) which comes up about 2 kms before you reach the town. Can give further directions only on knowing where your exact destination is.

I will also be travelling to same place next weekend.
Yeah. This route I understood. Google shows another route option also.
Mysore(Ring road) - Salundi - Hampapura - Kattikkulam - Kalpetta.
What do you think of this route?

I am travelling to kalpetta and I am looking for scenic and good route. I am planning to leave very early morning from Bangalore to reach forest areas by 7 AM. Please advise.
Thanks in advance.

The route via Gonikoppal is the only one that is open during the night, that was the reason why I had suggested it to the OP - Not worth it when travelling by day since the distance is much higher through that route.

Since you're travelling to Kalpetta and it is not a night drive, the best route (shortest and best in terms of road surface) would be NH212 from Gundlupet to Sulthan Bathery. (Don't worry if Google Maps doesn't show you this route as an option - it's some goof up with their data - the route is very much open).

To reach Gundlupet you can either go via Bangalore-Mysore-Nanjangud or via Kanakapura-Kollegal-Chamarajnagar. The former has higher traffic density and some road work between Mysore and Nanjangud - but better in terms of good restaurants, toilet facilities etc. The NH209 route via Kanakapura has very good road surface as well (2 lane all the way), but you will not find any decent restaurant till you reach Chamarajnagar or Gundlupet.

There are 2 other alternative routes to Kalpetta. The one you mentioned (via Mysore-Hampapura-Kattikkulam) has excellent road surface except for a narrow forest stretch of about 20 kms which has a lot of speed breakers with road surface not as good as the NH212 route. No places to break for food after you leave Mysore till you reach Kattikkulam.

The third route is Mysore-Hunsur-Nagarahole-Kutta-Mananthavady-Kalpetta. This has a much longer stretch (about 40 kms) through the forest - road condition in the forest is just about average, but offers much higher chances of wildlife sightings if that's a criterion you're looking at. Overall distance also would be higher if you take this route.

Any update on the road condition between Mysore and Sultan Bathery? Planning to drive down tomorrow morning. Thanks in advance!

Condition is very good apart from some work between Mysore and Nanjangud. Refer to this post and also the last couple of pages in this thread for more details

Hello

I am planning to visit Kalpetta this week from North Bangalore. Could someone suggest on the condition of the routes and best route to take

For Kalpetta, you can take the easiest and straight forward route via Gundlupet-Sulthan Bathery, road conditions are good, maybe the odd rough stretch now on account of damage due to rains.
Now, to get to Gundlupet you have 2 options:
1.Bangalore-Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlupet. Start by 5am to avoid traffic but this will mean it negates the availability of numerous options for food breaks on this route as most eateries open around 6:45 am or so. If you start early and take this route, consider stopping at Kamat Madhuvan near Mysore Palace at the beginning of the Nanjangud road. Also note there is road widening work on Mysore-Nanjangud section with diversions but manageable with an early start. At Gundlupet, turn right to go towards Muthanga and onwards to Sulthan Bathery (straight will go towards Bandipur/Mudumalai).

2.Bangalore-Kanakapura-Malavalli-Kollegal-Chamarajanagar-Terakanambi-Gundlupet. Start early by 5:30am, you can stop at Nijanguna Residency Chamarajanagar for breakfast.
Since this route reaches Gundlupet perpendicular to the Nanjangud-Gundlupet Road, at Gundlupet, turn left onto the Nanjangud-Gundlupet road, then immediate right to go towards Muthanga and onwards to Sulthan Bathery (straight will go towards Bandipur/Mudumalai).

Would suggest Route 2 , Except for the fact that it goes through towns this is largely an empty road with no humps where one can maintain decent speeds consistently. Chamrajanagar Gundlupet road is not so good but roads are very good apart from this stretch and you would reach Gundlupet in under 4 hours on sedate driving in this stretch while Mysore road may take an hour extra due to Mandya and the various humps in Maddur, Ramnagar, Channpatna etc. Also Nanjangud road work is going on so you will end up avoiding this if you take the Kanakpura route. The draw back with this route is BLR-Kanakpura has a lot of traffic at times(not that big a issue) and lack of restaurants in this route. There are a few in Kanakpura and after that its directly in Chamrajanagar.