[Latheesh]

Did a round trip this week

BLR-KNR - Took Srirangapatna-Hunsur -Priyaapatna-Siddapura-Ammathi-Virajpet-Iritty-Mattanur-Kannur

KNR-BLR - Took Mattanur-Iritty-Virajpet-Gonikoppal-Hunsur-Srirangapatna route. Condition is improved a bit but Hunsur-Gonikoppal is in bad condition.

So Priyaapatna-Siddapura-Ammathi-Virajpet route is the best option now!

[sbr1304]

Am planing to drive to kannur in 1st week april..
after reading through decided on below route


Mysore Road > Srirangapatna > Round about sharp turn to right > Elivala > Bilikere > Hunsur > Kampala pura > Periya patna >
(Mysore - madikeri road) Kushalnagara(follow orange county board) > Siddapura > Ammathi town > Virajpet > Koottupuzha
Bridge, Thalassery Coorg Road > Iritty -> mattanur -> Kannur

any latest updates ?

[Latheesh]

^^

See my post above

Periyapatna-Siddapura road is in good condition except few potholes

[sbr1304]

Originally Posted by sbr1304

Mysore Road > Srirangapatna > Round about sharp turn to right > Elivala > Bilikere > Hunsur > Kampala pura > Periya patna >
(Mysore - madikeri road) Kushalnagara(follow orange county board) > Siddapura > Ammathi town > Virajpet > Koottupuzha
Bridge, Thalassery Coorg Road > Iritty -> mattanur -> Kannur

reached kannur yestedray...
stopped at the Golden Temple , kushalnagara - bylakuppe on the way.
The road conditions are good...
from bylakuppe - diversion to virajpet the roads are rough, ofcourse there no potholes..
some tar work is in progress, so it might be good in next few weeks..

[jingaboysr]

I'm travelling to Kannur from Bangalore this weekend. Any recent updates on the road near Gonikkoppal?
I plan to take the below route if roads near Gonikkoppal is bad.
Srirangapatna-Hunsur -Priyaapatna-Siddapura-Ammathi-Virajpet-Iritty-Mattanur-Kannur.
Is this route easy to drive in the night? We plan to start friday evening from Bangalore.

[RajeshK]

I am driving to Bangalore from Payyanur on 30th Apr afternoon. I will be taking Iritty - Virajpet - Gonikoppal - Hunsur road, will post the update after this drive.

Thanks
Rajesh

[epvineesh]

Originally Posted by jingaboysr

I'm travelling to Kannur from Bangalore this weekend. Any recent updates on the road near Gonikkoppal?
I plan to take the below route if roads near Gonikkoppal is bad.
Srirangapatna-Hunsur -Priyaapatna-Siddapura-Ammathi-Virajpet-Iritty-Mattanur-Kannur.
Is this route easy to drive in the night? We plan to start friday evening from Bangalore.

I dorve down from bangalore to kannur ,last week ,did a record time of 6 hrs and 15 mins

Relatively the only streach that is bad is the Gonikkopal to Virajper but its better that the last time I took it about 6 months back,now its atleast drivable at 50 - 60 km/hr.

The roads in kerala have been recently rebuilt,so after the koothupuzha bridge the ride is awesome.

I took the Gonikkopal route to Virajpet,and did not regret taking it,this has always been the shortest way,but was avoided a long time due to the road conditions

I would say the right time to start from B'lore is around 4:30 am - 5:00 am not much traffic on the roads,I was really surprised when the clock at home (Kannur) said 11:30 am ..it was still morning

Good luck on the drive,Stay safe and keep it rolling

[vinjosep]

The normal route I take is a bit different from what have been mentioned here. My destination: Cherupuzha (~31km from payyannur)

My normal route: Bangalore-NICE road-mysore- hunsur- periyapattana- madikeri-bhagamandala-(bhagamandala-panathoor interstate rd)- panathoor-vellarikundu-cherupuzha.

Total distance: ~370kms (from Madiwala, B'lore)

The postives: ~260 kms of superb road (B'lore to Madikeri) - Takes about 4-4.5hrs

The negatives: ~28kms on the Bhagamandala-Panathoor interstate road is via the Karike forest reserve. This road is narrow and mostly bad (though picturesque and sparse traffic). Rest of the stretch is of good to moderate quality with an occassional bad patch (not too many either, to be irritating). Takes me ~4+hrs to cover the last 120km to Cherupuzha with family.

