Skandagiri Hills

An extraordinary place for you try out moonlight trekking is at the Skandagiri Hills. My friends and I went to Skandagiri Hills on a Friday night! As this was the first Night-Trek for all of us, every one of us had brought with us, our own flashlights to play around in the wilderness!

Skandagiri Hills is located near Chik Ballapur City, 60 kilometers from Bangalore. You will have to take the same route you take, to go to the Bengaluru International Airport to go to Chik Ballapur. 

We started our journey at midnight and took around 2.5 hours to reach the place for the reason that we had a sticky encounter with the Highway Traffic police. We’d stopped on the highway at a junction to affirm the correct route, and two policemen found it necessary to bother us at 2am in the night for no particular reason. All of us were asked to produce our bike’s documents and our driving licenses. And because one of my friend’s bikes didn’t have a copy of the registration certificate we were forced to part with Rs. 150 as a ‘penalty’! So, don’t stop on the highway too often as you will be giving opportunities for people (perhaps even cops) to cause you trouble!

A road which deviates to the left from NH7 takes you into Chik Ballapur. There are no significant sign boards indicating the deviation to Chik Ballapur, so I’d recommend you to keep track of your Odometer reading. This deviation comes approximately 28 kilometers after the flyover which takes you to the Bengaluru Airport. Once you’ve entered Chik Ballapur city, keep going straight on the same road till you find Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah’s statue on your left hand side, and take a left turn at that junction. The foot of the hills is approximately 6 kilometers from here. Do ask passersby for further directions. The city wore a deserted look at 2am in the night and there was absolutely no one to ask for directions. Luckily, we found two policemen at the statue who directed us correctly. (These were good cops!)

We were told by those policemen that the place opens only after 3am and therefore we waited at the Vishweshwaraiah statue munching on the condiment snacks which we'd carried with us. Going on road trips with many bikes has a high probability for at least one bike in the group to get a flat tyre! And we noticed that one of the scooters (an Activa) had its rear wheel flat! We had no other alternative but to leave this Activa in Chik Ballapur and head to the foot of the hills by riding triples on two other bikes. We attended to the problem next morning after finishing our trek.

Parking is available for cars and two-wheelers at Rs.25 to Rs. 30 per vehicle. The climb initially begins with tarred road which leads to a temple. Ahead of the temple starts the rocky terrain. The terrain is mediocre but you will have to pass through dense bushes many times during the trek. The trek comprises a fair blend of steep pathways, rock-climbing.

The place is completely dark hence carry flashlights with new batteries as you will need it continuously throughout the climb. There are guides near the temple who will take you up till the peak. Hire a guide as you will have to trek for 2hours in complete darkness. We reached the place and started trekking at 3.30am. The trek gets a little difficult at some parts, but don’t get discouraged! Keep persisting! Throughout the trek, our guide made sure we didn’t lose our enthusiasm by telling us there are shops at the hill top selling hot Maggie Noodles and Omelettes! After taking many breaks, we reached the peak at 5.45am by which time there was partial sunlight.

At the hill top, there are two shops made of tent selling hot tea (the tea wasn’t so great, but you couldn’t expect to get anything better there!) and the repeatedly mentioned noodles and omelettes! The shop guy will even set you up a camp fire for pay.

Due to mist and fog, we couldn’t see the rising sun clearly. The scenery at the top of the Skandagiri Hills is so surreal that it makes you feel the trip was worth it! You also get a distant view of Chik Ballapur and other nearby peaks like the Nandi Hills.

We started trekking down at 7.30am and we were on flat ground within 2 hours. Coming down seemed easier and took much less time than going up. The dampness on the rocks made them slippery and a few of us lost our footing and fell. The steep climb of the Skandagiri Hills which isn’t visible while trekking up could be seen picturesquely while trekking down after sunrise! We were intercepted by a herd of cows which were going up to graze on the mountain early in the morning! Jumping out of the narrow path into the bushes was the only way to avoid a head on collision with them!

At 9.30 on a Sunday morning, the city of Chik Ballapur had come alive buzzing with traffic, pedestrians and many vegetable vendors! The journey back to Bangalore took us another 2 hours.

Trekking to Skandagiri in the night is recommended more because of its scenic sunrise! A Nigh-Trek is definitely very enthralling as you will be curious all the way through to find out what lies ahead!