Karnala fort
Location: 20 km from Panvel
Base village: Karnala bird santuary
Altitude: 1440 ft
How to reach: From Mumbai drive towards Panvel and keep driving further to Karnala bird sanctuary. The trek to Karnala fort starts from the sanctuary. You have to pay entrance at the gate.
Grade: Easy
Trekking time: 1 – 1.5 hour climb and 2 hour leisurely descent.
History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnala_Fort
Trip report:
We planned this trip with our 2 kids. The trail starts with a nature trail through the Karnala bird sanctuary reserve.This place is a good bet if you do not want to go far away from Mumbai city but at the same time climb a mountain. A breather for kids from the closed AC environ of malls!
The first 20 min are gentle walk and then climbing starts gradually. It took us 3 hours to reach to the top with many stops on the way.
gentle climb
It slowly starts getting tougher with big boulders.
tiny tots making their way
tiny tots and big boulders
There are many rest sheds made by the authorities. After about 2 hours we reached the footsteps of the fort where there is a Bhavani temple.
Temple
We reach a plateau and after some photo momemts start ascending the last flight of scary stairs to the top.
small clearing before the final climb
Happy trekkers
Finally we reach the top.
The rocky pinnacle ..Finally !
Kids had a fantastic time exploring the ruins of the fort.
karnala fort
One can see many other forts and peaks of surrounding ranges. After our traditional picnic sandwich we started our descent.
descents are very tricky
While coming down we enjoyed the numerous ‘tree swings’.
Monkey swinging
