[Dr.AD]

Offroading Weekend at "Shola Heights" (Kudremukh)

Shola Heights (location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/t7WqRmkep63Hgyhh9) is a famous homestay in the offroading circuit. This is located atop a hill, overlooking the majestic Kudremukh Peak (one of the iconic mountain peaks in Karnataka, and a popular place for hiking and mountaineering). In fact, the homestay owner mentioned this is the highest homestay in Karnataka! A nice high altitude place overlooking scenic valleys and mountains all around! This being the highest and the last house on that hill, if offers both a vantage viewpoint as well as total seclusion from the rest of the world.

While the homestay itself is beautiful and a great place for sure, the reason this place is famous in the offroading circuit is because it can only be reached by a 6km of treacherous hill climb on a dirt track where only 4x4 vehicles can ply! Even with a 4x4 vehicle, this trail offers enough challenges and fun, and is a sought after trail for offroading. Rarely do you get a chance to do proper offroading, that too for full 6km, just to reach the place of stay! That is indeed a USP of this place!

For those not going there for offroading, the homestay offers a secure parking space below the hills, where the normal road ends. You can park there and the homestay team will pick you up in the their own 4x4 vehicle. However, most offroading enthusiasts drive up in their own 4x4s, and that drive is often the biggest motivation to visit this place.

This place is incredibly scenic in the monsoons, when the hills and the valleys are lush green and the weather is magical. However, this trail become extremely tricky and challenging in the monsoon. One needs a good support and rescue team to attempt this in the peak monsoon. On the other hand, in this dry month of March, the trail is not that difficult - it is easy enough for a solo traveler, and yet difficult enough to have some good offroading adventure - just the perfect combination for solo offroading.

I love solo drives, as evident from many of my solo travelogues, but solo off-roading is something that one rarely gets to do. Offroading is usually a group activity because of the support (spotting and other help) and rescue requirements. With the point mentioned above, I thought this trail in March would offer me that rare solo offroading opportunity, and I decided to give it a shot on a weekend. Thankfully, it turned out that the conditions were perfect for a solo offroader. Not too difficult a trail where I would need to be rescued, and yet difficult enough to offer me some adrenaline rush and some scary moments. A nice mix of fun and adventure without being too risky!

In this dry month, the main challenge in the trail is that it is full of loose and slippery soil and gravel, and offers very low traction on the steep slopes. Most of the trail is steep slope (it is a good amount of climbing), and some of the sharp hair-pin bends, combined with steep slope, and the loose gravel can become tricky. One needs a 4x4H in the entire trail even when this is dry, and for sure would need 4x4L in the monsoon when this is wet and there is plenty of mud. I climbed the entire trail in 4x4H. I did some driving around the homestay too after reaching there, and it was all in 4x4H. Thus, once I exited the "normal" roads below the hills and started climbing, I had 4H engaged throughout, for the entire weekend, till I got down to the main road the next day!

Given that the homestay is only reachable by that 6 km of treacherous 4x4 trail, the homestay owner described it aptly that it is almost like an island of its own! You are totally cut off from the rest of the world, except for that one link that is that offroad trail. The homestay itself depends 100% on their own 4x4 vehicle (a Mahindra Bolero Camper 4x4) for their survival there. There is just no other option, and no other way.

I loved this concept and the experience! In my entire hill climb to and from the homestay, as well as my local wanderings there on the hills, I did not see any other vehicle, or any other human being other than the homestay owner and the staff. Absolutely alone and secluded time in the hills, and I loved it so much! Just me, my Thar, those scenic mountains and views all around, and that treacherous trail to drive around. Exactly the poetic experience that every 4x4 owner desires to have. I am thankful to this place for offering me that experience!

The drive from Bangalore to Samse, the town where you exit the normal roads and start this hill climb, is about 6 hours drive. The last 100km of the roads, from Sakleshpur to Samse (via Mudigere and Kalasa) is a scenic forest route, with dense forest, green hills and ghats. Even in these summer months, this drive was quite nice and scenic.

However, the biggest fun starts after you exit the tarred roads, and start driving on the trail leading to Shola Heights.

For me, the challenge started with finding the right trail in the first place. Turns out there are two trails to reach this place. The most commonly used is a 6km long trail, and there is another one that is shorter (about 4.5km long), but steeper and much narrower. Google Maps by default gives this shorter trail. However, even worse, it does not show the trail accurately. In general, Google Maps in this area are off by about 200m, and in the hills, that makes them useless. Google Maps wrongly showed that trail at a point where nothing existed, and when I joined the actual trail, it was the longer one (6km long). That was still fine! But now the problem was that Google Maps does not know this trail, and for the entire duration, the maps became useless.

