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Old 6th August 2010, 11:54   #1
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Route to Lohagad Fort

hi ..I have been to Bhaja caves and there was a path from the base village to lohagad which i was told is good enough to drive on. But i was also told that the path becomes very slushy during rains.
I have read that there is another route beyond Chandi Chowk/Pirangut/Paud where you turn right and then you reach the parking of Lohagad from where it is a short walk to the fort.
Can anyone advise me on the easiest way to reach the parking of the fort?
thx in advance
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Old 6th August 2010, 14:29   #2
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Malavali - there is a parking at that place but then you need to climb/walk till the base village - another route of which I have only heard but the road you are talking abt form Paud take a right turn and this heads to Pavana dam and then onto Lonavala - and must have a phata which takes you to the base village of Lohagadwadi. Although I recommend walking to the top as path from Malavali is very easy (1 hr or so) and a gradual climb and very nice views of surrounding terrain with some waterfalls on the way.
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Old 6th August 2010, 14:42   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rajarams View Post
hi ..I have been to Bhaja caves and there was a path from the base village to lohagad which i was told is good enough to drive on. But i was also told that the path becomes very slushy during rains.
I have been to Lohagad from the base village "Bhaje" a couple of times .. and one of them was during last year's monsoon. Besides a small stream that needs to be crossed, the road is perfect. There was one patch of muddy road, but we later realized that there is a side-road which is good.
We were a bunch of picnicers (as opposed to hardcore treckers) and there were even young kids in the group. It should be doable.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rajarams View Post
I have read that there is another route beyond Chandi Chowk/Pirangut/Paud where you turn right and then you reach the parking of Lohagad from where it is a short walk to the fort.
Can anyone advise me on the easiest way to reach the parking of the fort?
This year, we went to Pawana dam from Lonavala and there is a left on that road that goes to Lohagadwadi which I believe is what you are referring to.

Last edited by SDP : 6th August 2010 at 14:43.
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Old 9th August 2010, 14:59   #4
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Task Done: I went to Lohagad in the following route - Pirangut-Paud-turn right at paud-One long but beatiful country road-Pavna dam (pavna dam with Tung fort in the background - very scenic) - go to the other side of the dam - climb up - then through a patch of forest - through Dudiware khind pass (amazing piece of engineering)-turn right just after the pass-climb up to the lohagad parking- climb lohagad
A very satisfying day.

At the parking, i also saw a path which people said takes you to Malavalli station (the route through the base of Bhaja), but this was not something which you can drive on (rocky stuff). So, not sure where the driving path from bhaja would end.

Photologue coming soon.
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Old 9th August 2010, 15:36   #5
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Thats great !

Even I did the Lohagad trek last month, but from Malavali side.

How is the road condition from Paud to base village?

Waiting for the photolog
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Old 18th July 2011, 11:37   #6
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Re: Route to Lohagad Fort

Here is another and shorter route:
Pune - NH4 to Kamshet - take a left on NH4 near Kamshet towards Pavana dam - continue on this road for about 30 kms, it passes the Pavana dam, and some very scenic route. It is fairly straightforward.

And yes, during rains do NOT take the route from the fort to Bhaje, as the road indeed gets slushy and very slippery at times. Also note this is a descent with bends, so descent is difficult. Opt for the same Pavana dam route.
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Old 19th July 2011, 07:49   #7
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Re: Route to Lohagad Fort

Lohagad Fort-

OK, for people who know the area your discussion seems easy to follow- but can you do a bulletted route for me- with walking involved... maybe the route which has more walking-
I will be coming from Mumbai, so am familiar with Lonavala, Kamshet as well as the road upto Pawna Dam.
A) How to get to Malavli
B) The other route from Pawna Dam side.


Am looking at doing this on the coming weekend- would appreciate your route suggestions.

Thanks.
KD
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Old 11th June 2015, 23:23   #8
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Re: Route to Lohagad Fort

Sorry to dig up this old thread, but I could not find any thread more relevant for my queries.

