Monsoon Trek, Irshalgad Fort , Best Budget Trek near Mumbai

Monsoons , probably one of the best seasons among all . The Monsoon of 2019 was actually my first time I set out to explore Forts & Trekking places across Maharashtra.

Irshalgad Fort was one of them on my list & a must do trek near Mumbai .

Location Details :-

Base Village for Irshalgad is Nanivali, Chowk, Maharashtra.

- Nearest railway station would be Karjat or Panvel .

- Bus facility available from both railway station. Take a ST bus(MSRTC) . Route will be for approx, 35-45 mins .

- Get down at Chowk Phata & start walking towards Morbe Dam, Nanivali Village .

- Bus cost from Panvel/Karjat is 30-Rs . Shared auto will cost around 50-Rs.

Our Journey Began :-

We started up early morning, we were taking the route via Panvel. Me & my friends met at Panvel station at early morning 7 am. The moment we reached Panvel, the sky suddenly turned out black and it started to thunder & shower like God didn't wanted us to fool around today. We kept waiting for rain to stop, meanwhile i took a nap on the bench which we have on our platforms. Its stopped raining after 90 mins, and my friends were insisting to go back home, as the rain could have got worst. But i felt, the rain will keep drizzling but wont be a thunderstorm. So we decided to go ahead and our adventure started .

So we had some breakfast, picked up some snacks & went to Bus depot looking for a Bus to Karjat .

Bus took 40 mins to reach Chowk, a junction on Panvel/Karjat highway. We got down, crossed our way from a railway track, and started our walk towards Morbe Dam.

Nanivali village is around 30 mins walking from Chowk station. This is the actual trek starts . While walking from the village, we saw some beautiful scenes of the Morbe Dam, & the water reservoir . Clouds were touching the water with slow drizzling rain .

As we start our trek from Nanivali , we began to ascend. While going upwards, we just turned and saw this amazing scenes, this were absolutely breathtaking .We couldn't resist ourselves to stop by & click some pictures.

The trail kept on going towards the Top. Very less visibility due to fog all over, we saw couple to sheds were we could sit and take a breather .

After walking for almost 2 hrs, through foggy mist, we reached Ishalwadi village, which is a small village, with hardly 10-15 family's staying at the base of the Irshalgad .

There was also a temple of 'IshalaDevi' named by the localities. Food & water facility is also available here.

Now began the remaining part which took us through the rock patches , through the foggy mist , towards the top .

The path was slippery , patch was all rocky & difficult to climb due to rain hitting us right over on our heads. Trail will take you through a path of fallen rock, which is actually quite scary but adventurous .

Towards the Top, one can see 'Nedha' which is a natural hole in the rock, formed due to heavy winds blowing towards the rock making a a hole within.

Finally we reached the top , but due to low visibility we were not able to see anything but fog. So ,due to safety concern we moved out from the Top quickly.

The overall Trek experience at Irshalgad was amazing & I would definitely plan to visit here again during clear visibility to enjoy this beautiful trekking place .

Do carry atleast 2-3 litres of water to stay hydrated , and please do not litter around. Keep the places clean & encourage others to do so.

Best Time to visit Irshalgad Fort is During October to February . People often trek here end of monsoon's as well. But i would hardly recommend it only if you are an experienced Trekker .

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Follow me on Instagram @praful_the_explorer for some amazing picturesfrom all of my Treks .