[DragonHawk]

Just back from my weekend ride to Coonoor and here is my update on latest road condition on the entire stretch from Bangalore-Mysore-Ooty-Coonoor-Dhimbam ghat-CH Nagar-Bangalore.

-Mysore -Kadakola-Nanjanagudu: Broken stretch with WIP section. I was riding in my bike and was bit tricky to manage this section but overall nothing to worry about and it is easily doable albeit depending what time one intends to travel this stretch.

-Nanjanagudu-Gundlupet: Just one word "Awesome", didn`t get to see any WIP section and pardon me if you do find because I was totaling enjoying my ride and might have missed to notice small section. All in all I took around 4hr to reach Gundlupet from Bangalore with 20mins break. I would highly recommend this route than Kankapura route.

-Gundlupet-Ooty-Coonoor: I took Masinagudi route and its single road, luckily traffic was not that high, only thing you need to watch out for is the speed bumps. I did a blunder by not filling up petrol in Gundlupet as I was expecting to reach Ooty without any fill up but once I reached Bandipur, low fuel light started glowing up. Post that I can still manage to ride for about 50kms but being riding through the forest I didn`t wanted to take any risks and had to return to Gundlupet to tank up. .

For my return journey I took the route via Dhimbam ghat. Traffic was not high till I crossed 16th hair pin. But post 15th, traffic was piled up till next 3 hair pins and being in bike was no exception too as I was stuck in the middle of the road for about 10mins. Overall it took around 30mins to cross the stretch and I wouldn`t recommend taking this route if one is travelling at night and before you start climbing or driving down just pray not to get stuck in the middle of ghat. Overall return journey was smooth and surprisingly I didn`t witness high traffic in Kankapura-Bangalore route.

[prasad14]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

For my return journey I took the route via Dhimbam ghat. .

I'm planning to do exactly this route in my Bullet. Can you please give me details from Coonoor to Dimbham ghats please? Google map would be perfect.

Prasad

[DragonHawk]

Originally Posted by prasad14

I'm planning to do exactly this route in my Bullet. Can you please give me details from Coonoor to Dimbham ghats please? Google map would be perfect.

Prasad

I took Coonoor-Mettupalyam-Bhavanisagar-Bannari which connects to NH209. For your reference I have attached google map link Here

From Mettupalyam all the way till Dhimbam , road is good and nothing to complain about. But just a word of caution, stretch between Coonoor and Mettupalyam especially the ghat section is super slippery. Mine is having stock MRF Zapper tire which infact is pretty new and under wet conditions it was literally throwing me off balance. Initially I thought it was only me but my co rider who was riding Duke 200 which has MRF as its shoes, too complained of slippery roads. So I don`t know what tire you are using in your bike better watch out for this and be careful when you are riding this stretch.

[p06rakeshb]

Just to update on my recent Bangalore-Ooty-Bangalore Trip on the 11th-13th Dec 2015

Onward - Bangalore - Ooty

Went via Mysore-Bandipur-Masinagudi-Ooty
Road Conditions - Excellent except for a 54 km stretch right after Mysore where there is road widening in progress. Could manage only about 10-20 kmph in that stretch. Bandipur & Mudumalai has a narrow but good road. Humps are a little hard too see but there for a reason. We are travelling through a wildlife reserve after all. Masinagudi was steep but the road conditions were very good with convex mirrors at all hair pins to aid in driving. Good options for food and restrooms in this route.

Return Journey - Ooty-Gudalur-Mudumalia-Bandipur-Chamrajnagar-Kanakapura-Bangalore

Road from Ooty-Gudalur is nice and less steep as compared to via Masinagudi. I took this road since I have an automatic and wasn't sure if I could rely on engine braking while coming down the Masinagudi ghats. The roads from Gudalur - Mudumalai are pathetic at best. There is no road on many sections and you need to decide where the vehicle would scrape the least. Please avoid this if you can. Bandipur had decent roads to go through (basically same route as the onward journey for this stretch). Took the NH via Chamrajnagar. Again not a good option. The NH goes through multiple villages and village traffic severely constricts your average time. The road narrows through villages and is broken in many patches (where you need to take the SH). There aren't any good food options along the road (IMHO). Overall the return drive was not enjoyable.

Hope this helps.

[aamateen46]

Thanks Rakesh for the update.
How is the bang-mysore highway?
Would you suggest to take the return route ooty to bang same as the onward route?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by aamateen46

How is the bang-mysore highway?
Would you suggest to take the return route ooty to bang same as the onward route?

Bangalore-Mysore highway road condition wise is good but sees lot of traffic especially on weekends and holidays it will feel like driving in Bangalore's own bumper to bumper traffic.
Bangalore-Mysore highway is still an option if you start early, say 5am.
But, when going to Ooty, if you want to avoid the Mysore-Nanjanagud-Gundlupet stretch (seems like the 54km stretch reported in previous post is in this stretch), then you can take Bangalore-Kanakapura-Kollegal-Chamarajanagar-Gundlupet-Masinagudi-Ooty. Masinagudi-Ooty is the 36 hairpin bend route which is scenic and in good condition. This way you get good roads all the way to Ooty.

For the return, cops may not allow you to take the same route downhill and if you take Gudalur route it is in shambles for quite a long stretch, so taking the 4 lane via Avinashi back to Bangalore may be a good idea.
OR take the Ooty-Coonoor-Mettupalyam-Bhavanisagar-Bannari and Dhimbam and get back to Chamarajanagar. Then similar route as onward journey and return via Kanakapura. See @DragonHawk's post for map link.

