Mullayanagiri is a part of the Baba Budangiri range located in Chikamagaluru (District). It is at 1,930 meters (6,330 ft) from sea level. It is known as the highest peak in the Karnataka. Let's move on to some details.
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Difficulty
Easy -
Trail Type
Trail winds through ridges, hills and grasslands and is slippery in some sections -
Distance
3 KM -
Base camp
Sarpadhari, Chikmagalur -
Best Season
September to February (after monsoons) -
Water Source
There is no water anywhere on the trail. So carry atleast 2L of water.
How to reach the starting point of the trek
From Chikmagalur proceed towards Bababudangiri, near Kaimara you have to take left turn (8 kms from Chikmagalur). You will hit Y intersection, Your left side road goes to mullayanagiri peak(direct road till peak ). If you want to trek then just move straight further 500 mts. You will find small arch towards your left. That is called Sarpadhari. This will be your starting point.
Trek Route
The trek to the peak from Sarpadhari is a half day trek. The peak is at a distance of 3 KM from the starting point and takes about 2-3 hours to ascend. The initial part of the trek is steep, inclined at 60 degrees or more.
The path is lined with bushes and trees. After some time. the trail zig-zags along the mountains and the ascent becomes steeper. You will soon hit a massive rock. You need to move ahead, passing through the opening in the cliff.
After trekking for around two hours, you will come across a Nandi (Bull) idol beneath a tree. Dense shrubs and flowering creepers surround this statue.
Shrubs and flowering creepers surround this statue
The Nandi Statue
From here on, the trail becomes less steep. Walking further, you will come across some deep caves. From these caves, the trail once again starts ascending. This is the final stretch of the peak. There is another Nandi statue very near to the peak. Soon after this, you will come across the temple at the peak and the tomb.
Trail is not always visible. Thank God! Google Map marks the complete trail from Sarpadhari to Mullayangiri, awesome right? You can navigate throughout the trail using your smartphone.
Coming Back
For descending, You can take the same route back however, I will not recommend that since trail is too steep and there are chances you might get slip. You can also go down via the 250 odd stone steps in the hill, which takes you toward the concrete road joining Mullayanagiri foothills from Chikmagalur.
Stairs to Road
Alternatively, you can also trek toward Baba Budangiri from Mullayangiri temple. This is a moderate trek of 10 km from Mullayangiri, passing through ridges, hills and grasslands.
Camping
You can camp overnight at Mullayanagiri hill top. But the place is very windy. There are also no toilet facilities there. The best time to trek this place is after monsoon preferably from September to February. Do remember that high winds, mist and rain can make the trail slippery and the visibility, low. During post monsoon, the place is also infested with leeches.
The Stay
Mullayangiri is a very nice place to see a sunrise. So, if you want to start this trek early morning so that you can enjoy a blissfull sunrise, You can stay near the starting point of trek. There are a lot of homestays near the starting point. You can find them all on Google Maps. We parked our car at Born Af Berry. It is 2 KM from the starting point.
Born Af Berry Homestay
Bonus Attraction: Pit spot
A very nice cafe on the way to Bababudangiri hills from Chikmagalur. Great food, great ambience and great coffee. Try Hot Choclate with Hazelnut here. I still miss that.
The Pitspot Cafe
Trek Gallery
Caves in trek
Somwhere in the hills
Conclusion
Mullayangiri is a very nice weekend trek. Chikmagalur is about 280 KM from Bangalore. You can catch a late night bus, complete your trek in the morning and enjoy Bababudangiri in the evenning. The trek is easy however you will not found much trekkers here as there is a motor road to go the peak and not many people are interested in the adventure.
In the end, if you have not trekked before, this is a perfect to start with. I am sure, You will make an awesome lifetime memory and if it does, give me a whaaaat up?! or maybe a big high five.
Also, if you like to go sometime together, you can contact me by various means. You can find the contact details in the footer.
The Royal 3rd Floor Squad
Image Credits: Shriyansh Agrawal, Prateek Singhi, Dhruv Sapra, Saurabh Agrahari, Satyam Pandey
Icon Credits: https://www.flaticon.com/