Bangalore - Kanakpura - Malavalli - Kollegal - Sathi : Route Queries

Fenomenon · 14th January 2010, 11:38

Hello everyone

planning to drive down germalam@sathy in a week. just wanted to know whether this route is motorable or not as of now. i dont mind the occasional bad stretches. just wanted to know whether an overall 50-60 kmph trip average is possible or not. also any inputs on where to break for some nice idli vada would help a lot.

thx much
amit

satshen · 25th February 2010, 17:42

Hi Amit

Did you make the trip and how was the road condition and any advice on restaurants on the way? I am planning to go on this route soon and your inputs will be very helpful.

Thanx in advance.

Satish

hvkumar · 25th February 2010, 23:11

I don't know whether fenomenon went or not, but I did Coimbatore-Sathy-Chamarajnagar route last month. The roads are simply outstanding from Coimbatore till the TN-KA border at Hasanur, break up immediately on entering KA, become better thereafter but deteriorate nearing Chamarajnagar. I decided to take the longer route via Nanjangud and Mysore thereafter. Till Nanjangud, road was so-so. Food facilities - I don't know, I did not stop, I left Coimbatore at 7 pm, reached Bangalore NICE Road at 1 am.

megazoid · 25th February 2010, 23:22

Absolutely awesome roads with some bad patches. Nothing to fret about though. But the good roads are just mind blowing with the forest cover on both sides of black tarmac. I travelled this road just last week with a new set of suspensions and yoko rubber and felt liberated!

bijuks · 2nd March 2010, 22:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by megazoid

Absolutely awesome roads with some bad patches. Nothing to fret about though. But the good roads are just mind blowing with the forest cover on both sides of black tarmac. I travelled this road just last week with a new set of suspensions and yoko rubber and felt liberated!

@megazoid - could you please share the timings on thie route? Wanted to know the following timings + road conditions:

1. Nice Road Jn on Kanakpura road to Kollegal
2. Kollegal to Chamrajnagar.
3. Chamrajnagar to TN border. (and major towns on the way)
4. TN border to Coimbatore

5. Is there a road to reach Palakkad route(NH47) without touching coimbatore city?

I looked at many old threads and has some data.

Anyone else has details from recent trips?

PraveenM · 2nd March 2010, 23:03

I did Maddur-Malavalli-Kollegal-BRhills-KGudi-Chamarajanagar-Sathy in December'09. Gorgeous roads in the TN side till Sathy. The only thing that was slowing me down was the elephants crossing symbols (the ones in red circle) and the slow moving trucks in the haripin bends.

Roads around Chamarajanagar was in bad shape and roadwork was going on.

Maddur-Malavalli was a less than 30min , a bit more for Malavalli-Kollegal. Chamarajanagar to TN border was slow, I was careful not damage the tyre/undercarriage.

bijuks · 2nd March 2010, 23:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by PraveenM

Chamarajanagar to TN border was slow, I was careful not damage the tyre/undercarriage.

Thank you Praveen. I'm planning a drive this route (kanakpura - Kollegal - Sathy - Kovai) this weekend.

hvkumar · 2nd March 2010, 23:55

I was on the Coimbatore-Sathy-Dimbam-Chamarajnagar route in Jan 2010. Except for the bad roads between Asanur (TN-kA border) at the border and before Chamarajnage, the roads in TN were fantastic.

My timings were as follows:
Coimbatore, 0 kms, 700 pm
Sathyamangalam, 65 kms, 815 pm
Dimbam, 31 kms, 845 pm
Asanur, 5 kms
Chamarajnagar, 45 kms, 945 pm

bijuks · 3rd March 2010, 18:08

@hvkumar - Thank you for the timings. Guess I have enogh data to try this out. Will post the details after the drive.

nilanjanray · 7th March 2010, 10:02

What about the Kanakpura - Kollegal stretch?

I am now planning to drive down to BR Hills through the Kanakpura - Kollegal route (which was bad/not doable last year when I went). Would prefer not to go via Maddur/Mysore Road, since I have already taken that route once while going to BR Hills.

bijuks · 8th March 2010, 22:15

Came back yesterday after the drive to Palakkad.

Source:
Marathahalli, Bangalore, Karnataka
Destination:
Olavakode, Palakkad, Kerala
Objective:
Scenic Drive through Satyamangalam forest and Dhimbam

Route Selected:
Marathahalli - Kanakapura - Kollegal - Chamarajanagar - Satyamangalam - Annur - Coimbatore - Palakkad

Estimated Distance:
380Km - as per google map.
Estimated Time:
8Hrs (inputs taken from google driving directions, Team BHP posts. - thanks to @hvkumar) - expecting road to be good throughout.
Estimated Start Time:
2:00pm on 5th March 2010
Estimated Arrival Time:
10:00pm on 5th March 2010

Return also planned in same route, if it is found viable.

