Today I had been to Lohagad Fort with my family, before starting the Journey from Pune, had gone through couple of reviews, on which road to follow, there were 4 options:
Old Pune-Mumbai NH4 - Malavali Station - Lohagad Fort
Pune-Mumbai Express Highway - Kamshet Exit - Lohagad Fort
Chandani Chowk - Paud - Tikona - Pawana Dam - Lohagad Fort
Local from Pune station - Malavali Station - Walk to Lohagad fort @ 8Kms (With family local option was dropped)
As I stay near Chandani chowk, option 1 was out of question, left with option 2 which had no clear exit point on NH4 Express way and option 3, this road I had taken many times to pass through Mulshi/ Tamanhi Ghat, but there was no review on the road condition, from Paud to Lohagad, hence took the option 2.
Started well, got on to NH4 Express bypass from Chandani Chowk, continues till just 8/9Kms short of Lonavala exit, had no clue where the Kamshet road exit was as I crossed the Food Plaza, but then there were 2 two wheelers in front of my car, stopped them and enquired on how to go to Lohagad fort, they suggested me to exit and Lonavala and then via Malavali go to Lohagad, but then I insisted on the other road, an exit if any, before Lonaval, then one of them asked me to follow their bike and we took a exit at the Sinhagad Institute exit, passed under the NH4 expressway, towards Pune lane, for another 2 kms travelled through very narrow and patchy road through a small village and there we were, at the end of the village, took a right turn to Lohagad Fort.
Thanked those boys and went ahead, in next 2 kms took a left turn towards Paud, followed that road for another 3kms and took a left to Lohagad fort; there is a small stall at the entry point of the “Dudhiware Khind” towards Paud. With some climb and sharp turns for next 4 kms you reach the base of the Lohagad fort.
Now about Lohagad fort, if you pass the check post you have to pay Rs. 20 as entry fees, now if you want to travel to Malavali/ Lonavala then cross the check post or park your vehicle before the check post. Few meters from the check post is the road to Lohagad fort, the Fort map is displayed. In just 500 meters of the climb the stairs/steps starts, the steps are in very good condition, only at one turn in the middle where due to heavy rain water flows on the steps, those steps are slippery and worn out. It was a very pleasant climb, no stress at all. All the way up you can see the beautiful surroundings and you are in the clouds. There were light to medium showers, but not that frequent.
Once you reach the top of the fort, its cool breeze, greenery all over the place, saw more than 4 water takes/ wells, in one of the well, there were people diving and swimming, having fun. You see the Visapur Fort in the background, Pawana backwaters, beware, do not walk in thick grass, as at one of the water place, we saw a snake, which swam to the other end of the tank, one can easily step on a snake or scorpion. You’ll even see sword tail little fish in the tanks, water is clean and clear. As there are no food stalls on top of the fort, the surroundings are clean. About the fort, wiki can give you all the information :-)
We spent some good and quite time on the fort and we were happy that we skipped the Sihnagad Fort plan and came to Lohagad Fort. Even though it’s subjective, and cannot compare a fort with a hill station, the ambiance and chill was better than we felt at some commercially renouned hill stations, with not much crowd. On the return journey we had onion pakodas, bread egg omelet, corn, ground nuts and tea. You get other good stuff to eat at reasonable price. We had carried some snaks and water with us, hence were good on food.
We had an option either to travel back to Mumbai-Pune express way or go via Paud to Pune, we decided to go via Paud. By the time we had covered 8-10kms we thought it’d had been better we took the express way. The road all the way to Paud is single road, every time a ‘Gunta Mantris’ (Land lord from Mulshi/Paud) SUV with stickers and lables of political parties, came from the other side u have to give way and get off the road, unless your driving a TANK, at one junction one of the SUV’s mirror hit my WagonR’s rearview mirror and the glass broke, it was good that 2/3 of the mirror was intact, but then its better you fold the drivers mirror as you don’t need it and gain 8-10 inches of space to stay on road, you had to dodge the vehicle coming from the opposite side, as there will be very little chance for any vehicle to overtake you on the narrow road, you can manage with the left and the center overhead mirror. The road is full of potholes, very few kms were better to drive. Now comes the traffic part, believe me there were more vehicles on Paud road as compared to express highway. People had crowded at the Pawana Dam, Tikona Fort and few waterfalls, had parked their vehicles in a haphazard manner, you have to watch for anyone crossing the road at the blink of your eye. So the lesson learnt, next time, don’t take this road, and inform other who wish to travel to Lohagad, from Pune not to take this road. Express was option is the best option; just try to find the exit with the help of the locals and you’d be good.
All in all, it was a good memorable trip. I will definitely go back to this fort, this time in winter season. Thanks for reading the review, hope you find this review helpful/ very helpful, similar to my couple of other travel reviews.
Best Regards, Kamlesh Raje