[GTO]

Close to Mumbai, the best curvy roads are:

- Coming down the Lonavla ghat. Catch it empty on an early morning and you'll think it was designed by an F1 enthusiast. Fast, sweeping curves and tight technical corners, it has them all.

- Coming down the Igatpuri ghat, right after Manas hotel. Beautiful stretch that will have you grinning. Even has a run-off area.

- The 1-way mountain roads just before Wai (when going to Panchgani).

With all of these, early morning is the best. There is too much traffic at all other times.

[moralfibre]

Pune is located strategically atop the Sahyadris which gives us ample opportunities to explore curvy mountain roads for a thrill.

I couldn't pick any that could be rated the best but I've had varying levels of grins under my helmet or on the driver's seat at various locations. Some of them are:

1) Pune to Lavasa - Pure bliss of long stretching corners. Well marked and paved roads.

2) Sinhagad fort to Lavasa via Warasgaon. Offroad trail all the way with scenic views.

3) Ghats around Pune:

- Khambatki (Pune to Satara highway)
- Pasarni Ghat (Pune to Panchgani)
- Amboli Ghat (Pune to Goa)
- Chorla Ghat (Pune to Goa via Belgaum)
- Anmod Ghat (Pune to Goa via Belgaum)
- Gaganbawda ghat (Pune to Goa via Kolhapur)
- Anuskara ghat (Pune to Rajapur)
- Kashedi ghat (Poladpur to Khed on NH66 /NH17)
- Varandah ghat (Pune to Mahad)
- Koyna dam route (Pune to Chiplun)

4) Road trips in the south:
- The road from Dharmapuri to Munnar via several reserve forests
- Munnar to Theni
- Back in 2003 I remember riding from Wayanad to Calicut in the middle of the night via an unknown road in pitch darkness. Can't remember what that road was.

That said, I am not too sure if too many hairpins are a recipe for fun. At best you'd be in 1st or 2nd gear or if you choose a powerful car, you'd be understeering away to the opposite lane way too often.

[PrideRed]

India has plenty of ghat roads which are full of turns and twists. Are they fun? well to some extent but they are scenic. In India the real fun is driving in state roads or roads connecting those towns/tier2/3 cities. Mind you roads are not in great shape everywhere, but when they are all you need is a low slung great handling hatch(Read: Old gen Figo/Punto).

[silverado]

Ratnagiri to Pune via Amba ghat. This road has lot of twists and turns even before Amba ghat begins. Its a well paved road and can be driven at decent speeds.

Pune to Dapoli via Mandangadh is also a good twisty road.
Lavasa road takes the cake in terms of enjoyment.

[satishv1987]

Originally Posted by TwinAlco

The road between Bannari, Tamil Nadu and Chamarajanagar, Karnataka has many hairpin bends in Dhimbam Ghats.

The rise is steep and I have done this stretch on KSRTC and TNSTC buses. Even Volvo buses do this stretch even at night which is scary since some bends are very narrow. The absence of any railing at the edges also freaked me out in my first trip!

This stretch has 27 hairpin bends. I have covered this ghat in my old Ritz and XUV as well. It is challenging for large vehicles because the hairpins are quite narrow in some places . Driving on this stretch calls for some discipline. Since the buses/lorries have it tough, they will have to be given more leeway . The volume of traffic is high and overtakes have to be well planned. Lorry accidents/breakdowns are very common here and these accidents often result in massive traffic jams that stretch for kilometers.

[naveen.raju]

Few from my thread:

1) Thamarassery churam
It's really crowded when I went there couple of times.





2) Salem - Yercaud
A short climb with lot of hairpins.



3) Dhimbam Ghat
I got lucky when I went there last. It was pretty empty and the road was good.

4) Vagamon - Muttom
Not a lot of twists, but it's completely deserted and can be an enjoyable drive.



5) Chalakudy - Athirapally road
One of the best roads here but can get crowded during the holiday season.

[fhdowntheline]

I forgot to add another one to my list. There is an extremely scenic route from Nainital to Pangoot and beyond on which I traveled back in 2017. There is a bit of a traffic jam getting out of Nainital, but once past that, its pure bliss.

[deathwalkr]

Valparai to Pollachi. Hairpin bends galore!

Near to Trivandrum, i like the stretch to Courtallam through Thenmalai. New roads, nice lane markings with cats eyes and lovely twists and turns. Really loved the tjet more after i got a gear throw reducer.

[avaneesh.]

