KUDREMUKHA ( LOOKS LIKE A HORSE FACE WHEN VIEWED AERIALLY)

Kudremukha is one of the most beautiful peak in Western Ghats and in Karnataka as well. It has a very rich biodiversity and home to certain species of wildlife which is no where else found on this planet. Samse is a few kilometers from kudremukh town,from where the trek starts. In about 4-5 hrs average walking time [awt], one reaches lobo mane,an old house.

From lobo mane,another path goes up to the "summit",which would take 3-4hours awt to reach. The route passes through some lovely shola(montane) forests near the top. About 1/2 an hour below the summit,the route passes near an abandoned church and a small waterfall. One should take the time to explore the church,and also to watch out for the amazing birdlife there. Another route is to start from Kaikamba. Kaikamba is a place between belthangadi and Navoor, Killur.

This route converges with the other at Lobo house. Another place of interest near by is Jamalabad fort or Jamalghad kote, situated at around 1700mts from sea level, presumably built by Tipu Sultan near Navoor. Food one must carry and stay is not allowed here.Note: This whole area is inside the Kudremukh National Park so no one allowed to camp inside the National Park and will have to follow the guidelines of the authorities.

Distance : From Bangalore 300+ kmsFrom Nearest Town Kudremukh Colony Nearest Medical Help Kudremukh ColonyNearest Hotel Samse

Save Western Ghats: The Western Ghats are a chain of highlands running along the western edge of the Indian subcontinent, from Bombay south to the southern tip of the peninsula, through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Covering an estimated area of 159,000 sq. km, the Western Ghats are an area of exceptional biological diversity and conservation interest, and are "one of the major Tropical Evergreen Forest regions in India" (Rodgers and Panwar, 1988). As the zone has already lost a large part of its original forest cover (although timber extraction from the evergreen reserve forests in Kerala and Karnataka has now been halted) it must rank as a region of great conservation concern. The small remaining extent of natural forest, coupled with exceptional biological richness and ever increasing levels of threat (agriculture, reservoir flooding plantations, logging and over exploitation), are factors which necessitate major conservation inputs." There are currently seven national parks in the Western Ghats with a total area of 2,073 sq. km (equivalent to 1.3% of the region) and 39 wildlife sanctuaries covering an area of about 13,862 sq. km (8.1%). The management status of the wildlife sanctuaries in this part of India varies enormously. Tamil Nadu's Nilgiri wildlife sanctuary, for example, has no human inhabitants, small abandoned plantation areas and no produce exploitation, while the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary in Kerala includes considerable areas of commercial plantations and privately owned estates with heavy resource exploitation.