Team-BHP - Bangalore to Kutta/Irpu

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenomenon (Post 932207)

Planning to drive down tomorrow. Bangalore-srirangapatna-hunsur-nagarhole-kutta. Hows the road? would it be driveable considering the recent rains?
thx much

From past experiences (Oct-2006), the road through Nagarhole NP is usually in bad condition during and after monsoon.

Alternative route suggested is:
Hunsur -SH88A-> Titimati -> Gonikoppal -SH21-> Irupu -> Kutta

The distance will be a bit more but this route will be faster. And although you will miss going through Nagarhole NP, this road is also very scenic and even there is a good stretch through the forest.

thx everyone. did the trip and must say 98% of the way the roads were EXCELLENT. Return trip, i did the 260 odd kms in about 4 hours on my cedia. in case this helps anyone -
Bangalore-srirangapatna: familiar mysore road
Srirangapatna - hunsur: superb SH88. My GOD the facelift that this road has undergone. as wide as mysore road, superb tarmac and 1/6th the traffic. at one point just after hunsur while coming back, the cedia touched a cool 160-165.
hunsur to nagarhole - little patchy first 4 kms, neatly ashphalted after that
inside nagarhole - new asphalt, its a breeze.
nagarhole-kutta - few potholed stretches not exceeding a total of 400 metres.
kutta-irpu - very bad in parts
kutta - wayanad,thiruneli,kuruva - bad patches till kerala border, a breeze after that

Hi All,

Is anyone had recently traveled on this route? How is the road condition now? I'm planning to travel during Christmas long weekend.

Looking for some Info aswell.
1. My Stay is for 2 night (3Days) in a homestay near Irpu. So effectively I'm having 3 Days to roam around. Can you guys let me know what all is around to spent time at? I tried googling TBHP and found that only places around are Irpu falls, Nagarhole forest safari and Bhrahmagiri trek. I think forest and Falls can be covered within a day, Say Day1. Since I'm travelling with family & Kid.. Bhrahmagiri trek is not possible,

2. Any suggestion for a lighter trek around Irpu?

3. I think Other plan for Day2 could be to travel at Madikeri/Kakkabe or Virajpet area and explore new sights, But then it seems like road condition between Madikeri and Irpu is not that great. Traveling 80Km back to Irpu home stay seems like not a wise decision. I believe lot many BHPians are traveling to Kodagu these long weekend. If someone had booked a homestay anywhere near Madikeri, Kakkabe, Virajpet for 2 days and like to travel to Irpu.. I suggest to exchange a day with me :). Please post here or PM me if interested.

Regards
Sandip

Hi,
Traveled in this stretch last friday (18th dec) night during my way to Wayanad. Way from Bangalore up to Hunsur is a breeze. Once you take the turn towards Gonikuuppal, the road gets little bad in stretches. Gonikoppal to Kutta has been patchworked recently. Minus the patch work, this road would have been an excellent offroading opertunity. I have been told by an old gentleman who I met in Hunsur that the best way to Kutta from Hunsur is the Nagarahole park route in terms of distance and quality of road. But this road will be closed post 6 PM.

You will get pretty nice places to see, if you can cross over to wayanad. You can visit Thirunelly temple which is around 20 km from Kutta. This place is extremely beautiful and is a starting point for a trek towards pakshipathalam. (This is the other side of Brahmagiri). 25 KM from Tirunelli is a island spot called Kuruva dweep. Pretty good place to unwind.

Beware that 2 KM stretch from Kutta to Kerala border is in shambles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kj302 (Post 1646803)

Hi,
I have been told by an old gentleman who I met in Hunsur that the best way to Kutta from Hunsur is the Nagarahole park route in terms of distance and quality of road. But this road will be closed post 6 PM.

I am taking this road tomorrow on my way to Kannur/Payyanur. Will update the condition after that. It used to be good, and I have travelled at least 6-8 times in this route during the last 8months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kj302 (Post 1646803)

Hi friends,

Am also planning to cross over to Wayanad using the Nagarhole route from Hunsur, in my SCORPIO. Now I understand that there are two routes from Hunsur to Kutta....one thro Gonikoppal , and one thro Rajiv Gandhi national Park, Nagarhole.
Can anyone, who has tried the routes, guide me, on which is better in terms of the road condition.
I have heard that Kutta to Thopetty(Kerala border) is very bad. Ay idea is this has improved??

Thanks.

Would definitely like to update all of you on this route, after my return.

Venu
Bangalore

Hi Kj,

Thanks. looks like u have done that route. Can I presume, that the route
from Hunsur-Nagarhole-Kutta. is fine then ??
If the road upto Kutta is good. I can live with the last 2-3 km!!!

Looking fwd to yr feedback. pl.

Rgds,

Venu

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Friends,

I did Bangalore-Hunsur-Nagarhole-Kutta last weekend. Here is the road update

Bangalore-Mysore-Hunsur Very Good road as we all know
Hunsur-Nagarhole (Initial 2-3Km is bad, After than narrow but good road, I took a snap to give u a feel of road. It was fun to drive on this road, Watch out for animals, You can sight few of them if you drive early morning or late evening. Road is open only from 6AM to 6pm.
Nagarhole-Kutta - Overall good, May be last 1-2Km is little bad but manageable.

Kutta-Irpu (4Km of bad stretch, But manageable with low speed by any car)
Nagarhole forest road

One more

Spotted deers .. u can spot plenty of them :)

And you should be lucky enough to spot this :)

Hi friends,

At the outset, a great thank you to all here who provided the basic data
for me to venture on this route last weekend(X-mas).

Briefly, we drove Bangalore-Srirangapatna-Hunsur-Nagarhole-Kutta-
Tholpetty-Thirunelli (halt)-Mananthavadi-Calicut-Cochin-Coimbatore-
Bangalore !

Bangalore to Hunsur(very good),Hunsur to Nagarhole gate(8 km-OK),
through Nagarhole National Park upto Kutta(good),Kutta to Tholpetty
(3 km-quite bad, but no problem for a Scorpio), then onwards, smooth
sailing.

Am planning to post a detailed Travelogue in that section, with photos.

Venu
Bangalore

Did the same stretch (as SAPVEN - only till Tholpetty - Kaattikulam) in my Linea.....Lucky to have it back in one piece.

No Problem till we exit Nagarhole Park. The really issue starts when you take a U turn from KUTTA towards Kerala. Well, there is no road there. Its all car breakers. You really struggle till Kaattikulam.
From Kaattikulam, it all newly laid road, so you can zoom