[vrvarier]

We are driving down to Thirunelly temple starting from Bangalore on Sat morning. Can anyone please update the best route and raod conditions? Route with less potholes preferred, even though longer.

Thanks,
Venu.

[kala]

Originally Posted by vrvarier

We are driving down to Thirunelly temple starting from Bangalore on Sat morning. Can anyone please update the best route and raod conditions? Route with less potholes preferred, even though longer.

Thanks,
Venu.

Three alternatives - the shortest one would be via SH-33 (Mananthavadi road) from Mysore (via HD-Kote Handpost-Kabini-Bavali-Kattikkulam), but has about 10-12 kms of rough roads starting from the entrance of Nagarahole WLS (where the main road through the forest is closed and you will be forced to take a detour towards the left through several small villages) till you join back SH33 after about 12 kms. Rest of the road was in excellent condition when I travelled (which I must confess was before the monsoons). Not too much of traffic on this road, and chances of wildlife sightings are reasonably good.

The second alternative would be via Mysore-Hunsur-Nagarahole-Kutta-Tholpetty. Longer by about 8 or 10 kms, but the road between Hunsur and Kutta is not in the best of conditions and fit for only 40-50 kmph speeds. But since about 25-30 kms of this stretch passes through the Nagarahole WLS, this is a good route in case you're interested in seeing some wildlife on the way.

There is a third longer alternative via NH-212 (Gundlupet-Sulthan Batheri-Meenangadi-Panamaram-Mananthavadi-Kattikkulam). The roads on this route are probably a little bit better (but no way pothole-free especially after you cross into Kerala), but you'd be travelling about 60-70 kms extra (about 175 kms from Mysore to Thirunelli instead of the 110 or 120 kms via routes 1 & 2 above), I don't really think this would give too much of an advantage.

Note that traffic on routes (1) and (2) is closed between 6PM to 6AM and on the 3rd one between 9PM and 6AM. In case your drive is in the night, the only option would be via Mysore-Hunsur-Gonikoppa-Kutta, but you'd have very poor quality roads between Hunsur and Kutta and so I wouldn't really recommend it as fit for night-driving.

So my suggestion would be to travel by daytime and use the first route, even though it would mean having to drive at around 30-40kmph for the 12 km village detour I mentioned - can be done even in a low slung sedan as long as you drive slow.

Edit : Noticed just now that you were planning your trip on Saturday (yesterday ?) So the info is probably useless - sorry about that.

Also noticed another message that says that the road closure timings on NH212 has been changed to 6PM-6AM instead of the earlier 9PM-6AM, so that bit about the 9PM closure above is outdated

[vrvarier]

thanks, a lot kala & RajeshK for your replies, even though late. But I posted it late in the first place, very late on friday evening.

WHile going we took route 1 of kala above, and returned by route 2.

BLR-Mysore-HD Kote-RajivGandhiPark-left from there-rejoin park-Bavali-Kattikulam-Thirunelly. some 15 kms of very bad road. As in VERY BAD. Took an Hr and a half to cross this. The entire stretch other than is VERY GOOD. But this turned out to be better compared to the route -2 we took while coming back:

Thirunelly-Tholpetty-Kutta-Gonnikoppal-Hunsur-Srirangapatna-BLR

Some 100 kms from kutta to Hunsur are bad, so, 15 km of VERY-BAD is better than 100+km of BAD.

Worst part was the traffic jam we experienced in each town between mysore and bangalore, and that has nothing to do with road condition.

[sanjaykk]

Originally Posted by vrvarier

BLR-Mysore-HD Kote-RajivGandhiPark-left from there-rejoin park-Bavali-Kattikulam-Thirunelly. some 15 kms of very bad road. As in VERY BAD. Took an Hr and a half to cross this. The entire stretch other than is VERY GOOD. But this turned out to be better compared to the route -2 we took while coming back:

Thanks, vrvarier.
Very tempted to try route 1 because you say it is very good except the 15kms.
This 15km stretch around Bavali - how bad is 'VERY BAD'
Meaning, with small hatchbacks, is there a chance of getting stuck or underbody getting affected?

[vrvarier]

Originally Posted by sanjaykk

Very tempted to try route 1 because you say it is very good except the 15kms.
This 15km stretch around Bavali - how bad is 'VERY BAD'
Meaning, with small hatchbacks, is there a chance of getting stuck or underbody getting affected?

VERY BAD = Your car's underbody will definitely scrape. May be twice or thrice. I managed with a 2 slight scapes under the nose. (Manza). You are unlikely to get stuck anywhere. We had a swift for company and he also managed without any damage. You will take ~1.5 hrs to wade through this mess, in 1st & 2nd gear.

Before and after this stretch is a cheerful breeze. BTW, I dont think this is around Bavali. We'll reach Bavali after this stretch.

[kala]

Originally Posted by vrvarier

VERY BAD = Your car's underbody will definitely scrape. May be twice or thrice. I managed with a 2 slight scapes under the nose. (Manza). You are unlikely to get stuck anywhere. We had a swift for company and he also managed without any damage. You will take ~1.5 hrs to wade through this mess, in 1st & 2nd gear.

Before and after this stretch is a cheerful breeze. BTW, I dont think this is around Bavali. We'll reach Bavali after this stretch.

This is about 25-30 kms before Bavali, and this detour takes you close to Karapur (JLR), and some 2 kms after passing Karapur village you enter the Nagarahole sanctuary (Rajeev Gandhi WLS), and from then on about 2-3 kms of forest road till you join back SH-33 is untarred, this was the only really bad stretch when I travelled that way last (4-5 months ago), the rest of the village roads on the detour were bad, but pretty much managable at slow speeds. I think I used to normally take about 30-45 minutes to pass this detour. I guess the monsoon must have taken its toll..

