[ASHISHPALLOD]

hi all,
i am starting this thread for pune bhpians to take one day trips.
please add other destinations not in this thread for benefit of all.

1] sajjangad, thoseghar waterfalls, chalkewadi.

these locations are near satara city.
sajjangad is famous for saint ramdas. there is temple and samadhi of the saint. fort is small and anyone can easily climb the 100 steps to reach the fort. small household eateries are on fort. it is relaxing place with scenery around. you can overlook the urmodi dam.
it is @ 140 km away from pune.
route is
pune-nh4-satara city-pawai chowk satara city-right turn at this chowk and take extreme left road-cross tunnel-turn right to sajjangad-go straight for say 10 km-sajjangad/thoseghar ghat-turn right in midway of ghat to sajjangad. vehicles can go upto sajjangad. ample parking space.

thoseghar waterfall is nearby to sajjangad.
from sajjangad, come back on sajjangad/thoseghar ghat.
drive to thaseghar for say 10 km. you will come to thoseghar.
you have to park your cars at one dhaba which has ample parking space.
trek to waterfall for say 500 mtrs. the trek path is well laid. lot of monkeys are there. monsoon is the best time to visit this place. there are small eateries. the place is calm and jungle around. lot of families visit this waterfall.

chalkewadi is famous for wind energy farm.
it is further uphill from thoseghar waterfall. just drive uphill for 3 km and you will be at plateau. you will see lot of windmills. in the monsoon, the area is covered with fog and mist. further driving on plateau, you can see backwater of koyna dam.
from this windmill point, you can drive to patan and koynanagar to see koyna dam . the road on plateau is in bad shape. if you are in groups, then only go to patan via chalkewadi route otherwise not recommended.

this is small one day trip for pune bhpians. distance to and fro will be max 300km.

i am going to give details of following routes. any one has more info abou destination and route, please add.

2] rajgad, torna, madheghat.
3] kapurhole balaji temple,narayanpur,purander fort, jejuri,morgaon,theur.
4] koyna dam, derwan, lote parshuram.
5] bhimashankar, shivneri fort, lenyadri, ozar.
6] ashtavinayak loop day one.
7] ashtavinayak loop day two.
i am not adding lonawala, mulashi dam, sinhgad, lawasa in this thread as they are very common routes. there are some more routes that i will add.

[pradkumar]

Ananda Valley valley of joy Holi and Summer Camps and Picnic Spots near Pune one day tour resort in Pune

Approx. 50 km from Pune.

[Suneet]

I really like this idea. Eventhough I am from Mumbai. It will be a great help for mumbai people also.
All the best
Suneet

[akshayo]

Ashish,

Excellent idea, waiting for the other trips that you have in the pipeline for this thread. I am already planning a trip to Sajjangad.

Cheers

[RX135]

For those planning Sajjangadh trip, there is another good picnic spot nearby Satara. That is Kas Lake. You take the same route from Pune till the tunnel exit from Satara towards Sajjangadh.

For Kas Lake, instead of tunnel, you continue up along the Ghat. If you go further from Kas, you get down to Bamnoli. The route is quite scenic and forest becomes dense after Kas Lake.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

as rx135 said, you can visit kas lake and bamnoli.
@ kas lake, it is monsoon destination. lake is surrounded by karvy bushes[ do not know english name]. karvy blossoms once in seven years. surrounding is calm and beautiful. there are no eateries, no shelter nothing at kas lake. you have to arrange your own food. it will be safe if you are in group. the spot is for 1 to 2 hour only.
further driving, you will reach to the village bamnoli. it is situated at the bank of shivsagar lake formed by koyna dam. boating can be done here. vasota fort can be seen and trekked by crossing lake by boat. prior permission from forest department is must for vasota fort trek. small eateries are there.

2] koyna dam, lote parshuram, derwan.

if you have time, you can make this route in connection with sajjangad route by halting at either koyna or right at kumbharli ghat valley view point.
you can make this route separately starting from pune.
koyna dam is at south end of satara district on way of konkan. lote parshuram and derwan are at either side of chiplun city in ratnagiri district.
koyna dam is famous for its large reserviour spreading upto mahabaleshwar.
there is Nehru garden. dam can be seen from this garden. there is small show about dam right at garden. children will enjoy this garden as it has lot of play stuff. there are small eateries at koyna dam. ample safe parking space at the paid entrance of garden.
route.
pune-nh4-satara-35km-umbraj-right turn below flyover at umbraj-malaharpeth-right turn at malharpet to patan-toll gate near koyna-turn right at toll gate to koyna-go straight through koyna village-keep left on any t junction-koyna dam garden[ Nehru garden.

after watching koyna dam, go to helwak through koyna village, at helwak, you will again join karad-chiplun road, turn right at this junction to chiplun. travel further @ 5-8 km toward chiplun, you will be at kumbharli ghat descend point. there is small police check post on the way in the ghat. right behind the check post, there is hotel suswad. the location of the hotel is so good that you will surely stop at that point. you can have your lunch at this veg-non veg hotel. for those who are clubbing sajjangad with this route, this hotel is nice for one night halt.
further driving down the ghat, you will reach chiplun city. you will join to nh17 mumbai goa highway. turn right toward mumbai. drive further 10 km through parshuram ghat. you will reach one t junction in the ghat. leave nh17 and take right turn to lote parshuram. after driving @ 3 km, you will be at lote parshuram. as road in the village is very narrow, park your vehicle at safe space. there is parshuram temple. you have walk little bit and descend down through well laid stairs to the temple. lord parshuram is supposed to be one of the avatar of lord vishnu. it is said that parshuram has created the konkan. this place is origination of chitpawan Brahman.[ correct me if i am wrong]. lot of konkan special eating items are available here. ladies will enjoy some shopping here.

after worshiping at lote parshuram, come back to city of chiplun. drive further south on nh17 toward ratnagiri from chiplun, at @ 10 km from chiplun, before village sawarde, there is left turn toward derwan. you can ask for directions or simply watch for the board of walawalkar hospital. further drive @ 7 km from this junction to derwan, you will be at derwan welcomed by statues of mawalas[ military of king shivaji]. park your car in disciplined manner. caution: you have to follow instructions and discipline suggested by authorities. ladies and girls not waring appropriate dress are not allowed in. ladies wearing sari/ Punjabi/ chudidar are allowed. ladies wearing t shirts and jeans, midis, minis and micros are not allowed.
derwan is famous for shivsrushti created by one saint[ not remembering the name].
there are numerous statues in sequence featuring various scenes from the life of king shivaji. the statues are so live that sometimes, people get confused. it is worth visit.
by this time, sun will start to vanish. if you are hungry, visit numerous hotels in chiplun for quick snacks. if not hungry, then rush back to kumbharli ghat check post. you can have nice view of sunset from hotel suswad.
drive back to pune via same route as kumbharli ghat-helwak-patan-malharpeth-turn left to umbraj-umbraj-turn right to satara by nh4-satara-pune.
this will be nice weekend trip.
total istance pune to pune will be @ 475 km. out of 475 km, you will on four lane for almost 275 km. so no problem about long distance.
for those who have two days as weekend holiday, i will suggest to club sajjangad and koyna trip and halt at hotel suswad right at kumbharli ghat.

sorry about bad habit of writing in small letters.