Road Trip to Mullayanagiri Peak Chikmagalur

Mullayanagiri Peak is one of the best hiking destinations from Bangalore. I have often satiated my weekend travel urges with a drive to Chikmagalur, 243km west of Bangalore.

Chikmagalur makes an ideal base for indulging in various other adventure and touristy activities. There are several Hoyasala temples in its vicinity.

We visited temples like: Lakshmi Narasimha temple in Javagal, Yoga Narasimha Temple in Baggavalli.

Road Trip to Mullayanagiri Peak

For once we decided to do a road trip to Mullayanagiri Peak.

Before proceeding for Chikmagalur we had done good study of weather in Chikmagalur, courtesy Google. The prediction was pleasant and sunny.

Within city limits it was indeed dry and pleasant, but as we drove up the Mullayanagiri peak we started experiencing light drizzle, soon it was raining.

Mullayanagiri peak Chikamagalur Karnataka

Mist covered road of Mullayanagiri peak Chikmagalur

Road Trip to Mullayanagiri Peak

It was like driving into the unknown. Visibility dropped below 10m. While it was not raining hard, nor was there any thunder showers; no roaring winds too. It was mist or the clouds decided to hang too low.

Just the drizzle and the temperature too dipped so much that we had to pull out the shawls. Worried parents bundled their little ones in colorful warm jackets.

We had to be extremely slow and careful in the twists and turns of the road. The roads are narrow and old, they were breaking of from the edges, so take care on those roads, till new ones are built. Mist all around provides one with good fodder for photography no doubt, but I yearned to see the sky at least between the branches.

Mullayanagiri peak road Chikamagalur Karnataka

Hiking the Mullayanagiri Peak

Mullayanagiri Peak is the highest one in Karnataka. It belongs to the chain of hills in Chandra Dhrona Hill Range of Western Ghats of district Chikkamagaluru. I expected no tourists around at the summit; I mean who travels in such a beautiful weather! But I was surprised to see good crowd there warming themselves with a cup of tea and munching on choice snacks.  The little shops there were making good sales.

There are several local groups which offer to conduct the trek to the summit of Mullayanagiri. Young crowd from IT companies of Bangalore often head to this destination for weekends. And that day was no different. I have several of my pictures dotted with their heads! You can trek all 4km up the hill or drive up half the way and take stairs till the peak. I chose to do the second option. We availed the jeep service after driving up some distance. (It is advisable to master hill driving skills before you embark on this narrow winding road.)

Mist covered Mullayanagiri peak Chikmagalur

Bangalore to Mullayanagiri Peak

Bangalore to Mullayanagiri Peak distance – 265km. Best option would be to halt at Chikmagalur and start early to hike up the peak.  If you can reach before sunrise you can feast your eyes on some glorious views of the sun rising there. Chikmagalur to Mullayanagiri Peak distance – 22km and takes approximately an hour. But on that misty day it took double the time.

Mullayanagiri Peak Karnataka India

Skywatch Friday

Shantiniketan: Unveiling of Tagore's Creative Abode
Enchanting Kathgola Palace and Bagan in Murshidabad

39 Responses to “Road Trip to Mullayanagiri Peak Chikmagalur

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.