All planning done - had a full tank on my WagonR on the day before and ready to go. Have 3 adult passengers (including me - the driver) and two kids aged 4 and 1.5. As per the plan, we should be reaching Sathy by 7:30pm, which would give us a good view of the forest and ghats.

But, the drive did not go well with the estimated timings and the forest drive happened after dark

.

More details to follow.

bijuks · 8th March 2010, 23:37

Details of Onward Trip: (Marathahalli, Bangalore to Palakkad, Kerala)
Start Time:
- 2:40pm on 05-Mar-2010
Route - places enroute:
- Marathahalli (0km : 0Hrs 0mins : 2:40pm)
- Kanakapura (75km : 1Hrs 35mins : 4:15pm)
- Kollegal (152km : 2Hrs 50mins : 5:30pm) The kms 142 to 143 was very bad. Then, up to 150 too was not in good condition.
- Chamarajanagar (190km : 3Hrs 50mins : 6:30pm) between kms 170 to 180, there were bad roads.
- Satyamangalam (265km : 5Hrs 50mins : 8:30pm) Immediately after chamarajnagar - some very bad stretch is there.
- Annur (300km : 6Hrs 20mins : 9:00pm) - 15 mins break here
- Coimbatore (333km : 7Hrs 20mins : 10:00pm)
- Palakkad (390km : 8Hrs 45mins : 11:25pm)
End Time:
- 11:25pm on 05-Mar-2010

Overall summary:
* Poor directions at junctions in Karnataka side. Had to ask at many junctions.
* In total around 25kms of bad roads out of which around 5 is very bad. Remaining - very good roads.
* Those that are in very bad - around 1Km between Kanakpura and Kollegal, around 1Km between Kollegal and Chamarajnagar, around 3Kms somewhere after Chamarajnagar
* Saw two deers on the road in the forest - when the vehicle slowed down, they quickly vanished to the forest. Could not do any night photography.
* Tiring drive - took almost 35 mins to get out of Coimbatore City even in the night at 10:00pm. Didn't know the directions - kept on asking.

On return, took the Salem route.
Start Time:
- 12:40pm on 07-Mar-2010
End Time:
- 06:30pm on 07-Mar-2010
Total 420Kms in 5Hrs 50mins.Good roads throughout.

bijuks · 8th March 2010, 23:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

What about the Kanakpura - Kollegal stretch?

As I have posted just now, the road is good except for around 10kms. In that 10Kms, 1 km is very bad as they have dug up the complete road and redone only one side of the road. Even on that side, when I traveled, they were just laying the metal and I guess the taring would take another couple of weeks.

hvkumar · 8th March 2010, 23:54

Goes on to prove that the Salem route is preferable anyday if you want to reach from A to B fast and in good shape. But the CH Nagar route is a very interesting route with jungles and wildlife sightings. I first drove on the Kanakapura-Kollegala-Chamarajanagar-Asanur road in 1988, I cannot remember a single occasion when the condition has been good throughout, it has always had bad sections.

Like bijuks, it took me 4.45 hrs to drive from Bangalore to Coimbatore via Salem, but 6 hrs via Chamarajnagar, both trips being in the last 3 month period.

vasoo · 31st March 2010, 14:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by bijuks

.....
* Tiring drive - took almost 35 mins to get out of Coimbatore City even in the night at 10:00pm. Didn't know the directions - kept on asking.
....

I believe there is a road form Annur to NH47 from where we can join the CBE bye-pass towards Palakkad. Didnt you try that?

14th January 2010, 11:38	#1
Fenomenon Newbie Join Date: May 2007 Location: bangalore Posts: 16 Thanked: 0 Times	Bangalore - Kanakpura - Malavalli - Kollegal - Sathi : Route Queries Hello everyone planning to drive down germalam@sathy in a week. just wanted to know whether this route is motorable or not as of now. i dont mind the occasional bad stretches. just wanted to know whether an overall 50-60 kmph trip average is possible or not. also any inputs on where to break for some nice idli vada would help a lot. thx much amit
	() Thanks

25th February 2010, 17:42	#2
satshen BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Bangalore/Pune Posts: 33 Thanked: 12 Times	Hi Amit Did you make the trip and how was the road condition and any advice on restaurants on the way? I am planning to go on this route soon and your inputs will be very helpful. Thanx in advance. Satish
	() Thanks

