[swapnilup]

Originally Posted by nma83

Hi,
I am planning to trek from Castlerock to Dudhsagar sometime in July. Which is the best route from the NH4 to Castlerock (staying at Whistling Thrush Homestay)? Google maps gave me this: https://goo.gl/maps/tP47Y
Is there a better route with regard to road conditions?

I would suggest to continue from Ramnagar towards Anmod on NH4A and take the left for castlerock before Anmod.
Also regarding the trek route ask the owner at whistling thrush, he will arrange for a guide if required. We had stayed there 3 years back and had taken the jungle route to the falls.

[nma83]

Originally Posted by swapnilup

I would suggest to continue from Ramnagar towards Anmod on NH4A and take the left for castlerock before Anmod.
Also regarding the trek route ask the owner at whistling thrush, he will arrange for a guide if required. We had stayed there 3 years back and had taken the jungle route to the falls.

Thanks swapnil. So is the NH4 to NH34 left turn at Dharwad OK?
About the jungle trek, what is the distance and time it took?

[swapnilup]

Originally Posted by nma83

Thanks swapnil. So is the NH4 to NH34 left turn at Dharwad OK?
About the jungle trek, what is the distance and time it took?

I am not sure where you exit Dharward, so can't really comment on that. I know it from the Belgaum side.
The trek was superb, took us about 4 hours (non fit people)
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3008110

[hemanth.anand]

Bad news for all who had plans to visit this beauty. Hope some safe arrangements are made soon.

Dudhsagar is off bounds henceforth!
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/banga...w/48137259.cms

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Bad news for all who had plans to visit this beauty. Hope some safe arrangements are made soon.

I guess the heading of the news article is confusing.

From the article you can see that falls is not out of bounds. It is only that railway is not allowing anyone to jump off the train when it slows at Dudhsagar station due to accidents.

One is still free to trek to the falls still.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

I guess the heading of the news article is confusing.

From the article you can see that falls is not out of bounds. It is only that railway is not allowing anyone to jump off the train when it slows at Dudhsagar station due to accidents.

One is still free to trek to the falls still.

When I read the article(part of which is quoted below), it says that Tourists will not be allowed and people who had trekked had done so against the warning

However, there were some travellers who had trekked all the way to Dudhsagar station. These trekkers were warned against walking on the railway tracks as it could be fatal.

Confirming this, Railways police inspector Nilesh Dhaigodkar said, "We have deployed 20 of our men at the Dudhsagar railway station. We have given a strict message that no tourists will be allowed at that particular place. In fact, we have also made announcements at Collem railway station that tourists will not be allowed at Dudhsagar and hence those planning to go could get down at Collem itself."

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

When I read the article(part of which is quoted below), it says that Tourists will not be allowed and people who had trekked had done so against the warning

Thanks Hemanth.

Yes, got confirmation from another forum that people are allowed to trek till water falls, but not allowed to the falls - meaning they had to trek back without seeing the falls.

So, as you mentioned it is closed as of now.

[carwatcher]

This post comes timely for me as I was planning to do my yearly monsoon trip to Dudhsagar very soon.
Will wait for further updates.

[vivek95]

As you all know, trek to Dudhsagar waterfalls,Goa has been closed for tourists indefinitely since an year and the only way now to catch a glimpse of the stupendous waterfall is from a Train. This is exactly what I did today with my parents. Boarded the 11097 Pune--Ernakulam POORNA express from Belgaum with bookings done online in 2nd class SL just a night prior. It was scheduled to arrive at 11 a.m but came only at 11.55 a.m. Next, it left only at 12.25 pm !! I must tell you this is one of the most laziest Trains I have ever seen, too slow and too many long stoppages enroute, so much for being called an Express train. This also explains how we were able to find tickets online just a night prior in a long distance train that runs weekly only once. But this slowness came as a blessing in disguise for us. We had ample time to enjoy and admire the highly scenic surroundings along this rail route. Monsoons, forests, western ghats , greenery, mist, fog and waterfalls all happened to be a perfect Sunday recipe for us. Ofcourse the show stopper was the mighty Dudhsagar waterfalls that we passed closeby for about 05 seconds. A bit further from the main waterfall point, as our Train trudged through the slippery wet tracks, the thick foliage around cleared up intermittently opening up to the splendid and panaromic views of the milky waterfalls. So all together it was 5 mins of our cardiac pacemaker not firing an impulse !! However it was not just Dudhsagar waterfalls but the entire 102 km rail route from Belgaum to Kulem that was extremely beautiful and held us spellbound. Though the entire rail route was truly amazing, its the Braganza ghat section post Castlerock railway station that rises up the ante and the mesmerising experience shifts to a higher level. It passes through 16 tunnels snaking its way through numerous curves between the mighty lush green hills kissed by low floating clouds and deep valleys on other side. The lovely mist keeps spraying on your face and finally, as you pass right opposite Dudhsagar waterfalls over a tall viaduct, you know you have already landed up in heaven ! Need I say, the Dudhsagar waterfalls was in all her glory !! Fantabulous