On a side note, I make the whole journey within 7hrs on solo trips without any rash "off-roading" antics. Don't have to bother about second row passenger comfort and hence the difference.

My normal drive is a WagonR. With an Innova, the same route was a breeze even with family and took just 7hrs (discounting a good break for food etc, at Madikeri).

An interesting fact is that there is supposedly a kaccha/ unpaved road from Talakaveri to Pulingome through the reserve. This road is just 18kms long!! So if ever this road turns into a reality, then my journey reduces by ~75kms/ 2-3hrs. Alas, all efforts to turn this route into a route has met with failure so far (resistance from the Karnataka Govt. + forest dept - am told). A rubberised road on the Kerala side has been laid, along with a bridge to cross over and thats the only progress so far in the last 10 years towards this.

[RajeshK]

Just came back from Payyanur via Iritty - Virajapet (town) - Gonikkoppal - Hunsur route. Total 342Kms. The gonikoppal route is not as bas as mentioned in many of the previous posts. Still there are potholes, and rough roads but quite manageable. It took me 50minute to reach Hunsur from Virajpet via Gonikoppal. If you are travelling in a day time, I suggest to take this route.

Looking at the current condition of the road, I think we need to find alternate roads in monsoon, and surprisingly there is no sign of road repairs..!! :(

@vinjosep, why not Cherupuzha - Therthally - Alakode - Payyavur - Ulikkal - Iritty -Virajapet (town) - Gonikkoppal - Hunsur route? I think this will save time and kms. Are the roads are not good till Iritty...??

Thanks
Rajesh

[ampere]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

Just came back from Payyanur via Iritty - Virajapet (town) - Gonikkoppal - Hunsur route. Total 342Kms. The gonikoppal route is not as bas as mentioned in many of the previous posts. Still there are potholes, and rough roads but quite manageable. It took me 50minute to reach Hunsur from Virajpet via Gonikoppal. If you are travelling in a day time, I suggest to take this route.

Just a doubt.

Do you hit Virajpet while taking the Gonikoppal route?
I thought the town is totally by-passed. Only while coming form Kushalnagar/Periyapatna - Ammathi
one should hit Virajpet. Am I missing something?

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by ampere

Just a doubt.

Do you hit Virajpet while taking the Gonikoppal route?
I thought the town is totally by-passed. Only while coming form Kushalnagar/Periyapatna - Ammathi
one should hit Virajpet. Am I missing something?

Ampere, the Virajpet byepass was in real shambles last when I travelled two months ago! So most people prefer to go to the town and then get back to Gonikoppal via cauvery college road/Bitangala, avoiding the byepass. May be this was the reason he mentioned 'Virajpet town'

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Ampere, the Virajpet byepass was in real shambles last when I travelled two months ago! So most people prefer to go to the town and then get back to Gonikoppal via cauvery college road/Bitangala, avoiding the byepass. May be this was the reason he mentioned 'Virajpet town'

Yes this is correct. The direct route from Gonikoppal to Perumpadi checkpost is in ruins. Its very difficult to drive in a low GC car through this route. Going via the town will add only 4-5kms to the max.


Thanks
Rajesh

[jingaboysr]

Did a bangalore-kannur-madikeri-bangalore trip last weekend.
Took hunsur-Gonikkoppal-Iritty road and I have the say that the road condition from near gonikkoppal until the checkpost is BAD. Please take any alternate route if possible. Also take the mysore ring road to get to hunsur road, for the onward journey, we did a mistake of taking the first right after srirangapatna (ranganthittu road I think).

From Iritty, we went to Napoklu (had booked a homestay there). From there to Madikeri and then madikeri to bangalore. Madikeri- bangalore road is amazing and silky smooth.

[drjones]

Guys, Iam driving from kanchipuram to windflower resorts, Coorg this week end. Which is the best route? I need the roads to be good/ scenic etc even if its a bit longer drive. and, any idea about the windflower resort? I've stayed in Orange county which was good. thanks.

[kala]

Originally Posted by jingaboysr

Also take the mysore ring road to get to hunsur road, for the onward journey, we did a mistake of taking the first right after srirangapatna (ranganthittu road I think).

Mysore ring road isn't in any great shape either. If you compare these two routes (i.e Mysore Ring road vs. Srirangapatna-Yelivala road), the one you took would probably be the better choice - you at least save some distance.

If you are very particular about good roads only and don't mind extra time / distance / traffic, the best would be to go to Mysore city and take Hunsur road from there.