Kalavantin Durg – Steepest hill Forts near Mumbai

After several months of deciding on meeting or going somewhere, it was a sudden idea by one of my friends to go to Kalavantin Durg on one of the Saturdays.We decided to catch the early morning train to Panvel, one of them failed to get the train as he was traveling from the western line.

How to reach Kalavantin Durg:

We reached Panvel at around 700 and thought of waiting for him, But as he was gonna take long we thought of having some misal at a local shop. By the time we finished the other friend reached Panvel, we went back to the station and met with him. After deciding whether to go by bus or rickshaw we decided on taking a rickshaw to the place, COST was according to the meter plus half which turned out to be 300Rs. Bus tickets to the base village of Thakurwadi cost rs 10 and the bus timings are 2 hours apart.

Beginning the trek:

After dropping us at the base village which is Thakurwadi we started our trek. Most of the path till the machi is the same for both Prabalgad and the Kalavantin which is a nice big dirt road, with a gradual climb so it was a casual climb which we completed by taking small breaks on the way. After a climb of 2 Hrs, we reached the machi which is actually a plateau, This is the place where one path leads to Prabalgad and another to Kalavantin Durg. We had some Limbu Pani at one of the shops on the plateau and ordered for the food which we would have after we descended from the top, they also offer a place to stay for the night.

The climb to Kalavantin Durg was not very difficult as we went there in winter But it may be riskier in monsoon as there are steps and the inclination is steep. The route starts in the forest at first it’s a small route that takes you to the base of the Kalavantin Durg. From where there are steps to the top, some of the steps are about 2 to 3 feet in height. The climb wasn’t that difficult and it took us nearly an hour to 45 minutes to reach the top.

Once at the top there is a small rocky patch which we have to climb which is a little difficult and one of our friends stayed behind as he had worn slippers, we tried to tell him that it would be easy but he didn’t want to take chances as a sprain would make it difficult for him to descend the whole thing. We climbed on the top clicked a few pictures at the top, rested for some time, and then started descending. There’s nothing much to do at the top as it is a very small place.

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The Descent

We started descending and reached the base i.e the machi in another half hour we had lunch which was unlimited and for Rs 100 and it included dal, rice,sabji, pitla (sabji made of besan). After lunch, we rested for some time before we started our descent. Another two hours and we were at Thakurwadi by 3.The bus was at 4, so we had to stop for another hour.so we waited and tried to ask for a lift from several vehicles while we were at it, Finally, we succeeded and a SUMO dropped us back to Panvel station. We got our tickets and returned home by evening. Thus it was a small nice and cheap weekend trek.

Grade: Moderate/Risky in the rainy season.
Cost: Cheap not more than 300 per head.

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