25th February 2010, 23:11	#3
hvkumar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 7,369 Thanked: 3,466 Times	I don't know whether fenomenon went or not, but I did Coimbatore-Sathy-Chamarajnagar route last month. The roads are simply outstanding from Coimbatore till the TN-KA border at Hasanur, break up immediately on entering KA, become better thereafter but deteriorate nearing Chamarajnagar. I decided to take the longer route via Nanjangud and Mysore thereafter. Till Nanjangud, road was so-so. Food facilities - I don't know, I did not stop, I left Coimbatore at 7 pm, reached Bangalore NICE Road at 1 am.
	() Thanks

25th February 2010, 23:22	#4
megazoid BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 573 Thanked: 4,138 Times View My Garage	Absolutely awesome roads with some bad patches. Nothing to fret about though. But the good roads are just mind blowing with the forest cover on both sides of black tarmac. I travelled this road just last week with a new set of suspensions and yoko rubber and felt liberated!
	() Thanks

2nd March 2010, 23:03	#6
PraveenM BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 125 Thanked: 32 Times	I did Maddur-Malavalli-Kollegal-BRhills-KGudi-Chamarajanagar-Sathy in December'09. Gorgeous roads in the TN side till Sathy. The only thing that was slowing me down was the elephants crossing symbols (the ones in red circle) and the slow moving trucks in the haripin bends. Roads around Chamarajanagar was in bad shape and roadwork was going on. Maddur-Malavalli was a less than 30min , a bit more for Malavalli-Kollegal. Chamarajanagar to TN border was slow, I was careful not damage the tyre/undercarriage.
	() Thanks

2nd March 2010, 23:55	#8
hvkumar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 7,369 Thanked: 3,466 Times	I was on the Coimbatore-Sathy-Dimbam-Chamarajnagar route in Jan 2010. Except for the bad roads between Asanur (TN-kA border) at the border and before Chamarajnage, the roads in TN were fantastic. My timings were as follows: Coimbatore, 0 kms, 700 pm Sathyamangalam, 65 kms, 815 pm Dimbam, 31 kms, 845 pm Asanur, 5 kms Chamarajnagar, 45 kms, 945 pm
	() Thanks

3rd March 2010, 18:08	#9
bijuks BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 215 Thanked: 109 Times	@hvkumar - Thank you for the timings. Guess I have enogh data to try this out. Will post the details after the drive.
	() Thanks

7th March 2010, 10:02	#10
nilanjanray Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: HR, UK, RJ, TN Posts: 1,888 Thanked: 2,946 Times View My Garage	What about the Kanakpura - Kollegal stretch? I am now planning to drive down to BR Hills through the Kanakpura - Kollegal route (which was bad/not doable last year when I went). Would prefer not to go via Maddur/Mysore Road, since I have already taken that route once while going to BR Hills.
	() Thanks

8th March 2010, 22:15	#11
bijuks BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 215 Thanked: 109 Times	Came back yesterday after the drive to Palakkad. Source: Marathahalli, Bangalore, Karnataka Destination: Olavakode, Palakkad, Kerala Objective: Scenic Drive through Satyamangalam forest and Dhimbam Route Selected: Marathahalli - Kanakapura - Kollegal - Chamarajanagar - Satyamangalam - Annur - Coimbatore - Palakkad Estimated Distance: 380Km - as per google map. Estimated Time: 8Hrs (inputs taken from google driving directions, Team BHP posts. - thanks to @hvkumar) - expecting road to be good throughout. Estimated Start Time: 2:00pm on 5th March 2010 Estimated Arrival Time: 10:00pm on 5th March 2010 Return also planned in same route, if it is found viable. All planning done - had a full tank on my WagonR on the day before and ready to go. Have 3 adult passengers (including me - the driver) and two kids aged 4 and 1.5. As per the plan, we should be reaching Sathy by 7:30pm, which would give us a good view of the forest and ghats. But, the drive did not go well with the estimated timings and the forest drive happened after dark . More details to follow.
	() Thanks

8th March 2010, 23:54	#14
hvkumar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 7,369 Thanked: 3,466 Times	Goes on to prove that the Salem route is preferable anyday if you want to reach from A to B fast and in good shape. But the CH Nagar route is a very interesting route with jungles and wildlife sightings. I first drove on the Kanakapura-Kollegala-Chamarajanagar-Asanur road in 1988, I cannot remember a single occasion when the condition has been good throughout, it has always had bad sections. Like bijuks, it took me 4.45 hrs to drive from Bangalore to Coimbatore via Salem, but 6 hrs via Chamarajnagar, both trips being in the last 3 month period.
	() Thanks