A challenging and interesting trek – Madhugiri is a magnificent monolithic hill near Tumkur. Its not a long trek – but a steep one on rocky inclines with limited to no grips.

Located near Tumkur –  it is about 15 km ahead of Devrayani Durge. Look out for a signage for Devarayanadurga/Madhugiri and turn right  under Dobaspet overbridge and drive 100M on a one way or go a little further and take a U turn. The drive is scenic with lots of greenery, hillocks and lakes.  Enjoy the refreshingly fresh rural ambience. We left Koramangla at 7.30 and after breakfast at Shree Rathnam (You have many options on this route) we reached the parking lot at the foothills of this monolithic hill by 9.30 AM. And the first impression was  – Challenging and daunting.

Route – Google Map of the circuit

Madhugiri at  3930 feet is supposedly the 2nd tallest monolithic hill in Asia. The hill is home to a dilapidated fort supposedly built by Hyder Ali. A series of doorways leads to the hill. The ruined temple of Gopalakrishna is located at the top. It took us slightly over an hour to reach the summit. The steep slopes of the hill and exploration of the fort is slow due to steepness pf the hill. Descent is quicker.

There is one specific stretch that is very tricky and requires guts. You are on all fours as you inch forward with the wind blowing like a gale. Its almost a ten minute section but with every step you can feel your heart pounding. Even the bravest in our group had second thoughts about this section – but we all finally managed to cover it.

The Hill is steep and all rock – limited foothold. Yes the initial sections have regular stairs and and rock-cut steps. But after the halfway mark its just steep rocky ascent.  Be careful while climbing. Don’t be adventurous. This is a dangerous trek. Thats probably the reason why we hardly saw any crowds. Please dont risk with children.

There are no shops and stalls on the way so do carry water and some snacks to munch once you reach the top. Fortunately there were no monkeys either. Do get a shoe with a good grip. And have a hat – its pleasant but sunny.

The view from the summit is beautiful.

We spent 30 min at the summit and were back to the car park by 12 Noon. there are no good restaurants in the vicinity so we headed back to Bangalore taking a round route via Sira so that we could visit the Narasimhaswami  Temple at Seebi. This is a beautiful ancient temple but unfortunately it was closed. The Temple tank outside the temple is well maintained and clean.

On the way back we stopped for lunch at Kamath and reached home by 3.30 PM.

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For other fascinating day trips in and around Bangalore visit below

Explore Bangalore – 21 Curated Day Trips