Trek to Lohagad Fort : Trek Maharashtra

About Lohagad Fort:

            Lohagad Fort is one the many hill forts in Maharashtra located close to the Lonavala hill station at a distance of about 30 km northwest of Pune. Situated at a Hight of 1033 m (3389 ft)  above the sea level. The fort is really close to the neighboring Visapur fort. Usually, trek to the Lohagad starts from the Malavli Town.

History of Lohagad Fort:

            Lohagad incorporates a long history with many dynasties occupying it at totally different periods of time: Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Yadavas, Bahamanis, Nizams, Mughals and Marathas. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj captured it in 1648 AD, however he was forced to surrender it to the Mughals in 1665 AD by the pact of Purandar. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj recaptured the fort in 1670 AD and used it for keeping his treasury. Later Nana Phadnavis used to live on this for quite sometime he reconstructed some structures on the fort such as some big tanks and main doors .

Our Trek Experience:

            There are 2 ways to start trek to Lohagad fort, one is from Malavali station and other is from Pawna side. We choose the Malavali route. We take a local train from pune-lonavala-pune which stops at malavali station.It took us almost 80 minutes from Pune to Malavali station. From here walking for almost 1to 2 kms we reached to the Bhaje village, We had our breakfast here and started our trek.

            Lohagad  is around 5 kms from Bhaje town. After crossing Bhajgao, there are 2 routes, one end ups to Bhaje caves and other to Lohagad fort. The scenic view along path are mind-blowing, we also encountered the waterfalls in our way. This is one of the most pleasurable walks you will ever have with rich green environment. Soon walking for some time we reached Goumukh Khind.

            From Goumukh Khind, There was information painted on a wall saying Lohagad to the right and Visapur fort to the left. While walking from Goumukh Khind you can see the entire Lohagad fort and also the Visapur fort.  After walking for 1.5 to 2 hours & turning to the right from `Goumukh Khind` we reach to Lohagadwadi, The base village to the Lohagad Fort.

            There was a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, after bowing our heads in front of statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the village, we started ascending Lohagad. The fort has 4 successive entrances or Darwajas, Ganesh Darwaja, Narayan Darwaja, Hanuman Darwaja and Maha Darwaja,

            The first darwaja you entered through is ganesh darwaja, here you have to take ticket for entering the fort. As you entered through the ganesh darwaza you see the canon arranged in line we tried to move them but they are too heavy for their size. There are also secrete caves which are used for food storage and keeping eye on enemies with small windows. From the base village all the way is with the stone steps, this steps get slippery due to the rain water, which makes the trek little a difficult. After climbing for some time you can see the Pawna Lake from the fort.

            For reaching the top you must have to go through all the entrance (darwaza). All the gates are still in good conditions than other forts. We took many pictures on the way. Finally, we reached to the top of Lohagad fort. As you enter through the Maha Darwaja, you can see an old Darga on the left and Going further from the Darga, there is a Mahadev Temple. Since it was raining heavily we can just see for few meters everything is like surprise as you move forward. After roaming for some time we saw some ponds and caves like laxmi kothi which used for store the treasure. From here finally we reached to the ‘Vinchu Kada’ the most famous point on Lohagad.

            After exploring the fort for almost 1 and half hour we decided to start our return journey and started descending to the Lohagad wadi. We had our lunch at the Lohagad wadi and then again started our walk towards the Malavli.

Places to be viewed at Lohagad Fort:

• Ganesh darwaza
• Hanuman darwaza
• Narayan darwaza
• Maha darwaza
• Vinchu Kada
• Mahadev Temple
• Octagonal reservoir
• Dargah
• Laxmi kothi

How to reach Lohagad Fort:

By Road:

From Pune:

            Pune = (Mumbai - Pune Exp way) = Malawli = Bhaje = Lohagad

From Mumbai:

            Mumbai = Lonavala = Malawli = Bhaje = Lohagad

By Train:

            One can reach the Lohagad Fort via trains. From Pune, you can travel to Malavli, which is the closest station. From Malvali, buses and auto's are available for Lohagad. Next big station is Lonavala, which can be reached from both Pune and Mumbai trains.

By Flight:

            There is no direct flight the nearest airports are Pune and Mumbai, From Here you can book a cab or travel by train.

Best Time to Visit :

            It is best to plan visit to sinhagad fort either during monsoon or in winter.

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