I spotted a couple of old boards of Shola Heights initially, but later they disappeared, and for a long time I kept on wondering if I was on the right trail. So there I was, enjoying my off-roading, tackling the trail in 4x4H, enjoying the views all around, but still a bit nervous that I might actually be lost! Thankfully, and surprisingly, the phone connection worked throughout, and I called the homestay owner a couple of times to describe where I was and used his guidance to find the path forward.

Before I describe the rest, let me mention that my vehicle for this was my beloved "Dusty", my Thar 4x4! Dusty enjoyed this as much as I did. It was these kind of experiences for which I bought the Thar 4x4 in the first place, and I was so glad I was able to do justice to that.

"Dusty", my Thar 4x4, on the trail to Shola Heights:


Most of the trail is dry and dusty (in these summer months), and full of loose soil and gravel. The trail is very steep and slippery. The pictures do not show the slope at all. The pictures make it all look flat. But believe me, the trail was so steep that even walking up and down on the trail was tricky.

The slippery and steep slopes that pictures fail to capture:


One more reason why I loved this trail so much is because in addition to offering a good 4x4 experience, the trail is also very scenic! It is not some boring, artificially created track for the sake of offroading. It is a natural hill path with scenic hills and views and all around. Those landscape views were the icing on the cake for me.

I enjoyed stopping, getting out and looking at such views from the trail:


Although most of the trail is dry and dusty, there is a section where it goes through thick trees, and passes a stream. It was a nice shaded area there, with a canopy of trees covering the trail. The stream was dry now, and apart from a small puddle of water, there was no water. In fact, there are two stream crossings in this 6km long trail, but both of them were dry in this month.

At a stream crossing (which was dry now):



One more photo of Dusty on this trail:


The sharp hairpin bends, with steep climb, were at times a bit tricky. The Thar would not turn that sharply in one go, and I had to take 3-point turns. And when I tried to reverse in those maneuvers, in the middle of the slope (and now reverse would mean I am going downslope), the car would just slide on the loose gravel and steep downslope. I had to stomp on the brakes to stop it, and had a couple of scary moments. I learnt my lesson and later tried to go wide and drive the outside wheel out of the trail just to avoid taking 3-point turns. That turned to be a much better strategy than trying to reverse in the middle of the slope.

Views of the trail and the mountains in the mirror:



As I climbed up, the views in my windshield near the top of the hill:


After enjoying that hill climb, stopping at numerous places to enjoy the landscape views, taking my time, and yet feeling nervous all the time thinking if I was lost, finally I reached the homestay at the very top of the hill.

Arrived, with a sudden view of this beautiful house, after wondering whether I was lost:



This is the house:


I was the only guest in the homestay that day, as has been the case in some of my recent trips, for example, this stay in Konkan. Maybe because I pick these off-beat places, and go there in the off-season, and that too not on any major holidays, I usually find myself the lone guest there.

Dusty being alone there, got this nice parking space:


This homestay is indeed a very unique place. I had a great time there. However, this is a very basic place. The room was as basic as it gets. It was very clean and comfortable, but very basic. The room had just simple cots and a fan (no AC), a clean but again very simple bathroom, and that is it. There are a total of 5 such simple rooms in the house. And there is a common dining area where they serve homemade fresh meals. Everything was clean and comfortable, but as basic as it gets. No luxuries or special amenities anywhere.

However, what makes this homestay so special was the amazing location, the breathtaking views all around, the feeling of isolation and seclusion, the feeling of adventure, and above all, the fantastic team. The owners, Mr. Abhinandan and Mr. Kumar were both there and they were very friendly, polite and nice. We chatted a lot and became friends. And the staff was very good too. They cooked some delicious food, snacks, tea and coffee. Their hospitality and friendliness made me feel right at home there.

After that delicious lunch, and some rest, I headed out again in the evening for the trails, and exploring sunset views.

Dusty heading out in the evening for sunset trails:



Crossing another dry stream:



I parked and climbed a small hill to take this photo:



View of the trail in the evening light:



View of a distant tree on that hill, and the other trail passes by that tree:


As I mentioned, I was there not for offroading for the sake of offroading. But I was there to explore the views and enjoy the landscapes, and I got plenty of opportunities for that.