P.S. The route you took (via Gonikoppal) is probably the worst of the lot. You would have been better off driving through Nagarahole. When coming from Thirunelli, you need to take an acute right turn just before you reach Kutta town (this road also takes you to Gonikoppal) and about 3-4 kms further down this road you get a right turn that takes you through Nagarahole to Hunsur.

[Latheesh]

Latest update:

5-Oct-11 4 PM - BLR-SRIRANGAPATNA-YELWALA-PERIYAPATNA-SIDDAPURA-VIRAJPET-IRITY-MATANUR-KANNUR - took 9 hours (incl 40 min break)

Periyapatna-Siddapura route is still better than Gonikoppa route - except couple of KM in the begining.

Siddapura-Virajpet - average

Irity-Mattanur - Very bad

10-Oct-2011 11.15 AM KANNUR - MATTANUR - IRITY - VIRAJPET - GONIKOPPA-YELWALA-SRIRANGAPATNA-BLR took 9 hours 15 min (incl 30-40 min break)

Gonikoppa stretch is in bad condition - Take this route if it is not raining
Yelwala-Srirangapatna - Saw some repair work going on

[luvurride]

Just saw in newspaper today that there had been sudden downpour around Virajpet resulting in fallen trees and huge waiting hours of jam. But is definitely going to worsen the road conditions even more.

When I traveled last in June, I felt that I was doing injustice to my Corolla by taking it through the Gonikoppa-Virajpet route, can't imagine now!

[RajeshK]

All,

I came back from Payyanur on 10th Oct'2011. I have taken the usual Gonikkoppal route. Here is the status update

Payyanur - Thalipparamaba - Iritty -> Road is still in excellent condition
Iritty - Makkutta -> Just average. Potholes filling work started as the monsoon stopped
Makkutta - Virajpet Town - Gonikkoppal-> Need to be carefull in the ghats, other than this roads are okey.
Gonikkoppal - Hunsur -> Potholes are filled up till the coorg border. Though road is rough, it is easy to drive. But after the forest check post till Madikeri road, the condition is pathetic. Still you can drive if there is no rain. If it is raining, you need to be extreamely careful. For me, it was raining like anything and I almost lost sight and fallen on a big pothole. I took exactly 1hr to reach Hunsur from Virajpet.

The Srirangapatna byepass is almost clean now after filling up almost all the potholes. May be the Dussera effect.

Thanks
Rajesh

[vista_qjd]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

Latheesh, you can surely take your car in this route. There are big potholes till you reach Coorg entrance, afterwards roads are better. So drive carefully in this section. If you compare this bad roads with the makkutta road of 2years back, this is like heaven.

Near to Gonikkoppal, many of the potholes are filled up, so you can cover this section easily. Please drive till Virajpet town and take deviation to Perumpadi.

Thanks
Rajesh

Planning to drive tomorrow, planning to take the usual route via gonikoppa and watch out for the craters in between. One question i had was - to get to perumpadi via virajpet town is double the distance. Would this save time? How bad is the bypass road at virajpet coming from Gonikopal?

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by vista_qjd

Planning to drive tomorrow, planning to take the usual route via gonikoppa and watch out for the craters in between.

.

All the best. Please be carefull till you reach the forest checkpost. After that roads are better.

Originally Posted by vista_qjd

One question i had was - to get to perumpadi via virajpet town is double the distance. Would this save time? How bad is the bypass road at virajpet coming from Gonikopal?

Its just 4km more and I belief it will save time and fuel if there is not much traffic in Virajpet town. The direct road is narrow and in total bad shape in one of the pin turn.

Thanks
Rajesh

[callmetarantula]

Drove to Kannur from Bangalore on 5th Oct. Took the BLR-MYSORE-KUSHALNAGAR-MADIKERI-VIRAJPET-IRRITY-MATTANUR-KANNUR route. Took me about 11 hours including 1.5 hour breaks and 5 hours night driving (better to avoid).

Am now planning on driving back tomorrow via Gonikoppal if the roads are ok, as there has been heavy rains here.

Had driven through Manantahvaddy yesterday and the KANNUR-MANANTHAVADY road has gotten badly damaged in the 4 days in which I had earlier passed through it due to rains.

[Latheesh]

I am planning to do BLR-KNR this week and decided to take Periyapatna-Siddapura route.

any update on Gonikoppa route?

[Importtuner]

Hi GuysI recently came back from Kannur,drove all the way in my zen n back,and i suggest stick to Bangalore- hunnsur-yelaval-kushalnagar-Medikeri-Virajpet-Irrity-Kannur and vice versa to return back route...the roads after virajpet as you enter Kerala are rough with numerous stretchs filled with crater like surfaces though manageable with some cautious driving nothing that a small car couldnt do.but definitely will require a crawl thru speeds in 1st or 2nd gear mostly..watch out for a Bridge one will have to cross nearing Irrity and its tricky as it narrow and is nasty with deep pot filled with muddy water.and for people travelling back to bangalore from kannur and people travelling to madikeri from bangalore ,Dont even think of taking Gonikoppal route..Worst is understatement here.cheersDrive Safe

Avoid Gonikkopal route its in mess..drive thru Khushalnagar...


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[ViMo]

Am planning to do Bangalore - Vadagara this week, mostly a night drive. Route not yet decided. Any suggestions?