[wanderlustindia]

The best route would be:

Pune - Mulshi - Tamhini Ghat - Nizampur - Mangaon - Chiplun - Guhagar.

Distance: Approx 280 kms.

Road is in good condition for most of the route. Mulshi to Tamhini Ghat is a bit of pain. Roads to be laid yet. At best you can commute these 20 odd kms at 40 kph in 3rd gear.

Once you hit NH-17 from Mangaon, it is a treat to drive. Two ghats on the way upto Chiplun from Mangaon. Kashedi which is punctuated by hair-pins and serpentines. Good test for the car and driving skills on these treacherous ghats. Khed ghat near Chiplun is quite comfortable and much smaller in distance as compared to Kashedi.

All in all good fun. If anyone has plans for Guhagar in the near or distant future, pm me. Will be glad to help.

[spadival]

Can you give more info about Guhagar?

[wanderlustindia]

Guhagar is a small beach village on the Konkan belt located approx 280 kms from Pune. The closest town is Chiplun (about 50 kms).

Food: You can get speciality Malvani food. "Surmai fry" is a favorite in this area. Couple this with either "Kokam Sharbat" or "Soul kadii" (two popular cold drinks).

Accomodation: Is not pricey. You can get budget hotels for as low as 300 bucks for the night. Decent rooms with attached bathroom. There are small lodges as well and they can charge you 50-100 bucks for the night with shared bathroom.

Drinks: Can buy from a local bar. Budweiser, Kingfisher, Fosters available costing anywhere between 50-70 for a full bottle.

Locales: The beach is pretty decently maintained. Water is quite salty though. In the summers, it is pretty warm as one would expect. Carry a sun-screen, highly recommended.

Any other info, feel free to ask.

[FrankMartin]

I am planning to drive down to Guhagar from Pune on 19th Dec.

Route planned - Pune - Satara-Umbraj-Patan-Koynanagar-Chiplun-Guhagar

Has anyone travelled recently on the Umbraj-Patan-koynanagar-Chiplun stretch

I have done this stretch in April and it was a good drive. The Kumbharli ghat was fine, but the stretch from where the ghat ends before koynanagar till Patan was being repaired in some places. Overall road was fine, however the patches being repaired were laid with stone and tar to form the base. I encountered some 10-15 patches of about a km in a stretch of 50 kms. These patches were quite rough and used to appear suddenly and were difficult to detect in the night. Dont know if the repairs have been completed since.

Also the Guhagar to Chiplun road was a smooth ribbon then, but not sure what has happened in the monsoon.

Alternative route - Pune-Mulshi-Tamhini-Raigad-Mahad-Chiplun-Guhagar

Plan is to start very early in the morning around 5 am which will allow to cover Raigad fort by cable car.

Has anyone recently been on the Pachad road from SH97 till Pachad near Raigad base and the Raigad road from the base till Mahad on NH17

[mo1]

Just back from a Pune-Guhagar-Pune trip.
Took the Pune-Satara-Umbraj-Patan-Koynanager-Chiplun-Guhagar route.
95% of the road is in good condition. Some of the stretches in koyna-Kumbharli ghat-chiplun route are average but still ok.
I think, as of now, this is the best route to go to Guhagar from Pune.
I have been on all the other 3 routes(Mahad,Mahableshwar and Tamhini) in the last 6 months and via Umbraj/Patan/koyananagr/kumbharli seems best to me.

[FrankMartin]

Just back from a Pune-Guhagar trip
Onward journey - Pune - Satara - Umbraj - Patan - Chiplun - Guhagar
Started from Pune at 5:00 am with a 40 min halt at Balaji temple at Narayangaon
and another 20 min halt for refreshments on the Umbraj - Patan highway
Umbraj - Patan - Kumbharli section was a beautiful drive with sparse traffic and good roads.
Kumbharli ghat is in good condition and some sections are excellent.
Avoided going straight into chiplun town and took a right on NH17. On the Chiplun-Khed NH17 there is a turnoff at 5 kms from the Chiplun circle which joins the Guhagar Road. Also coming from Mumbai this is the best way to get on to the Guhagar instead of entering Chiplun town.

Return journey - Guhagar- Chiplun - Khed - Poladpur - Mahabaleshwar - Pune
On the return the kids wanted to stop at Mahabaleshwar Mapro garden for lunch and hence we took this route.
From Poladpur to Mahabaleshwar for the first 15 kms the road not good. Secondly there is 35 kms of pure ghat section with closely packed tight winding turns which is quite taxing for the passengers. Personally i will be avoiding this route especially climbing up to Mahabaleshwar for a long long time to come.
A direct comparison between Kumbharli and Poladpur ghats, Kumbharli is only 13 kms of ghat with fairly easy sections with just a couple of tight turns. After you start the descent you are down in Chiplun in a few minutes and the ordeal is over. Likewise when climbing up.

