Skandagiri Sunrise Trek

On Friday, as I lazed away my work-from-home day, my flatmate tells me she thinks we should go on a trek this week. I ask her, "Skandagiri?" and she says "chalna hai?" and the next thing we know we're booking a planned trip to Skandagiri peak.

We took a guided tour with Bangalore based tour operator Namma Trip. The trek is a night trek that reaches the peak just in time for sunrise. We were picked up from Bangalore at 1am and reached the base camp by around 3:30am. After standing in a line for around 45mins, it was finally time to start the trek. It was still pretty much pitch dark at this point. Luckily, we had decided to buy some flashlights last minute before we left home. If you plan on taking the trek, please don't attempt it without a flashlight.

The trek starts off easy as the elevation doesn't really kick in for the first 800 meters or so. I think Skandagiri is a good beginner trek as it is almost like it was built so that it gets harder and harder as you proceed higher, slowly increasing the difficulty level in every 20 minute circuit of the climb. It took me approximately 1.5 hours to ascend the peak. A good part about the trek is that there are a lot of big rocks at various points where people can take a break and rest along the way. So this reduces the congestion on the trek path marginally. On that note, the trek is EXTREMELY crowded. Perhaps this could be because I did it over the weekend. Hence, I'd recommend reaching early and starting early to avoid the crowd.

As there were many people when I did the trek, I had to trek faster than I would have liked and overtook many people to make it in time for sunrise. The sunrise trek gives you the opportunity to not only see the breathtaking sunrise through the mountains, but it also gives you a full night view of the entire city in the during your ascend. From the top you can see a beautiful lake and the breathtaking valley filled with large boulders and remnants of the old Skandigiri fort.

I'd fully recommend watching the sunrise at the point with large rocks before the peak and also spending sometime laying on the rocks to bask in some sunlight + also great for sun-kissed pictures! The final peak also the spectacular views and also has a ancient day Shiva temple. The temple is very interestingly crafted as though the deity is placed well inside the temple, the sun shines right on the idol.

Overall, Skandagiri is a fun beginner friendly trek, located conveniently for anybody living near Bangalore.

Ascend: 1.5hrs
Descend: 1 hr
Total Distance ~ 8kms
Distance from Bangalore city ~ 60kms
Difficulty Level: Beginner (for anybody with an active lifestyle), else moderate.

Note: I've heard the trek is best avoided in the monsoon as it can get slippery in many parts.