Originally Posted by p06rakeshb

Went via Mysore-Bandipur-Masinagudi-Ooty
Road Conditions - Excellent except for a 54 km stretch right after Mysore where there is road widening in progress. Could manage only about 10-20 kmph in that stretch.

Please see earlier post by @DragonHawk - he says the bad section is only Mysore-Nanjanagud. Are you referring to the same when you say 54Km stretch ?

[deepv]

Originally Posted by NPV

when going to Ooty, if you want to avoid the Mysore-Nanjanagud-Gundlupet stretch (seems like the 54km stretch reported in previous post is in this stretch),

If I am driving down from Mysore towards Kotagiri, I guess I don't have much of an option to avoid this.

For the return, cops may not allow you to take the same route downhill

Oh .. is it one way? or due the steepness?

To get back to Mysore then, I will have option to go through Sultan Bathery - Gundlupet.

[kala]

Originally Posted by deepv

If I am driving down from Mysore towards Kotagiri, I guess I don't have much of an option to avoid this.

You could go via T.Narsipur-Chamarajnagar-Dimbham ghats-Bannari-Mettupalayam and avoid the Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlupet section. But I'm not sure if there is any road work on the Mysore-T.Narsipur-Muguru section of NH212 on that route (There was some work between T.Narsipur and Muguru about 4-5 months back, not sure of it is completed)

Oh .. is it one way? or due the steepness?

To get back to Mysore then, I will have option to go through Sultan Bathery - Gundlupet.

Yes - probably because it is steep and narrow, they block the downward road towards Masinagudi during weekends when the traffic is high.

Going via Sulthan Bathery-Gundlupet would be too round about. I would suggest Kotagiri-Mettupayalam-Bhavanisagar-Bannari-Dhimbum-Chamarajnagar-Mysore. (For that last section, you can go either via Nanjangud or via T.Narsipur - Can't give you a specific recommendation on which one is better since I haven't been on that routes for quite a while now). Till Chamarajnagar the roads are quite decent.

[deepv]

Originally Posted by kala

You could go via T.Narsipur-Chamarajnagar-Dimbham ghats-Bannari-Mettupalayam and avoid the Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlupet section..

But going by last few updates, Dhimbham seems notorious for its jams.

[kala]

Originally Posted by deepv

But going by last few updates, Dhimbham seems notorious for its jams.

Yes, I've seen several of these reports - but may be I have been lucky, I've never got stuck there (except may be a 2-3 minutes wait to allow an ascending big truck to complete a turn) even though I have been taking that route very often - typically 5-6 times a year.

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

Bangalore - Mysore Road now features tons and TONS of shallow craters caused by one layer of tar peeling off after the recent rainy spell.

The traffic was terrible but I still would bear with it because of good roads. Now even that is gone. NH209 between Bangalore and Malavalli has lots of new craters.

Horrible times for us folks who regularly do the Bangalore- Mysore commute

Hmmm, driving to Kabini tomorrow morning. Planning a start at 5:30AM from Whitefeld. So, any updates on which road is in better shape, now that some more rain and days have passed since this post ?
Usually, I always take Kanakpura road, but this time i have to go through Mysore on the way to Kabini.

[SunnyBoi]

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

Hmmm, driving to Kabini tomorrow morning. Planning a start at 5:30AM from Whitefeld. So, any updates on which road is in better shape, now that some more rain and days have passed since this post ?
Usually, I always take Kanakpura road, but this time i have to go through Mysore on the way to Kabini.

Stick to NH275. Once you near Mysore, take the right at the ring road and continue towards Mananthvady Road. Traversing through the city will save you 6KMs but will take lot more time.

As long as you're not doing triple digit speeds, the shallow craters shouldn't cause any real problems, just minor irritations.

Couple of new humps have come up before Channapatna, so keep an eye out.

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

Stick to NH275. Once you near Mysore, take the right at the ring road and continue towards Mananthvady Road. Traversing through the city will save you 6KMs but will take lot more time.

As long as you're not doing triple digit speeds, the shallow craters shouldn't cause any real problems, just minor irritations.

Couple of new humps have come up before Channapatna, so keep an eye out.

Thanks. I'll take NH275/SH17 then. BTW, starting at 5:30AM, should I drive through the city onto NR road and NH275, or take the much longer detour through NICE road ?

[SunnyBoi]

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

Thanks. I'll take NH275/SH17 then. BTW, starting at 5:30AM, should I drive through the city onto NR road and NH275, or take the much longer detour through NICE road ?

I'd say drive through the city. Traffic should be minimal at early mornings.

[sbalagru6]

Planning for a stay @ Sholur coming weekend. Have finalized the route till Theppakadu..

Bangalore>Kanakpura>Malavalli>Kollegal>Chamarajana gara>Gundlupet>Theppakadu

From here I have 2 routes to reach Sholur,

1. Theppakadu>Masinagudi>36 hairpin bends>Thalakunda Junction>Right Turn To Ooty-Gudalur Road>Pykara>Right Turn To Sholur

2. Theppakadu>Gudalur>Left Turn To Gudalur-Ooty Road>Pykara>Left Turn To Sholur

Please suggest the best route and advise on road condition.