I am planning to visit Lohagad fort on the coming Saturday and will be driving in from Pune. I am going to be travelling with wifey, and my 5 year old and 1 year old kids, in my beloved 2015 Jetta DSG.

I can find directions to Malavali from the previous discussions on this topic. My real question is would I be able to drive right to the base to the fort in my Jetta, or would it involve walking from Malavali to the fort, which I have gathered is not exactly easy with 2 kids in tow (also how long is the walk and the terrain).

Any other tips to be visiting Lohagad with 2 small kids will be welcome!
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Old 12th June 2015, 11:54   #9
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Re: Route to Lohagad Fort

Quote:
Originally Posted by harryputtar View Post
Sorry to dig up this old thread, but I could not find any thread more relevant for my queries.

I am planning to visit Lohagad fort on the coming Saturday and will be driving in from Pune. I am going to be travelling with wifey, and my 5 year old and 1 year old kids, in my beloved 2015 Jetta DSG.

I can find directions to Malavali from the previous discussions on this topic. My real question is would I be able to drive right to the base to the fort in my Jetta, or would it involve walking from Malavali to the fort, which I have gathered is not exactly easy with 2 kids in tow (also how long is the walk and the terrain).

Any other tips to be visiting Lohagad with 2 small kids will be welcome!
There are two routes:
1). You stop at Malavali (keep in mind, you will need to be on National Highway, and not Expressway). Park the vehicle at the village (unattended) and take a hike up the hill to reach the fort base. The walk is literally like walk in the park, the only thing is the incline and frankly kids may not even notice (compared to adults who get tired much quicker). Keep aside about 2-3 hours for walking (1 towards the fort and 1 back)

2). You go towards Lonavla railways station (using Expressway), ask people about road that goes to Lohagad fort base. This road actually snakes back towards Pune (you can see the expressway and rail track every now and then).

I have tried to show the second route crudely here in the attached pic.
Hope you can make out what I am trying to say using the circles and arrows. (by the way you can also see the "Lohgad trek road" also marked on the map)

The thing to note is the bottom circle. There will be a Y kind of junction. Left side takes you high up the hill, and lands you (after pretty rotten road quality) to the base of the fort.
The Right side will go downhill between walls to two hills and opens up to the Pavna Lake.

Both are scenic. You can decide to come back to Pune via the Lake road. (I remember I went back via this road and drove to Pirangut via internal state highways -when I had no maps and no knowledge)
Attached Thumbnails
Route to Lohagad Fort-untitled.png  


Last edited by alpha1 : 12th June 2015 at 12:03.
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Old 12th June 2015, 12:05   #10
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Re: Route to Lohagad Fort

Quote:
Originally Posted by alpha1 View Post
There are two routes:
2). You go towards Lonavla railways station (using Expressway), ask people about road that goes to Lohagad fort base. This road actually snakes back towards Pune (you can see the expressway and rail track every now and then).

I have tried to show the second route crudely here in the attached pic.
Hope you can make out what I am trying to say using the circles and arrows. (by the way you can also see the "Lohgad trek road" also marked on the map)
This route sounds a lot more promising, thanks pal. Were you planning to attach a map?

Quote:
Originally Posted by alpha1 View Post
Both are scenic. You can decide to come back to Pune via the Lake road. (I remember I went back via this road and drove to Pirangut via internal state highways -when I had no maps and no knowledge)
Ah that must be hard, I once travelled to Goa and took the wrong turn from Belgaum to Panjim (when I was supposed to go Belgaum -> Chorla -> Panjim ), still get nightmares about that night , hence all the preparation this time.
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Old 12th June 2015, 14:38   #11
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Re: Route to Lohagad Fort

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Originally Posted by harryputtar View Post
This route sounds a lot more promising, thanks pal. Were you planning to attach a map?
The map is attached, not visible?
I can see it though!
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Old 12th June 2015, 15:02   #12
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Re: Route to Lohagad Fort

Quote:
Originally Posted by alpha1 View Post
There are two routes:
1). You stop at Malavali (keep in mind, you will need to be on National Highway, and not Expressway). Park the vehicle at the village (unattended) and take a hike up the hill to reach the fort base.

