Korigad fort ❤️ A beautiful fort in Lonavala

Niraj what makes Korigad fort so beautiful ? Have you ever seen a fort which is completely flat at top. One can easily see one end of the fort from another overlooking all the lakes, the curvy fortifications, temples and cannons. Korigad fort is mostly covered in clouds in monsoon and on any rainy day you can be sure to experience clouds atleast once. Clouds or no clouds Korigad being perched on the border of the Deccan plateau has a soothing breeze flowing throughout making it one of the best Lonavala treks. In this Korigad blog you will find all the details to plan this trek yourself. Many treks like Korigad and other things to do in Lonavala at the end of the post.

Is Korigad fort trek difficult for beginners ?

Niraj, how difficult is Korigad trek for beginners? Korigad is the easiest trek in Lonavala not only for beginners but also families as it only takes about 45 minutes to reach the top by climbing about 500-600 stairs. How much time does it take to complete Korigad? Once you have reached at the top in 45 minutes you can easily take two hours to go around Korigad. If the weather is pleasant you can easily spend more time. Thus 3-4 hours should be enough for Korigad.

What is the best time for Korigad Trek ?

Korigad is covered in clouds till monsoon & green till winter when the lakes still hold good amount of water making it a good visit from June to September. However for nature lovers you can visit Korigad fort for beautiful sunsets in summer as well. A night trek in summer is an enjoyable experience. There are no time limit on the fort entrance.

Korigad fort history

Korigad is also known as Koraigad,Koarigad or Kumwarigad. The fort gets its name from the temple of Koraidevi at the top. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj incorporated this fort in Swarajya along with Lohagad, Visapur, Tung and Tikona in 1657. British took over Korigad in 1818 when their cannon ball unfortunately landed on the stored ammunition on the fort. Along with this fort they also conquered Ghangad.

Where can we stay for Korigad fort ?

Korigad trek takes 3 -4 hours hence is done as a day trip. Peth Shahapur is small village so if you have a planned weekend visit it would be preferable to stay in Lonavala for a comfortable time. ( During my Lonavala visit I had stayed at the luxury resorts of Dukes Retreat & Upper Deck which are very close to nature)

Korigad trek : Khane me kya hai ?

There are few small hotels near the parking of Peth Shahapur, where you will get food & basic stuff. Before the Korigad climb begins you will find a small food hut with noodles & lemon juice. From then onwards you will find nothing on the fort. However on monsoon weekends you will find some makeshift shops on the top of the fort as well. The fort food is 2X or 3X the normal rates so plan accordingly

Korigad fort trek blog: TheFreeBird’s story

Monsoon had just started and I wanted to just enjoy some fresh air & views without much trekking . After going through some options I finally decided Korigad to be the one. With Shahapur Peth directions set in maps I reached here when the fort was completely engulfed in clouds . I have experienced this before at Korigad where you dont get to see anything else but clouds. Thankfully today was different as the clouds vanished soon

BRO TIP:

Being so close to Lonavala Korigad is very crowded on monsoon weekends. To get a best experience try experiencing Korigad on weekdays. If you have no option but weekend try reaching here as early as possible. Plus if you have bikes try to park it away form the parking spot which charge Rs 50 which feels like a loot.

TheFreeBird

The trek starts from the parking lot on a flat trail which has some steps carved out at places for convenience. This trail then passes through a jungle to reach the East side of Korigad fort from where the climbing starts to reach the top.

EAST SIDE

The actual climb begins when we reach Korigad stairs. Unlike most forts where steps are tall, these are much more gradually inclined resulting in a pleasant climb to the top. On rainy days these stairs morph into cascading waterfall which is definitely a treat for the sore eyes. Going ahead the stairs even have piped railings to help week climbers i.e. all efforts are being taken up to make Korigad beginner friendly.

As I continued to climb I first came across a Ganpati temple & cave. As the climb continued we also come across many water tanks . One such water tank is inside a small cave and contains drinking water. Withing 30 minutes we reached the main entrance of the fort – Ganesh Darwaja which has some extensive renovation done to it restoring it to its golden past. In front of this is a interesting sculpture carved directly inside the rocky wall, try finding it as its visible only from a particular angle . If you need help I would upload its video on my insta.

CENTER OF KORIGAD

Once we enter through the Ganesh Darwaja, we are first cooled down by the soothing breeze and then mesmerised by the beautiful lakes. Korigad is a huge flat plateau which has fortification walls of about 2 kms circumference. The lakes are the jewels of this plateau which shimmer under the windy sun.

The two lakes at the center of Korigad are its hearts or may I say lungs which definitely make this fort come alive. Around the lakes are two temple – Ganesh & Mahadev temple which are ideally placed in the most serene locations. If I was a sadhu some 1000 years back I would have definitely sat here for meditation.

Mahadev mandir also have 4 cannons placed in front. These cannons were earlier placed at different spots on the fort but on account of the renovation being carried on the fort they seemed to have cozied up near the temple. The winds are strong over here which creates waves in the bigger lake which feels a bit odd since we are so high. We chilled here for some time taking the first break of our trek and then moved towards the southern side of Korigad fort.

SOUTH SIDE

As we moved through the huge plateau towards the South side in a clockwise direction I could see the Koraidevi temple and few cannons at a distance near the the walls on the other side. At the south side , the primary walls are in a proper condition but if we look down the secondary fortification to be a slightly weaker with many stones fallen down.

This side of the Korigad is rarely visited as most people only come here for monsoon fun. But a true fort lover will appreciate the architecture & the enormity of these fortifications even though they are not in proper condition now. Below the wide wall I found a secret entry to go down which was unfortunately clogged due to fallen stones. Going ahead I did I find another secret tunnel to go down.

This secret tunnel leads to a corridor which has a 360 degree view of the surrounding & would have been very strategic to monitor enemy movement the area below. Present day it can be used to monitor the Amby valley airstrip. This trail went even further down but had many loose stones & I deemed it too risky to be attempted. But from what I saw below I could see lots of fallen stones & staircase constructed from rocks which could probably go down as a secret exit ?

WEST SIDE

With this unexpected thrill at the South side , we headed to west side to see the Korigad’s namesake Korai devi temple. Before the temple is the biggest cannon on Korigad called Lakshmi toph / cannon . Looking at its placement it definitely looks at protecting the second entrance of the Korigad which has a trail from Ambavne village.

From the southern end I did see some stairs carved in the rocky walls which seems to be connected to this second entrance. But looking at the state of the route this appeared to be completely washed away by water as the forts rain collection is drained from this gate. I didnt feel any one would be actually using the route to climb up but after discussing with locals figured out that this waterfall route is actually used by the Ambavne villagers- may be I will try this route next time.

NORTH SIDE

We sat near the Koraidevi temple for some time before moving towards the North side to see the vast empty plateau of Korigad. One look behind and Korigad’s center appeared circular & the walls were curving a lot

The fortification slithered to the north flag end creating a dramatic shadow when the sun showed up through the clouds. The entire wall was rebuild maintaining the historical aesthetics. The North end has a flag and provides a beautiful view of Lonavala, Morgiri , Tung & Tikona fort. Too bad the clouds caught up before I could take any photo.

Having reached the top most part of the fort and spent around 4 hours on the Korigad trek it was time to descend as I was very hungry. With few more hours of daylight I decided to go to the nearby Tikona fort as well. Got down Korigad, rushed through the jungle trail & reached the parking lot. Had some snacks, hopped on my bike & headed to Tikona for second trek of the day.

Bye !!

That’s it for the Korigad fort trek blog.