Korigad Fort -- Hike on a rare sunny day in monsoon

It was pouring the whole mid-night; out of five trek-mates, two made themselves unavailable earlier night because of some urgent work leaving only three of us to trek. Intensity of the rain was so much at mid-night that I woke up from the sound sleep as rain was lashing on my bedroom windows and terrace roofs. Considering that we had to trek in Lonavala where rain would be much severe, a thought came to my mind to cancel the trek. Luckily, incessant rain stopped sometime early in the morning and weather became clear when I got up. Fortunately, my friends, Sandeepak Phadke and Hetal Shah woke up on time and came at my home around 6.45 AM.

We left Pune in my car as per the earlier plan. I had taken guidance regarding direction of Korigad, trekking route and places to eat in advance from my friend Onkar Oak who is a living encyclopedia of all the Sahyadri related information. Weather was fantastic; traffic was sparse and we soon reached to Lonavala around 8.15AM. We had a breakfast of Idli-vada sambar followed by tea at “Annapurna” restaurant and proceeded towards the Korigad. 

Korigad, at an height of 929m above sea level, is situated about 20km away from Lonavala on the way to Aamby valley. Drive from Lonavala to Korigad was quite heavenly with road engulfed in the clouds and wild flowers spread across the vast expanse. We just reveled at the majestic sights and awesome weather. After reaching to base village named Peth Shahapur, we confirmed the direction of our trek from the local villagers and these villagers also showed us the place to park the car. There is a well in the village from where you need to go to left and follow the dirt path. 

Make sure that you keep peak of the fort on your right side as you trek.

After a while, we came across alternate route right to the normal route which was going through the thicket. The route was looking very inviting and I went inside to check it out. I further went inside for 5 minutes and after spotting litter like water bottle and biscuit wrappers left over by some of earlier trekkers (?), I called out to my friends to join me on the same route.

We walked almost 10-15 minutes further and this route finally joined somewhere in the middle of well laid steps of Korigad.

After climbing few steps, you come across a small water tank carved inside the rock and a tiny Ganesh Temple.

Ganesh Idol inside the temple:

Slope of the fort was covered with the green grass and flowers and it was a soothing sight for the eyes.

Soon, you come across Ganesh Darvaja, the main entrance of the fort.

Main attractions of the fort:

There is a large plateau on the fort; fortification of the fort is still intact and you can have a walk of about 2km around its entire circumference. There are two lakes in the middle of the fort and temples of Korai Devi, Lord Ganesha and Lord Shiva. Several ruins of older structures within the fort still exist. It has six cannons - the largest of which called the Laxmi Toph is located near the Korai Devi temple. You can get beautiful views of Ambey Valley from the top. Also, on the clear day Nagphani Point, Tung, Tikona, Matheran, Prabalgad, Karnala and Manikgad ranges can be seen.

Temples on the fort:

Mahadev Temple:

Korai Devi Temple: This temple was in ruins few years back; but thanks to emergence of Sahara Lake City next to Korigad, restoration of the fort was done and temples were re-built. Not all the forts are as lucky as Korigad!

Korai Devi Temple from the back:

Korai Devi Temple from the front:

 Korai Devi Idol (almost 4 ft tall)

Ganesh Temple:

Ganesh Idol along with other two idols:

Water lakes on the fort:

There are two water lakes on the fort adjacent to each other.
Water looked clean and I got the opportunity to capture some splendid reflections.

Cows were standing as if they knew that they were being photographed. Apparently, these cows were in the water for all the time during our 2-3 hours stay on the fort and they never came out.

Fortification of the fort is still intact.

You can walk on the perimeter of most of the fort and it is certainly one of the most pleasurable walks you will ever have.

Caves on the Northern side of the fort:

There are many cannons on the fort. Largest one of them is named as "Lakshmi Toaf".

Other cannons:

On the Southern side, you have another entrance to the fort named "Amabavane Darvaja". Route from this gate goes down to the village named Ambavane. You can also trek from this base village and it takes around an hour to reach to the fort from this base village.

Many of the Bastions of the fort are still intact.

Beautiful landscapes as seen from the fort:

After exploring each and every corner of the fort, we decided to climb down. Descending was quite easy and we reached to the base within 15 minutes.

We quenched our thirst after coming down as we had exhausted our water supply almost an hour back. Apparently, I was the only one carrying water and it was not sufficient for three of us. As we were hungry, we soon headed towards Lovavala. We just hoped that it would rain while we go to Lonavala to bring some relief from the heat; but it didn’t. We soon reached to Lonavala; had a  heavy lunch at Ramkrishna restaurant and departed towards Pune and reached to Pune around 4 PM.

Verdant landscapes, blossoming wild flowers of myriad colors, amazing turquoise sky with white clouds, panoramic views from the top and ample time and opportunities for photography made this trek quite a special one.

Tips for the trekkers:

• This is quite a simple trek.
• No food facility on fort. Carry your own lunch in case you plan to have it on the fort. Ideal option would be to plan this trek in such a way that you can come to Lonavala for the lunch.
• If you have a time and stamina, you can combine trek to Ghangad along this one. Or else you can combine this trek with visit to ancient Karla caves.
• You can stay inside the temple in case you want to stay on the fort at night.

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Happy trekking!

Appeal: No litter; no plastic; no wrappers; keep the mountains clean!