2). You go towards Lonavla railways station (using Expressway), ask people about road that goes to Lohagad fort base.
There is actually one more route via Paud.

Take the Mulshi road. Turn right at Paud Busstand.

This road will take you towards Hadshi - Tikona Peth and going ahead it joins the 2nd route (the road from Lonavala to Kale Colony). You can park your car at the base of the fort and climb - there will constructing steps when I went there about six months ago, should be complete by now.

Is more even more scenic, as the road follows the boundary of Pawana Lake.

BTW, the threadstarter (rajarams) has his own website now and you can get pretty good idea of which is the best option here - http://www.placesnearpune.com/2010/0...near-lonavala/
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Old 14th June 2015, 12:37   #13
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Re: Route to Lohagad Fort

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Originally Posted by vrprabhu View Post
Is more even more scenic, as the road follows the boundary of Pawana Lake.
Yes, that's what even I remember, I reached Pirangut (or perhaps it was Paud only) when I had moved in to Pune, and we used to carry non-smart phones!
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Old 16th June 2015, 23:47   #14
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Re: Route to Lohagad Fort

So I chose the Pune-Mumbai expressway route, took the exit for Lonavala, and then somehow made the mistake I always make, asked a few folks, and when I did not get a convincing response, resorted to google. In the end I did end up at the Y in the map, where the left goes to Lohagad and the right takes you to Pawna lake, but the route followed to get to the Y, made my wifes neck ache.

On taking the left turn there is an immediate steep incline which I found a bit hard to do on my Jetta, ended up wheel spinning a couple of times, before coming back in reverse, planning my ascent and then starting back with full enthusiasm. This fiasco may be partly due to my inexperience with the Jetta DSG and partly because the incline surface was in tatters with various different depth grooves in it, and that it had started to rain hard. Any one else felt the same going up that initial incline?

Rest of the route was scenic and nice to drive on, no problems whatsoever. I am not much of a travelogue writer or photo taker, with 2 young kids in tow, so apologies for the crude description.

The fort itself was nice to climb, easier than Sinhgad I thought, though it has more steps. When we reached the top everything was shrouded in clouds and it was raining like crazy. So we could not really do much up there or visit any of the points like we love to do at Sinhgad. With a heavy heart we started back after roaming around for like half an hour.

The way down was a bit treacherous with broken stairs and slippery sections, but we survived it in the end .

Came down, had some hot tea with kanda bhaji, which was a godsend in the pouring rain, nothing beats that combination.

On the way back we took the Pawna lake route, since everyone recommended the scenic drive. On this day however it was raining too heavily to enjoy the views, we did get off close to Pawna lake, saw motorboats running on the lake, and decided that will be our next possible weekend excursion.

From there I trusted google, which had me joining the old NH4, and eventually driving back to Baner on the NH4. Just before the Wakad flyover, had a close shave where I was following a Xylo, which was following a Tata Indica too close for comfort. The Indica must have braked hard on a road undulation, and the Xylo braked immediately too, thanks to the distance I had meticulously kept between the Jetta and the Xylo, and Jetta biting breaks, we stopped safely around a meter from the Xylo. Phew, it was a close call though, makes you understand what those drivers feel when they are in a real accident, and how things unfold.

All in all a great drive, albeit somewhat let down by the fog on top of the fort.

Thanks everyone for your help getting us there and back!

Last edited by harryputtar : 17th June 2015 at 00:15.
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Old 17th June 2015, 12:17   #15
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Re: Route to Lohagad Fort

Thanks for the road condition update.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harryputtar View Post
... but the route followed to get to the Y, made my wifes neck ache.
This part used to be a decent stretch earlier.

Quote:
Any one else felt the same going up that initial incline?
I have Old honda city, so perhaps because of light weight I haven't faced the same magnitude of the problem - but my mistake, I should've made it clear that "Left side takes you high up the hill" means there is a sudden incline.

Also this part of road has always been in tatters, and that compounds the issues, so perhaps what you experienced is what everyone will experience.
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