Kodachadri Trek

Kodachadri is a mountain peak (altitude - 1843 m above sea level) in the Western Ghats in Karnataka. We went trekking here in December 2006. The place is very close to the temple town of Kollur and can be easily reached by bus.

The total length of the trek is about 16 kilometers.

We started the trek at 9:45 in the morning from a place called Karakatte. The initial part of the trek was a three hour walk on a more or less even slope till we reached a cricket pitch.

For the next three hours, we trekked through a forest and hilly area which eventually leads to a mini village about an hour before the peak. We had lunch at this place and rested for a while before continuing our trek to the peak.

The last phase of the trek involved an extremely steep and slippery climb with only roots of trees providing footholds for us. On the way we reached a Shiva temple where the only thing we could do was pray to God and hope for our safe return. The last half an hour of trek was extremely tiring but we knew that the end would be worth the effort and we kept moving on. At about 4 PM, more than 6 hours (which included lunch and numerous breaks) after we had begun the trek from Karakatte, we reached the peak. The peak provided a panoramic view of the Western Ghats and we could see as far as the Arabian sea which was about 70 kms away. We stayed at the peak for about two more hours, hoping to see a good view of the sunset from the top, but had to return before it as we had no torches. We took a good number of pictures of the scenic view, and a few have been uploaded here.

This has been the most exciting, enjoyable and satisfying trek that I have been to.

After the trek, we climbed down to the village on the hill and had dinner. We were lucky enough to find a jeep that could give us a ride back to Kollur where we spent the night.

Trek Video (Only the peak) on Youtube