Team-BHP - Advice on trip to Chikmaglur

Upto Chikamagalur is no problem.

I would suggest you avoid going via Nelamangala.

Go on Mysore road and turn off at Srirangapatnam, goto ChennarayanaPatna and onwards to Hassan and Chikamagalur.

you can avoid all the road works going on between Nelamangala and Hassan.

Dont know about the road conditions to Kemmanagundi and Baba Budangiri. I did these two spots about 6yrs back, and had taken a ride in a jeep from the hotel.

hope this helps.

Cheers!
Srini

Hi Vamsi,

Happy new year to you.

I just returned from a driving trip through Karnataka in my i10 Asta (1.2 Kappa) and will be writing a travelogue very soon. Anyway, relevant to your query is the fact that I drove from Chennai to Hassan and from there to Jog falls via Chikmagalur. The best option I would recommend for you is to get onto the NICE road at the first available point. I took this from the Hosur road interchange since I was coming in from that direction. There is a small stretch (small in terms of distance, but long in terms of time!) near Gottigere lake over the Bannerghatta road which is yet to be done, but the rest is great. Take the exit at Magadi road (the sign boards are very clear). Magadi road is in excellent condition and goes past the Thippagondanahalli reservoir. Drive right through Magadi town and there is a connector to Kunigal (also a fairly good road). From Kunigal the NH 48 (or BM road, i.e., Bangalore - Mangalore road) is quite fine - you drive through Hassan and take the Belur road to Chikmagalur. Upto Belur the road is fantastic, you are a little slower from there on. I did not go towards Kemmanagundi, but continued towards Tarikere and so, I cannot vouch for the road conditions to Baba Budangiri. Was told by a some friends that the road was okay.

And yes! The i10 will do it beautifully as did mine. It is a nippy, powerful and higly maneouverable car which is excellent on hillside winding roads as well as on the highway. I went over both kinds of stretches and the car was a joy to drive. I hope you have ABS - it is really useful, especially on winding narrow roads where you require urgent braking and at the same time may have to go on to the shoulder.

Do be careful on your trip and happy driving.

Cheers,
ssbiitm

Quote:

Originally Posted by smsrini (Post 1660601)

Upto Chikamagalur is no problem.

I would suggest you avoid going via Nelamangala.

Go on Mysore road and turn off at Srirangapatnam, goto ChennarayanaPatna and onwards to Hassan and Chikamagalur.

Why would anybody have to go via Srirangapatna to go to Chikmagalur from BLR.
Road work is not as big mess. Avoid Nelmangala, take Magadi route.
BLR-Magadi-Kunigal-Hassan-Belur-CKM
Good road condition all the way till CKM, Road widening in progress from Yediyur-Bellur corss.
Another alternative route is
BLR-Tumkur-Arasikere-Kadur-Chikmagalur.
Good road all the way till Kadur. Not much idea abt road condition from Kadur-CKM.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sushrutha (Post 1663240)

+1 sush, That is a very very long route unless a visit to Srirangapatna is on the itinerary. People have to remember that Mysore road is not the only option to get out of Bangalore:).

Quote:

Originally Posted by sushrutha (Post 1663240)

I agree. BLR-Magadi-Kunigal-Hassan-Belur-CKM is the best option. I use this road quite often in my M-800.

Road between Kadur to CKM is not good. I had done it in my M-800 about 3 months ago.

On visiting Baba Budan Hills & Kemmangundi, it can be done in a i10. I visited Baba budan and Mullyanagiri (not sure if I have spelt them correctly) on 26 Dec in my M-800 an it was a good ride. Road condition is ok if not good.

On visiting Kemmangundi, from CKM you have 2 routes, One Via Tarikere route and the other via Baba budan hills.

I did this about 5 months ago in my M-800. Take the Tarikere route to Kemmangundi. Avoid the route via Baba budan hills unless you are in a 4 wheel drive.

Jeeps in CKM charge Rs. 1500 to visit Baba Budan hills per day. If you are willing to spend, then go-ahead. I would suggest using your own car.

Hope this is helpful.

