Just came back from a trip to Mallalli falls. For those who do not know Mallalli falls, please check this travelogue. Btw, it is the largest waterfall in Coorg.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...lli-falls.html


Update on the usual route from Hassan to Coorg (Somwarpet) through Gorur-Arkalgud-Shanivarsante

Hassan-Arkalgud (30kms): Decent road with rough patches.

Arkalgud-Mallipatna (10kms): Narrow and pothole ridden

Mallipatna-Shanivarsante-Somwarpet: Good 2 carriageway road.

This time I took the Hassan-Ballupet-Kodlipet-Shanivarsante-Somwarpet-Mallalli route for the onward journey

Hassan-Ballupet: NH48, good condition

Ballupet-Kodlipet: Around 10-12 kms of bad/rough roads

Kodlipet-Shanivarsante-Somwarpet-Mallalli: Good roads

Return Journey: Mallalli-Kundalli-Mageri-Vanagooru-Donigal-Sakleshpur-Hassan

This road avoids going back to Somvarpet town and joins the main road at the top of Bisle ghat. The road is good all the way till you join the Bisle ghat road. Bisle ghat road is very rough and pothole ridden until Hethur. After Hethur, there is one rough stretch of about 5-6 kms. Apart from that, the road is good until you join the NH48 at Donigal (Manzarabad Fort).

It was raining all the time. This route is a very scenic route (especially when it is raining) and I'd suggest anybody visiting Mallalli falls to take this route

I am planning to ride to Madikeri from Pune. If anyone has traveled recently please advise on road conditions.

Google Maps says:

Pune - Dharwad - Davangere - Channagiri - kadur - Belur - Sakleshpur - Shanivarasanthe - Madikeri

I am worried about the interior roads after Davangere.

Not sure about the road conditons after Davanagere in the above route. But if you want the best route drive upto Hiriyur on the NH4 and then take, Nelligere, CR Patna-Kushalnagar-Madikere. The Hiriyur -Nelligere (marked NH 150A on GMaps) is a Major state highway and is in good condition. At Nelligere, you join the Bangalore-Madikere route which is used by Bhpians as an alternate to mysore route. Route link. The adds another 100 kms to the total distance compared to the default route shown by Google maps, but you are assured of good roads throughout.

Planning to use the route Davanagare to Hassan on my trip to Thalassery from Pune. Found the following route as shortest from Gmap. Can someone help with the road condition in the following route.

Davanagare – Atigere – Santhebennur – Gulle Halli – Channagiri – Pandomatti – Birur – Kadur – Banavara – Arakere – Halebeedu – Hagare -- Hassan

Regards,
Sarin

I am in the same boat as SarinKumar.

Planning to drive to Sakleshpur from Gadag day after tomorrow. Without knowing the road conditions it is very difficult to decide the road based on the maps!

Any help will be appreciated!

I didn't take the route below as the road seems bad. Instead I took Team,
Hiriyur -- Huliyar -- Mathighatta -- Tiptur --Nuggehalli -- Holenarsipur -- Krishnarajanagara - Hunsur route.

I will be be driving from Mumbai to Sakleshpur in March. Will be starting early morning so as to reach the same evening. Can the experts suggest the best route for Davangere to Sakleshpur stretch? Also, what is the current status of the roads there?

Thanks in advance for any help on this plan.

Davanagere-Hiriyur-Huliyar-Neligere-Hassan-Sakleshpur

Thats the best option.

- Good to decent 2-lane road from Hiriyur to Nligere.
- Neligere-Hassan 4-lane
- Hassan-Sakleshpur. Good 2-lane

On no! Not really. Forget KSRTC Buses but even private cars from Hassan and Sakleshpur region never take this route to reach Davanagere despite of the erstwhile bad patch between Harihar and Honalli.

Not only this adds to the distance by 130 KMS from Standard route but this is also time consuming by more than a hour too. Essentially, you do not gain much. Just look at the maps on the left half. You are firstly driving far east and then start driving from East to West.



Latest reports say that the Harihar Honalli Stretch has been patched up. So Harihar Bypass - Honalli - Shimoga - Bhadravati - Chikmagalur - Belur - Sakleshpur should be your ideal route.

How long is the 4 lane & 2 lane:

Of course the route via Hiriyur will have 4 lane from Nelligere till Hassan which is only 65 Kms in total (If you knock off the 2 Lane Channarayapatna Bypass from this) but that is just about it.

On Top of this, you also get to drive on 4/6 lane road from Harihar to Hiriyur which is about 115 kms till you turn off from NH4 to get into Hiriyur

So, you drive 115+65 = 180 kms on 4 lane on this route beyond Hiriyur.

• Hiriyur to Nelligere is around 130 Kms
• Hassan to Sakleshpur is 35 Kms
• Channarayapatna Bypass is 10 Kms

So, you drive 130+35+10 = 175 Kms on 2 lane altogether

Now consider this route against Harihar - Honalli - Shimoga - Chikmagalur - Belur - Sakleshpur: You drive 260 kms on 2 lane

What is the real benefit between the 2 routes?

• Firstly, the route via Hiriyur - Nelligere - CR Patna is longer
• In terms of facilities, both these roads have similar options to offer anyway
• If you have Mayura, Kamat, A2B on the Nelligere route, you have got nothing for those 180 kms from Chitradurga to Nelligere
• Similarly on the Shimoga - Chikmagalur route, you have Shimoga and Chikmagalur towns with good options separated by 100 kms (need to enter Chickmaglur town for this)
• Belur that comes in the next 30 minutes after Chikmagalur has a recommended Hotel right on the road leading to Sakleshpur

Condition of the roads?

