Igatpuri Region
This region
consists of those mountains which are accessed by trains going from Mumbai
CST to Kasara and Igatpuri. Local trains only go upto Kasara, and don't
climb the Thal Ghat from Kasara to Igatpuri. Hence to go to Igatpuri, one
has to either take a long distance train or reach Kasara and then take
a bus. The first local train to Kasara leaves Mumbai CST at 4:00am, and
the last train at 11:15pm. The Mahanagari express leaves Mumbai CST at
11:55 and goes via Igatpuri. It takes 3 hours to reach Kasara by a slow
local, and 3 hours to reach Igatpuri by a long distance mail/express train.
Kasara is 120km from Mumbai, whereas Igatpuri is 136km away.
Mahuli Area
This area
comprises the mountains around Mahuli village, which is situated 5km from
Asangaon. Asangaon is accessed by local train from Mumbai and is on the
Kalyan-Kasara line. It is 85km from Mumbai, and it takes two hours and
fifteen minutes to reach Asangaon by a slow local train.
Mahuli fort
This is
a popular hiking place since it is easily accessible. It was the site of
many fierce battles in the 18th century.
Bhandardara Area
Bhandardara is a small town situated at one end of the Bhandardara lake.
There is a dam nearby called Wilson dam. The Bhandardara lake is on a plateau
750m high. This plateau in fact is part of the Deccan plateau. The western
end of the plateau gives a view of the Konkan while the other sides are
almost totally ringed around by the highest mountains of the Sahyadri.
The average height of these mountains is more than 1200m. The panoramic
view one gets from this plateau is striking. The Sahyadris are indeed at
their finest here.
Chhonda-Ghatghar Pass
This is a gentle pass connecting Chhonda in the Konkan to Ghatghar village
on the Bhandardara plateau. Visit this page
for the details.
Alang
This is a huge mountain quite in front of the village Ghatghar which
is on the Bhandardhara plateau. For the full story click
here.
Kulang:
This is an excellent two day trek. For more information about Kulang and
for some pictures, visit this page.
Ratangad
For the details of this trek click here
Ajoba
This is one of the most impressive looking mountains in this region.
The main reason being that it kind of juts out of the main range of Sahyadris.
The views from the top of this mountain are one of the best in the Sahyadris.
On the north one gets good view of Kulang, Madangad, Alang and Kalsubai
and on the west we get view of Ratangad, Kathra and Ghanchakkar and
on the south we get views of Harishchandragad and Napta.
The trek is a two day trek from Mumbai, and somewhat demanding.
For details click here.