+1 to @ssbiitm. I too did a tour of CKM area during Christmas vacation. NICE-Magadi Rd-Kunigal-Hassan-Belur-CKM would be the best route. Some rough patches as you enter and exit Magadi town, in and around Kunigal and CR Pattna. Roadworks are on between Nelamangala and Hassan. So once you touch NH some 9 kms before Kunigal, look for diversions as well as some bad patches. you will still be able to maintain an average of 60-70 kmph on this stretch upto Hassan.
Road from Hassan to Belur is a breeze. If you are going to Halebeedu, go from Belur and return via Belur. Alternate route into Halebeedu that branches off from Hassan Belur road much before Belur is awful.
Belur to CKM is also a decent stretch - watch out for unmarked speed humps and rumblers:Frustrati.
Beyond CKM am not sure as I did not go there. Watch out for my Travelogue soon.

Hi Vamsi, I think you've got your queries answered on the route to CKM - I did the mistake of taking Hebbal route to Neelamangala and was stuck in Bangalore for 2hrs before I could get out of Neelamangala - there's some huge flyover construction going on in this area and there's perpetual traffic, so take the route suggested by ssbiitm. You can comfortably do it in your i-10.

Got some tips on CKM - realized it after my tour last week! You need to be clear on what you're visiting CKM for. CKM per se has nothing to offer, its a small town with very average lodges. On the other hand, you have these homestays around CKM that charge upwards (or minimum) of 1500/person for a day and are nested either in coffee plantations or mountain ranges.

If you want to visit places around CKM like Kemmangudi etc., I would suggest you to avoid CKM altogether and go to Tarikere from Bangalore. From here you can not only visit Kemmangudi and other places but can also explore the Badra dam and some river sites. i10 can comfortably cruise these roads. You also have option of taking the jeep rides that will take you on an excursion of these places.

On the other hand, if you want a laid back vacation, where you want to see Belur, Haleibeid on the way and jus chill, take one of these homestays in CKM and just do the coffee plantation visit, some trekking etc., Do not attempt to climb up Kemmangudi (enroute which all the attractions like Hebbe falls, Mullayangiri etc., are there), The roads are horrible and it feels like it takes forever to tread those 50+kms to Kemmangudi.

PM me if you want more details. Have a great trip!

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnaganathan (Post 1663470)

....Road from Hassan to Belur is a breeze. If you are going to Halebeedu, go from Belur and return via Belur. Alternate route into Halebeedu that branches off from Hassan Belur road much before Belur is awful.....

If you were going to Halebidu, you should have taken the direct Hassan-Halebidu road instead of branching off from the Hassan-Belur road. You would have saved some distance. This road passes near the Master Control Facility of ISRO. This is a decent single lane road.

Went to Chikmagalur during the 25 Dec 2009 weekend. A few things to note:

1. Roads to Chikmagalur and Kemmangundi are generally ok and should not pose a problem to the i10.

2. The route which we took was (We had booked a homestay in Santaveri near Kemmangundi)

BLR - Nelmanagala - Kunigal - Channarayanapatana - Hassan - Belur - Chikmagalur - Lingadahalli - Santaveri

Coming back the route was:

Santaveri - Lingadahalli - Birur - Arsikere - Tiptur - Gubbi - Tumkur (bypass) - Nelmangala - NICE Road - Bannerghatta Road - JP Nagar

3. Personally, I felt that the route via Tumkur was better, as there was very less traffic upto Tumkur. However, in case you want to visit Belur, then you'll have to take the Hassan route.

4. Road conditions are generally okay in both the routes. IIRC Hassan - Belur was a treat to drive on.

5. After Chikmagalur, the homestay owner, advised us to take the road via Santaveri instead of the "Giri Road" as the former is better. My advice is that you talk to the homestay/hotel/resort people, and they'll be able to point out the best approach from chikmagalur to their place.

6. While in Chikmagalur, we visited the Abbe Falls. This MUST be done in one of the local jeeps/Boleros. Costs about 1200 for the trip. As our homestay owner told us, the trip to Abbe Falls is a lifetime experience and should not be missed if you are in Chikmagalur. I tend to agree, after the trip, most of us remember the drive to the falls than the falls itself. Expecting moms and people with bad back conditions should avoid going Abbe Falls.

7. In case you are going via Nelmangala, try to cross it by 5 AM in the morining. As someone else pointed out, there is an alternate route via Magadi Road, you might want to try that out, although I dont have any first hand knowledge on that route.

Let me know if you have any questions.