• The 2 lane with the Nelligere route is more straight with frequent speedbreakers (not a deal breaker anyway)
• Hassan - Sakleshpur is again curvy but wide enough
• The 2 lane with the Honalli - Shimoga option is patched up now
• Shimoga - Chikmagalur is mostly straight and wide with a 3 km small ghat before Chikmagalur bypass Intersection (Taj Gateway right on this Ghat)
• Chikmagalur - Belur: Easy one with not many curves except Tank Bunds
• Belur - Sakleshpur: Out of 35 kms, 25 kms (beyond Biccodu) will pass through lush green coffee plantations

Which route would I be taking if given a choice?

Any day the Harihar - Honnalli - Shimoga - Chikmagalur - Belur - Sakleshpur route. This is Shorter by 130 kms, roads remain good (now with the patchwork between Honalli and Harihar too). I will take this even it it meant crossing Shimoga-Bhadravati twin towns. Crossing Hiriyur is anyway going to consume time too.

More importantly, you will end up paying at Hebbalu, Guilalu, Hirisave & Shantigrama toll booths though I would not really bother to spend 200 more towards these tolls for extra 4 lane roads that I get but overall, I really would not gain anything taking this route at all.

In terms of facilities also, both the routes are more or less the same in terms of offering anyway.

Parag, Totally aware of what you said. I am aware of that route as well. But please also note, everyone may not have very good idea of interior roads. From that point view; especially when some one is driving from Mumbai and he wants to reach the same day, it will surely not be easy driving interiors and finding these roads later in the day. In fact many in spite having the guidance of the route miss it out. If the OP in question had stayed over night and taken a break in between, I would have suggested what you said for the second day.

That was the reason I explained the longer route. It remains an easier route to drive and also no issues for finding places to break and eat.

If I were doing ~1000km in a day, I would opt for the extra 130 for the ease of drive, esp if I would be aware to cover these last distances during fading light. But I guess, its one own choice.

Like I said, its not Davanagere-Sakleshpur, its Mumbai-Sakleshpur OP is looking at.

It still doesn't make any sense.

Gone are the days when one would get lost and never found a way out. Today life is easier to navigate with maps. Roads are better, signages have improved. More than anything else, traffic on every interior roads has tremendously multiplied that many private cars are seen on some of the most deserted roads only few years back.

Agree that the Nelligere is a more straight route (not straightforward though) but adding 130 kms just because you enter few towns is no logic even for a first timer.

Regarding finding places to break and eat - Well, if someone asks about Shimoga Chikmagalur Belur, I am sure we will give out the names and locations. Small towns have now got more urbanised and most importantly become Tourist friendly. Just look at Shimoga and Chikmagalur and the options they have today.

Even for the most newbie driver on this circuit, 130 extra kms for the cost of crossing twin towns of Shimoga and Bhadravathi (You don't even have to enter Chikmagalur here anyway) is something I won't advise.

By advising this route I don't think anyone of us including me is actually putting the driver in hardship in any manner. If someone can drive Mumbai to Davanagere and has Sakleshpur as destination, I am more than sure that the same person would have at least got the least idea that he is heading to an interior location (Sakleshpur) and may also have to take some interior roads too.

Mumbai-Sakleshpur just from Google translates to 15 hours of drive. If the OP is OK driving the last 5 hours of his/her drive on 2-lanes after a 8-10 hour 4-lane drive, I have no issues. I surely wont do it. In fact I would rather take a break and continue the next day.

True , so the choice here is whether one is OK to drive another 130 Kms extra to decrease the amount of 2 lane roads to reach the destination whereas a direct road exists.

Taking a break, Well that is a very good idea in fact. I am not sure if OP wants to do that.

Just because I am from Belur/Chikmagalur is not the reason I was advising this usual route. Just because I am the one who drives long distances without a break is not the other reason I would suggest this at all. In fact, I am also very choosy when it comes to a longer 4 lane against shorter 2 lane but definitely not where the difference is 130 kms. The stress factor is way less when driving on divided roads against undivided roads, especially when one is doing 1000 kms. No denying that at all. But not to the extent of adding 130 kms to your journey only because you drive 80 kms extra on a 2 lane road.

Also, the route from Harihar to Sakleshpur is not a tiring one at all. Only the last 25 odd kms will be passing through some curves and that exactly is the demography of this section as you know anyway.

All these years, more than Googlemaps links I normally have this bad habit of giving Via Points which is so easy for that driver. I clearly mention that you need to pass each of these points before you reach your destination. This is mainly for the assurance that you don't get lost between 2 places as an alternate route exists and maps just wants you to follow that. Via Points that are closer to each other immensely helps in following exactly a particular route.

@ampere, @paragsachania, thanks a ton for all the inputs. This is all very very useful. I will keep all of this in mind when making the journey. We will definitely not be breaking the journey, but the driving will be shared by my wife and I. So hopefully we should be able to do it without too much stress.

Hi. I am driving from Mumbai to Chikmagalur in May. Confirming best route. It is Harihar - Honnali - Shimoga - Chikmaglur. Please assist.