Throughout the entire trip the only section with bad roads was the Poladpur Mahabaleshwar section.

[mo1]

Originally Posted by FrankMartin

Avoided going straight into chiplun town and took a right on NH17. On the Chiplun-Khed NH17 there is a turnoff at 5 kms from the Chiplun circle which joins the Guhagar Road.

There is one more bypass for chiplun town while going from Pune to Guhagar.
Instead of taking right on NH17, take a left and go straight on the Mumbai-Goa highway for ~2 kms. Take a right turn (there is a signboard) and then second left. This takes you to Guhagar road. This one is a ~2 km of small ghat road but is the shortest root to go to Guhagar and the road condition is very good.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by mo1

Instead of taking right on NH17, take a left and go straight on the Mumbai-Goa highway for ~2 kms. Take a right turn (there is a signboard) and then second left. This takes you to Guhagar road. This one is a ~2 km of small ghat road but is the shortest root to go to Guhagar and the road condition is very good.

+1 just after you take the left there is a Hotel Abhishek on the right side of NH17. From personal experience, this is the only decent hotel I found in Chiplun after driving around for 30 mins.

the road from Chiplun to (almost) Guhagar is a drivers delight. In fact on that small ghat road, halfway up the hill there is a temple and some cave (s) which I wanted to explore. But no parking space and it was hot in the afternoon, so moved on.
Anybody knows if that place holds any architectural/ historical importance?

[sansvk]

I had been to Guhagar during the last monsoon. It was part of an official trip to Dhabol power plant along with my office mates. We took the Pune - Satara - Umbraj - Patan - Chiplun - Guhagar route for both the to and fro journeys. I never imagined that this part of Maharastra would be this scenic. Good roads, the ghat sections were in good conditions. The local roads around Chiplun were in bad state but the road from Chiplun to Guhagar was excellent.

[mo1]

Just back from a Pune-Guhagar-Pune trip.
Took the Pune-Satara-Umbraj-Patan-Koynanager-Chiplun-Guhagar route.
Pune-Umbraj(145 kms) - NH4 - Great condition.
Umbraj - Koynanagar(50kms) - couple of really bad patches of 2-3 kms.
Koynanagar - chiplun(45kms) - one bad patch in Kumbharli ghat and one near chiplun.
Chiplun-Guhagar(40kms) - great as always.
So, 90% of the road is in good condition.

[Dodge_Viper]

Bumping up an old thread instead of creating new. We are planning to do Guhagar Velneshwar trip from Pune.

Proposed route to be taken is:
Pune - Satara - Umbraj - Patan - Chiplun - Guhagar

It seems as per last updated in October 2012, road conditions is 90% good. Has anyone traveled recently along this stretch?


Regarding the shortcut mentioned by mo1, which right is to be taken? I suppose 2, since that seems to be bypassing the entire town.

[mo1]

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

Bumping up an old thread instead of creating new. We are planning to do Guhagar Velneshwar trip from Pune.

Proposed route to be taken is:
Pune - Satara - Umbraj - Patan - Chiplun - Guhagar

I went to Guhagar on 15-Feb-13 and road condition is more or less the same. So,it remains the best route to take for going there.
And yes, take the second right. There is a sign-board there as well.

[Dodge_Viper]

Originally Posted by mo1

I went to Guhagar on 15-Feb-13 and road condition is more or less the same. So,it remains the best route to take for going there.
And yes, take the second right. There is a sign-board there as well.

Thanks mo1. How much time it took to travel? Assuming you started from Pune.

[mo1]

I drive from Pune to Guhagar 3-4 times a year(could be more), since my native place is near Guhagar.
I have always found that the actual driving time(Per my car's MID) is around 5 hours 30 mins. Rarely, it has gone beyond 6 hrs. This is without considering any stoppages.
Pune-Satara-Umbraj - 2 hr 15 mins
Umbraj-Patan-Koynanager - 1 hr
(IMP: At Umbraj, don't miss the left exit which comes slightly before Umbraj flyover.Take right under the flyover. Even if you miss it, you can come back after the flyover, taking left on service road. Also, IMP: Take the koyna bypass road.It is immediately after the closed-down toll booth.Take a left there.)
Koyna-kumbharli-Chiplun - 1 hr 15 mins
Chiplun-Guhagar - 1 hr.
There is no descent hotel between Umbraj-Chiplun. So I always stop at Milestone which is before Satara.There are many good hotels in Chiplun.

[Sleeplessdriver]

Mates,
I look to drive from Pune to Guhagar this weekend. Any recent updates on the roads post monsoons.
Which route should I take keeping in mind that the Pune -Umbraj-Chiplun -Guhagarh seems to be the popular route here. Moreover is Varandha ghat in bad shape if I plan to take that route ?