Bangalore is blessed with amazing hills all around which are a perfect gateaway for a weekend. While some of the hills can be scaled on the wheels others need you to burn your calorie to get the mesmerizing view of the village beneath. I've been travelling for the past 7 years and have visited countless number of places in Karnataka and surrounding states. After visiting all those places I came up with the golden list of these 5 trekking places which you must not miss.
Here you go...
Distance from Bangalore: 120 km
Trek Difficulty: Difficult
Trek Time: 3 hours
On the top of the list we have Madhugiri Hills. It is not only the most beautiful fort around Bangalore but also offers the most challenging trek experience if you want to test your endurance.
At 3930 feet elevation, Madhugiri is a single hill (monolith). It is the largest in Asia and second largest in the world. Nestled in its steep slopes is a fort, once credited to Hyderaali. Antaralada Bagilu, Diddibagilu, and Mysore Gate are the three gateways of the fort. A series of doorways leads to the hillock. The ruined temple of Gopalakrishna is located at the top.
https://youtu.be/EVRLSakn1lw
Distance from Bangalore : 50 km
Trek Difficulty : Moderate
Trek Time : 2.5 hours
Next to Madhugiri comes Savandurga which is without doubt is one of the best trekking places around Bangalore. The trek is challenging and fun at the same time. Make sure you start trek early in the morning as it gets really hot in the afternoon as the rock gets heated up. Standing as tall as 4000 ft Savandurga is one of the largest monolith in Asia. Savandurga is formed by two hills known locally as Karigudda (black hill) and Biligudda (white hill). Savandi Veerabhadreshwara Swamy temple and Narasimha Swamy temple, situated at the foot of the hills.
Distance from Bangalore: 60 km
Trek Difficulty: Moderate
Trek Time: 2.5 hours
Without doubt Skandagiri is one of the most talked trek around Bangalore. Due to its immense demand for the night trek experience it had got banned a few years back but it has been opened for guided trek past 2 years and the craze for the night trek experience hasn't gone down since then. The hill is best scaled in the dark and watching the rising sun from the peak is one of the most mesmerizing experience of this trek. If you were lucky enough then you will also get to see the bed of clouds beneath and the sun rising just above it.
4. Shivagange Hills
Distance from Bangalore: 52 km
Trek Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Trek Time: 2 hours
The hill looks like a shiva linga from far which is the reason behind the name of the hill - Shivagange. Known for the miracle of ghee turning to butter during Shiva linga abhishek. It's also know for the natural spring called Olakallu theertha. At first the hill might look very easy to scale but soon after quite a bit of hiking you will a verticle ascend which would look impossible to scale. In addition to the steep ascend the monkeys start giving a real trouble. It's best not to carry any eatables/water bottles in hand. They attack the bags as well but you can shoo them away with little courage.
5. Huthridurga Betta
Distance from Bangalore: 70 km
Trek Difficulty: Easy
Trek Time: 1.5 hours
And on the last but not the least we have Huthridurga Fort which is one of the most underrated trek place around Bangalore. While the fort offers a easy trek, the thrill of finding the trail is worth mentioning. The fort is guarded by series of doors which are spread in different directions. So you will have a good time finding the next door one after the other.
Do let me know in the comment section below which place do you thing which deserves to be on this list