Borivali National Park (BNP) or Sanjay Gandhi National Park is the only National Park within city limits. I stay in Borivali west and the park lies in Borivali East bordering the Western suburbs of Mumbai at one end and Thane and Mulund at the other end.
BNP is quite close to the city and still very far from the city. Its a park where animals and nature struggle for an existence. It has been many years since I had visited BNP and when I say years its been many many years which I guess is more than 10-12 years.
Few days back when Mathew and I discussed about going for hiking, we decided to start right away instead of requesting people to come with us. Maharahstra offers a good choices of hiking location with the Sayadris cutting the state into two parts. But getting to any of this hiking location means planning and we had not done anything like this for a long time.
A short trek we took on the last Sunday of last year with disastrous effect. We reached the park at 6:30 AM to find that the park opens at 7:30 AM for bikes and other vechicles. As we had gone a few kilometers to the way to Kanheri, the bike got a flat tyre. It was our luck that we were not far away from the main gate. We had to push the bike to the gate and then find a mechanic to repair the flat.
As we had already paid the entry fee for two people and a bike, we decided to venture back into the caves. I had two cameras with me to realize that I did not have a Flash card in the SLR and the battery of the smaller camera was almost empty. I would say lack of planing and the laziness of not checking before I left for the destination forced us to come back early.
We decided to come back the next week quite prepared.
The BNP too has many trekking paths and we decided to try the one behind the Kanheri caves. The Kanheri caves are almost 1000-2000 years old caves Deep into the park and surrounded by lush green mountains, they were carved by Buddhist monks here.
The Kanheri caves was not our destination. As you enter the Kanheri, caves are carved into the mountain which once served as meditation and living space for the monks. You come across a rusted Iron bridge to cross over to two smaller caves on the other side. a small stream flows below the bridge during the monsoons into a 200 feet valley.
Cross the caves to a small path to the hills beyond the caves. A small path leads through the jungle to the top of the hill. The top of the hill is an almost flat structure. Take a right at the top to find yourself at a edge of a cliff overlooking the Tulsi lake and miles and miles of lush green forest. It is difficult to imagine a city beyond the mountains we see from the top.
If you are walking after a long time like me, its not as easy as it seems. I was breathing heavily by the time I reached the top. At one moment, I just had to give up, keep my camera on the ground and lie down even under the hot sun. It took me a while to get my breath back to normal.
This time we forgot water and although it was a short trek lasting for almost an hour, it would be good to have water. It was not a planned trek and we were not even sure if we would be trekking for that much time but as the sun comes up, it gets quite hot and walking and climbing becomes quite difficult if you are not used to walking uphill or for a long time.
The National Park Gate opens for vehicle at 7:30 AM. The park is open to visitors from 7:30 AM to 6:30 PM. The way to Kanheri Caves is tarmac but with potholes. Lined with greenery on both side, its looks quite beautiful in the morning fog. During winter mornings, this route is more colder than the rest of Mumbai.
The stairs to Kanheri Caves. Although the Nation park opens at 7:30 AM, the Kanheri Caves open at 9:00 AM. The tickets to the Caves is quite nominal for the Indian crowd atleast.
As kanheri Caves opened at 9:00 AM and we had reached at 7:30 AM, we decided to explore the area near the caves. Just near to this turn is a small path which leads to a near by hill. The turn is the last turn to the caves and somewhere to the left is the small path to the hills.
The path that leads to hills nearby away from Kanheri Caves
A lot of cactus on the hills overlooking a big part of the National Park
A Snake skin found on the hills. Glad we did not find the owner.
The Vast forest from Kanheri Caves. We were standing near a cliff which was 200 Feet deep. Beyond those hills is a bustling Mumbai.
You cross this bridge to go to the hills and forests. If you do not cross the bridge, you can see the rest of the caves
The small forest that needed to be crossed to reach the top of the hills.
The final Destination. The cliff overlooking the Tulsi lake. The Silence here is deafening
Fantastic pictures!!nice blog..felt like i was there myself..very very scenic:)
Eons ago.. while I was awaiting my SSC results, me and my school friends had walked all the way from Mulund to Kanheri Caves. I don’t remember much of the route & the caves now.. but the long winding path with trees lined up along both sides does look familiar.. That was the first picnic that I had gone with my friends.. without any adults (school teachers or parents) supervising us..
Happy Trekking..
Thank You Mansi
IW
Mulund to Kanheri caves? that was a long way to Kanheri caves! I doubt if the road exists or is being used because there have been reports of leopards here.
-Punds
cool.must have been fun. keep posting.
Liked this post a lot. Have also linked to it from my blog (which no one reads anyway but still…:)).
If you like treks, then you could try the Mumbai, wwf group. They organise short treks and visits in and around Mumbai and send a mail with the schedule. It also ensures one does not forget the minor ‘lack of planning’ issues 🙂
Now waiting for your Part 2 of the post.
[…] Inspired from a trek to National Park. A pile of stones were found on the mountain there. Still not sure what the stones were doing […]
how safe is this road? (from National park to kanheri caves) we are few girls (6-7) planning for this small trek next week.
Good post. Hope to see more great posts in the near future.
http://sanakablog.blogspot.com/
Gosh…….i lived in Mumbai fr abt a year n missed this beautiful trek……..i went to BNP too and it was great but missed kanheri….will be back for sure cz it luks really great!!
hey i been to national park many timess… its my most favourite place in mumbai.. it has its own beauty .. must see everyone.. thanks for sharing beautiful picsssssssssss.. thxxxx