Sunset in the dry hills:



The dry grass against the backdrop of the mountains:



View of one of the steep hairpin bends against the sun:



View of the trail at sunset:



Finally, a shot of Dusty on that trail at sunset:


After enjoying this sunset trail and the views, I came back to the house and had a great sleep that night.

[Dr.AD]

Next Morning Trails and Return

Next morning, I headed out for a morning trail, just after sunrise. This time, I explored the second trail - the shorter one. This was even more scenic, but again, more steep and much narrower too. In general the trails are quite narrow, and if another vehicle comes from opposite side, then I am not sure how the two vehicles would find space. Luckily for me, forget coming from opposite side, I just did not see any other vehicle anywhere there in my entire weekend driving, and thus, that situation never arose.

Morning trail with such views in the windshield (notice the fog in the valley below):



View of the fog in the valley below:



More views of the landscape:



The thick fog had covered the valley below:



Dusty on the narrow trails, enjoying the fresh morning:


After exploring that second trail in the morning, I came back to the house for breakfast. The breakfast was again fresh hot local food, and it was delicious. After that breakfast and a cut of hot tea, I said goodbye to the team there and started driving back, now taking the first (longer) trail again on my way down:

Dusty on the trail, now descending down:



Another shot at that scenic corner:



The scenic trail and the landscapes:



A closer shot of Dusty on that trail:


I entered that forest stretch again, in my return leg. The forest patch was dark and cool, and I spent some time there enjoying the amazing weather and the peace there.

Charming trails through the forest:



One more view:



Dusty in what is supposed to be stream crossing (which was all dry now) :



Parting shot of Dusty in that scenic trail:


The owner of the homestay, Abhinandan, is also a good painter and artists. The walls of the house showcase many nature and wildlife paintings, all done by Abhinandan himself. On the walls of my room, there was one painting done by Abhinandan, which I think captured the essence of that place.

The painting on the wall, of those trails there, capturing the essence of that place:


I loved that painting, and I think that painting summarizes my experiences of that weekend well.

So that is all from this memorable weekend trip, a combination of little bit of adventure and tons of fun, and some great times with Dusty.

Thank you very much for reading!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[W.S.T.R.]

Another amazing write-up. I am wondering, where do you find such fantastic locations

Keep safe. Keep travelling.

[ishan0278]

Beautiful Thread Dr.AD. Will attempt this next month. Did you needed any spotting or you managed it without a spotter ?

[RAHS]

@Dr.AD,

Fantastic travelogue and lovely photos

This homestay looks like a hidden gem. Location is just WOW! Adding to my bucket list. Thanks for finding such beautiful places and sharing your experience in this forum. It does help a lot of people. Highly appreciated

Looking forward to the next one

Cheers,
RAHS

[peddagunda]

I have saved/bookmarked this place long ago on Google maps. After reading this and seeing the pictures, can't wait to get there. Eagerly waiting for my Thar Roxx to arrive. This will definitely be one of the places where I would want to go with the Thar.

[prancinstallion]

The moment I read the title and KA, I knew it has to be you, Dr.AD. The place looks scenic and the trail adds to the adventure. More travel inspiration; keep them coming! Thanks for sharing

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by W.S.T.R.

Another amazing write-up.
Keep safe. Keep travelling.

Originally Posted by ishan0278

Beautiful Thread Dr.AD.

Originally Posted by RAHS

@Dr.AD,
Fantastic travelogue and lovely photos

Originally Posted by prancinstallion

The moment I read the title and KA, I knew it has to be you, Dr.AD. The place looks scenic and the trail adds to the adventure. More travel inspiration; keep them coming! Thanks for sharing

Thank you to all of you! Thank you for your kind words and appreciation.

Originally Posted by ishan0278

Did you needed any spotting or you managed it without a spotter ?

As I mentioned, I was all alone, so there was no chance of using help of a spotter. I did not see another human being in the entire off-roading time there, leave alone having someone as a spotter.

However, no, this trail would not need a spotter. The trail is easy to see from the driver's seat, and there are no huge rocks or stones where only one wheel need to go, or no situations where you would have wheels in the air, the kind of situations where a spotter would be helpful. The trail is slippery and sharp, but not blind to the driver, and therefore, a skilled driver can do this without a spotter.

Even in the monsoon when this would become muddy and slushy, the biggest challenge would be to get traction and not to slide away or get suck in the mud. That would require a combination of good off-roading hardware and driver skill. But even there, a spotter may not be of much help.

So in short, no spotter required and I certainly did not have one.