Tamarasherry churam with its blind curves and steep bends does thrill me. But the most fun to drive section I've encountered till day is

1. Charmadi ghat
This ghat section literally has cliffs hanging over the road. The buses scrape their body and is narrow enough to allow only one vehicle at a time in certain sections. The best time to drive this ghat is during monsoons as some monsoon waterfalls come to life.


2. Agumbe
Smallest ghat road I've encountered. But elevation gain of this ghat is high. 16 hairpins and 11 km long it's a driver's paradise


3. Kudremukh/ Balebare
Adjacent to agumbe is kudremukh road. This road travels through dense forest and you can hear crickets chirp while you drive through it.Highly restricted range as the ghat goes through kudremukh national forest range. One has to finish the drive within an hour of checking in at the checkpost.

Shiradi ghat is quite boring to drive as it's wider and one can tackle at higher gears/ speeds. Same goes to Madikeri where there aren't much twists and turns.

[Arvi95]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

2) Salem - Yercaud
A short climb with lot of hairpins.

[ATTACH=IMG_20190326_104309.jpg]2010484[/ATTACH

The Yercaud loop road is equally entertaining. Fast sweeping bends and amazing scenery along the way.




This was from a monsoon ride a few years ago. 32km of pure bliss

[utpal]

Tapri to Shimla in Himachal Pradesh
The first stretch - from Tapri to Rampur Bushahr is a little narrow, but very very scenic.








After Rampur, the road becomes wider and is very well paved. The corners are wide and smooth. And the scenery is beautiful all the way.










- Utpal

[live2dream]

Though i dont have the pictures, here are certain roads that come to my mind most of them in kerala

1. The ghat road from Kodaikanal to Palani. The roads are narrow but buttersmooth, best enjoyed early morning.

2. Road from Kuttikanam to Kumily in Kerala. Again ghat roads

3. Munnar to Marayoor and then onwards to Palani passing through Chinnar wildlife sanctuary, one of the most scenic route especially if you go right after monsoon

4. Any road in idukki district right after monsoon or during monsoon.

5. Valparai to Athirapally during summer if you want to have wildlife sightings.

6. Chennai to Pondicherry coastal highway.

7. Pollachi to Valparai ghat roads through Aliyar dam.

8. Nedumkandam -Santhapara - Poopara to Munnar. The roads are not always open due to frequent landslides during monsoon. But breathtaking scenery.

Thats all what I can think of now.

[SouravS]

One route that specifically comes to mind : had done Mysore to Munnar in May 2019 with fellow BHPian @ShashankS1973 - crossed 4 (or 5) national parks en route spanning 3 states - Karnataka, TN & Kerala. Very scenic serene and beautiful - one gets a good mix of driving pleasures & challenges - narrow (really narrow in stretches) winding roads, nice carpets / broken ones (at times). We were driving in our respective XUVs then - so narrow can get challenging at times:-)

The icing on the cake though was a stretch with 36 hairpin bends! My 2nd experience within a year, so knew what to expect - and enjoyed even more than the first time! If I remember right, it close to Ooty. For fellow BHPians planning to be there, either pick up a coffee just before approaching the climb, or right after the 36th one (towards the Ooty side) - there are coffee outlets on both sides...

And the garnishing came on the approach to Munnar - driving in the hills in pitch dark, and moderate to heavy fog at times - quite a drive it was for an enthusiast! Hope you'll get a taste of it from the images attached (don't miss the monkey on the ORVM - that was at the Kerala border!)

[Doge]

Don't know if this has been mentioned before but I would not dare to speed on twisties in India, mainly because hitting a fully loaded Bolero, trying to overtake a more than fully loaded Tata Ace is not fun.
People don't know the meaning of double yellow lines here, if there are any around.

[moarpower]

There is a gem of a road I found near Mumbai last monsoon.
You head towards Bhandardara from Igatpuri, via the route that goes through Bhavli waterfalls. There is a tea/snacks stall at Wasali that is halfway up the road to Bhandardara, after which the road was horrible. But the stretch up to that spot is absolutely dreamy. The road is extremely smooth, lined with trees and peppered with straights, turns, dips and rises. It's also devoid of traffic, save for the occasional local making their way up to Bhandardara. The width of the road felt right for something the size of a Polo/Vento. Anything larger may pose a challenge in case there is oncoming traffic.
You can go up to Bhandardara to enjoy the view from the dam, but the road from Wasali to Bhandardara was under construction as of September 2019 and was extremely punishing most of the way.