[pariwar]

I need to make a quick trip to Pavagada on 2nd March, morning time for a function.

Google Maps suggests that I take the Tumkur road out of Bangalore and take the right turn at Dabaspete onto SH3 to pass Madhugiri & onwards to Pavagada. As per google maps the time taken would be slightly above 3 hours. Can somebody tell me the condition of SH3 and what to expect on this road?

The other alternate, thrown up by Google Maps is a longer route by 29 kms, which is to take the Hyderabad Highway and take the left turn at Penukonda. The additional time taken shows as 12 minutes only.

I am presuming that we will leave Pavagada at about 1300 hrs, which means will have to stop for lunch ASAP. Any ideas where (simple highway restaurant like Kamat / A2B)?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pariwar

Google Maps suggests that I take the Tumkur road out of Bangalore and take the right turn at Dabaspete onto SH3 to pass Madhugiri & onwards to Pavagada. As per google maps the time taken would be slightly above 3 hours. Can somebody tell me the condition of SH3 and what to expect on this road?

The road is pretty decent. In fact its the same road one takes to Devarayanadurga, Channarayanadurga, and Madhugiri fort. The road till Madhugiri is quite good. Its at Madhugiri where where you cut through Tumkur-Hindupur road.

The other alternate, thrown up by Google Maps is a longer route by 29 kms, which is to take the Hyderabad Highway and take the left turn at Penukonda. The additional time taken shows as 12 minutes only.

You can also try that. But not much of a gain. As you will wade through Bangalore traffic till airport. And you have no facilities on the NH7 save a Kamat at Chikkaballapur. Add to it the charm of driving on 2-lanes, my take is take the Madhugiri road. But please note, I dont know how is it past Madugiri. (The last 50km).

Or may be for try the NH7 in the morning and the Dobbaspet option while coming back.

I am presuming that we will leave Pavagada at about 1300 hrs, which means will have to stop for lunch ASAP. Any ideas where (simple highway restaurant like Kamat / A2B)?

ASAP I doubt. Nothing on the Penukonda side. You may find some darshin at Madhugiri. Dobbaspet has Kamat/CCD.

[pariwar]

Originally Posted by ampere

Add to it the charm of driving on 2-lanes, my take is take the Madhugiri road.

Aha! You said it aloud! The magic words! "2-lanes". I just love 2 lane driving....always choose NH-209 for Kerala trips, driving up to Coimbatore is a pleasure...SH 3 fixed for onward journey.

Originally Posted by ampere

Or may be for try the NH7 in the morning and the Dobbaspet option while coming back.

Will consider NH7 as return journey option then, based on road experience of SH3.

[condor]

Try Kengeri - NICE Road - Tumkur Road - Dobbspet - Pavagada, at least on return. Like Ampere said, you can try going thru city & then NH7 - Penukonda - Pavagada in the morning

[DRC]

The road is pretty decent. In fact its the same road one takes to Devarayanadurga, Channarayanadurga, and Madhugiri fort. The road till Madhugiri is quite good. Its at Madhugiri where where you cut through Tumkur-Hindupur road.

I travel to Madhugiri and road till there is good and scenic as well. BTW, do not take Hindupur road. There is direct road to Pavagada passing through some amazing grasslands.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by DRC

I travel to Madhugiri and road till there is good and scenic as well. BTW, do not take Hindupur road. There is direct road to Pavagada passing through some amazing grasslands.

Yes its an awesome road. Esp when taken during sun rise. Been to DD multiple times. And the views are majestic to say the least! Here is one from the top.





And beyond Madhugiri, it kind of slowly starts becoming dry. Maybe an early morning drive would be much more pleasant.

On a different note, these grasslands are also host to black bucks where the Maidanahalli Black Buck reserve is situated. We drove into this reserve in an I20 and we had to drive in a dirt road (into the reserve) for about 2-4 km. This was some years back, when I had no idea what bazooka lens meant. We saw folks with them sitting and waiting. And guess what we took out from our pockets? A humble Nokia cellphone with a 3 MP camera !

PS : On the Hindupur-Tumkur road, I just meant it as a reference.

[pariwar]

A review of the road conditions for the record.

Took the Dabaspete - Madhugiri route to reach Pavagada. The early sections of this road are undergoing a widening and hence, intermittently for the first few kms the black top is very smooth. This part also saw some diversions on to the other lane which meant I had to get on to the road shoulder when any other vehicle passes.

The majority of the stretch however is very poor & bumpy; with umpteen patches where there is no black top visible at all. Maximum speed achieved on this segment was 60kmph with regular down/up shifting of gears. This type of driving ensured a good amount of time wastage in reaching our destination. There is a small segment of the road which is in Andhra Pradesh wherein the road is very good.

The return leg was Pavagada - Penukonda - Hebbal - Kengeri. Now this was the best drive I have had in quite a few months. Pavagada - Penukonda segment is much better than the to segment. Penukonda to Hebbal - I really don't need to comment. Super luxury driving. The Devanahalli to Hebbal was done so smoothly that we were amazed at the duration. Seeing the landmarks from top (Yelhanka AF base, Jakkur Flying Club) is how we realised the speed. There were Interceptors - one on each side - luckily there were enough vehicles ahead which slowed down and therefore we too did to conform to the 80kmph restriction.

I would take the AH43/NH7 stretch any day.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pariwar

The majority of the stretch however is very poor & bumpy; with umpteen patches where there is no black top visible at all. Maximum speed achieved on this segment was 60kmph with regular down/up shifting of gears. This type of driving ensured a good amount of time wastage in reaching our destination. There is a small segment of the road which is in Andhra Pradesh wherein the road is very good.

Did not realise it was that bad. Most of my drives on this stretch has been for leisure. Hence we stopped at many places for snaps. So did not realise the speed we achieve on this stretch.