Naneghat Trek
11-Dec-22 | Naneghat Trekking point
My colleague cum travel buddy had got details about an offbeat trek – Naneghat. This place is around 150 kms from Pune and would take around 3 hours to reach. So I called up my driver (Jitu Sir) who had helped me with Pune sightseeing during my last official trip. To our good luck, he was free and he agreed to take us. We were picked up from our guest house at 6:30 am.
After driving continuously for around 2.5 hours, we reached Karjat. We stopped at Hotel Thakare for breakfast. Here we had Maharashtra's most famous misal pav and tea for breakfast.
After savoring yummy breakfast, we then drove straight to Naneghat trekking point. We reached the base point of the trek at around 10:30 am.
There is an entry point here but not a single soul was seen who could tell us if this is where we are supposed to start our trek. But one good part is that the trail is clearly carved out. So it's easy for anyone to just get started and follow the trail.
Someone had marked arrows at defined intervals to direct us along the trail. We thanked this person a lot since without these clear directions, it would have been very difficult to make it to the top. The trail passes through some dense forest and dry terrains. Hence in few places you might find it scary. But we made it through very easily.
Trek Difficulty is moderate but it is easily achievable.
Nane means “Coin” and Ghat means “Pass”. This path was used as a toll booth to collect toll from traders crossing the hills and it was used as a trade route between Kalyan and Junnar. Once you reach the top, there is a cave where you will find some inscriptions. These indicate that Satvahana dynasty ruled here and also the Mauryan Empire.
After 30 minutes of your trek, you will come across three dried up water streams. Wish we could visit here during monsoons to see these streams flowing.
After crossing the third dried stream, now comes the path that you need to take uphill. This path is little scary since in few places branches cover the path with thick foliage on either side. Better to keep a stick or trekking pole with you just in case. You will find monkeys also at some points.
This is where you will find clear steps/route between two hills which was marked as a trade route. This was a WOW moment for me and a perfect stop for photography.
As you walk along this trade path and reach other side , you will find a large ground with vehicles parked which is supposed to be the spot for those people who take motorable road to Naneghat.
There is a huge rock-cut pot which I think was presumably used to collect coins as toll fee.
We saw a food truck with a man selling lime juice. He was a god sent savior for us since water we had carried was almost about to finish. We asked him to prepare lime juice for us and we sat there for some time absorbing the view around this place.
We could also see Jivdhan fort from here.
A man who was sitting there near the food truck told us that people usually camp at Naneghat overnight and trek to Jivdhan fort in the morning. People who don’t wish to trek can take the motorable road to Naneghat, park the car at the parking lot of Naneghat and then trek to Jivdhan from here.
After relaxing here for a while, at around 1:30 PM we then planned our descent. Our first stop was the photography stop at the cave. By now there was hardly anybody at the cave. So we clicked pictures and relaxed here a bit.
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| This is the trail we are supposed to take for descent now |
Then we started our descent from here since our target was to reach the base point before it gets dark. Descent speed was pretty fast as always since we didn’t stop anywhere now. We were at the base point by 3:30 PM.
There are no food options at the base point. So you have to drive back towards Karjat side even to get water or find restrooms. This is something the government needs to seriously look into if they want to promote tourism here and invite more visitors.
We drove back to the same Hotel Thakare. We had onion pakoras and Pav Bhaji here since we were damn hungry by now.
After hogging yummy food, we then drove continuously to Pune without any pit stops. We crossed Lonavala too and saw numerous outlets of the famous Maganlal Chikki. But we didn't stop since we had already purchased chikki's during our last visit.
Finally after beating the weekend drive along the Pune-Mumbai expressway, we reached Hinjewadi by 8 PM. Thanks to our driver. We bid adieu to our driver and thanked him because without him this trek wouldn't have been possible for us to complete in a day.
Signing off now with a satisfaction of successfully exploring some offbeat places in and around Pune during my first weekend of official travel.
Other Pages from my Pune Dec 22 Travel Diary
Pune Offbeat Travel - Gram Samskruti Udyan and Vishrambaug Wada Palace
Harihar Fort - Maharashtra's 80 Degree Vertically Inclined Trek
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