What more, we had this ethereal experience re-played because we got down from our train at Kulem station and rushed to other platform to catch 12779 Goa express (Vasco-New Delhi Nizamuddin) that had just arrived, for our return journey to Belgaum. So back to back we just got bowled over by exquisite views in broad daylight. DDS is hardly 12 kms from Kulem. We bought General tickets for return journey but entered reservation compartments and promptly got our tickets upgraded from TC (this is legal). The train was quite vacant but surprisingly didn't show availibility when we had checked the previous night. There was a light drizzle around the DDS region both ways but it rained quite heavily after Castlerock on our way back. A handful of tourists, say about less than 10 in number were still seen trekking along but that's totally illegal. Onward the Poorna express left at 12.25pm from Belgaum and reached Kulem at 4.35pm with about a total of 1.5 hours stop enroute. During return the Goa express seemed quite fast, left Kulem at 5 pm and reached Belgaum at 8.10 pm including a total of 1 hour break time. Had we missed the return train, we already had the back up plan of taking a Volvo bus or any STU express bus back to Belgaum from Mollem ( which I knew were aplenty). I am not really a railfan and might have boarded a train after many years but I am a game anyday for anything that can put me in mother nature's lap. I spent half the time standing near the door and rest half in my compartment chatting with parents, relishing snacks and enjoying scenery outside. We had window seats anyway. Goa to Londa junction happens to be amongst top 10 highly scenic rail routes in India. The railway stations on this route are picturesque too especially Castlerock ! Overall, the experience of visiting Dudhsagar was nowhere close to that of a proper trek but we had to suffice ourselves with whatever the train journey had to offer and a good one at that. Eventually a Sunday was well spent with my dear mom and dad

[procrj]

Originally Posted by vivek95

show stopper was the mighty Dudhsagar waterfalls that we passed closeby

Where are the pics? You could have visited Gokak falls as well, which is about 1.5 drive from belgaum.

[//M]

A pic of the beautiful Dudhsagar Falls clicked by me last year.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by procrj

Where are the pics? You could have visited Gokak falls as well, which is about 1.5 drive from belgaum.

Very sorry, as I did not have an option to click high quality pics. Long story short, camera was with my sis and my original phone had gone kaput. Had to manage with spare phone which has basic camera. I have the visuals and memories of this beautiful journey stored in my brain. It was a treat to the eyes. Captured 1 video and some pics of the train though, will see if I can share them. I have visited Gokak falls a couple of times earlier as Belgaum is my hometown. Thanks to the improved road conditions past two years, Gokak falls is now only an hour's drive from Belgaum. Belgaum to Hidkal cross at Hattargi is a 20 mins dash on NH4. There onwards its a smooth 2 lane road till Gokak falls that takes about 40 mins.

[xway]

this last post was in 2016, any updates if there is a trekking route to falls during monsoons (july-aug) i am planning to go there this year - and enjoy the monsoon aura of the majestic dudhsagar falls. has the routes been opened ? can we trek ? can we go by train ? any other updated information available ?

[sridhar-v]

Originally Posted by //M

A pic of the beautiful Dudhsagar Falls clicked by me last year.

Great Photo!

I presume you clicked it from somewhere near the base of the main hill.
I am planning to visit Goa during the rains and would like to have a look at the falls.

Could you share the location of the spot from where you took the photo? Is it approachable by road?

Thanks
Sridhar

[//M]

Originally Posted by sridhar-v

Great Photo!

I presume you clicked it from somewhere near the base of the main hill.
I am planning to visit Goa during the rains and would like to have a look at the falls.

Could you share the location of the spot from where you took the photo? Is it approachable by road?

Thanks
Sridhar

This was clicked from the railway track and it was quite an adventure. The RPF is pretty strict about not allowing people on the railway tracks near Dudhsagar Falls, so when we realized that the RPF shift changes at about 7 AM there was only a small window of 45 odd mins to make a quick dash to the falls and back from Sonaulim.

So we jumped off a moving train (albeit a slow moving train), hiked along the railway track to reach Dudhsagar and then quickly returned back to Kulem. We were caught by the RPF near Kulem on our way back but we convinced them that the falls was never on our agenda and we were only looking for a vehicle to take us around Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary.