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-   -   Bangalore - Kukke Subramanya : Route Queries (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/23723-bangalore-kukke-subramanya-route-queries-6.html)

Hi Guys,
I am off to Kukke on the 8th. I wanted to know the road conditions if any of you guys have travelled recently. Any info is much appreciated. Which is the best route to be taken? Thanks.

There was a lot of debate on another thread 'Art of Traveling between Bangalore - Mangalore/Udupi' (specifically see posts #2528 - #2533). The popular opinion seem to go via Shiradi, as other alternatives (Sampaje ghat, Bisle ghat and Charmadi ghat) are no better and atleast the roads are wider on Shiradi ghat. I'm going there on 11th and would be taking the Shiradi ghats.

So, your route would be Bangalore-Hassan-Sakleshpur-Gundya-Kukke.

Thanks,

Hi Guys,

Is Bangalore-Mysore-Madikeri-Kukke a viable route? I have been advised to take this route as Shiradi Ghat (NH 48) is said to be in bad condition.

I think Samurai after trying all the routes mentioned Shiradi is better than Bisle.
Also do you need to go all the way till Kukke? I thiought one need to go to Somwarpet and up north to access Bisle.

Yes. I need to go till Kukke. I will be starting at 3 PM. I am worried that untested Roads after Madikeri may be risky, and also I don't know how much time it may take in this route.

On the Shiradi route (that is NH 48) Bangalore-Kunigal-Bellur cross stretch is a pain due to on-going Road widening (I recently drove this stretch myself). I was also told that few KMs after Sakaleshpur, road conditions are worse for about 30 KMs with big pot-holes. I am driving a Xeta with elders in it. So trying to figure out which could be a better bet.

@kshastry, Sorry I made a typo. What I meant to ask was, do you need to go all the way till Madekeri to hit Kukke. To hit Bisle ghat you can divert much before that.

Thanks guys. I will be off to Kukke on the 8th in my fiesta (5 people + luggage). Hope the car under belly doesnt get scrapped too much. Will let you know how the road conditions are.

Via Shiradi ghat is better option unless you want pure forest drive via Bisle. Via Bisle roads are terrible but we enjoyed it. Via Shiradi ghat very bad roads but it is wide enough and offers decent scenary to forget pathetic national highway.

Ravi.

Just back via Shiradi. Should be no problem for your car. The roads surface has gone but there aren't any deep potholes. The curves are unbelievably wide so you can pick and choose the right path to pass. If you manage to reach Sakaleshpur by 8-9am, you'd avoid the bullet tanker (LPG tankers ... can't go faster than 10kmph) traffic as well. You should be able to reach Kukke in 5-6 hours from Bangalore with sane speeds.

OK. I did this over weekend. Some updates.

I took NH48 (Bangalore - Hassan - Sakaleshpur - Shiradi - Gundya) route. I started at 8 pm from Bangalore on my Xeta. Bad mistake of taking this route!. Actually NH48 is quite OK till Sakaleshpur. No sooner I drove past the town, there were moon craters all over giving a hint of what lay ahead for next 53 Kms.

Shiradi ghat is in VERY POOR condition (now, Oct 2010). It seemed a foolish decision as there were NO cars to be seen in either directions for quite some time. Only oncoming KSRTC buses, trucks, tankers and some LGVs. It seemed those drivers were staring at me puzzled what I was doing there. I had to negotiate hard to avoid water filled foot-deep pot holes. It took almost 2.30 hours to cover this stretch. Horrible.

My Xeta's one wheel suffered a bend and lost its wheel-cover inspite of slowish avg 25-30 km per hour speed that could be maintained in the ghats. Gundya-Kukke road (22 Kms) is in very good condition though.

On the return leg, I took Kukke - Gundya - Kokkada - (Dharmasthala)- Ujire - Charmadi - Kottigehara - Belur - Hassan Road which is in EXCELLENT condition. There are few bad stretches. However compared to NH48, its a pure bliss. I could maintain 60Kms per hour. I should have taken this route for my onward.

Avoid Shiradi, and take Charmadi instead if you care of your car.

Thanks for the update, one last question how is the traffic on this route during day time.

Any updates on the road conditions on the following routes:

1. Somwarpet - Kukke Subramanya (Bisile ghat)
2. Madikeri - Sullya - Kukke Subramanya

I will be travelling in my Esteem in first week of November.

If you are traveling from Somwarpet to Kukke, I'd suggest the Sulya route. If you really want to go via Bisle (which is very beautiful btw) you better take your gypsy.:D

The route from Somwarpet is Somwarpet-Kundalli-Handalli Kudige-Bisle-Kukke Subramanya. The road is good from Somwarpet to Handalli Kudige (around 30 kms?), but after that it is very very bad.

Samurai has traveled on this route recently and he has posted his views on another thread.

Completely agree with addyhemmige on both points. It is a mind-blowing route when it comes to visual pleasure but completely opposite when it comes to driving pleasure :D I have done this route twice, once on my Jeep and once on my Bullet - both in the thick of monsoon. I have just one word for it - AMAZING!!

I did Kukke last weekend. As mentioned, Shiradi is horrible. There is no road after Sakleshpur. The road has just eroded due to rains and in some places there are huge craters. If you want to test the build quality of your car take this route. Luckily my fiesta and I20 came out with no rattles. Thumbs up to Ford and Hyundai.