Matheran Trekking Routes ❤️ All Matheran Treks #ProjectMatheran

During my last decade of trekking I would constantly find myself on a train to Kasara or Pune trying to cover all the famous treks. Then I realised the greenery & adventure I wanted was indeed very close to me right at Matheran. What started as couple of treks got me hooked to cover all Matheran Trekking routes with each route having a unique set of thrill to it. Thus was born #ProjectMatheran in which I am covering the entire range of Matheran treks.

#ProjectMatheran is part of a bigger #ProjectKarjat ❤️which covers all treks in Karjat region.

Matheran is one of the most famous hill stations in India where vehicles are not allowed (7 e-rickshaws have been allowed recently ). Normal tourists reach Matheran via the Neral toy train or just drive on the normal road to reach Dasturi Naka ( which is the entrance point of Matheran). These tourists then visit different view points of Matheran by walking or on a horse. However trekkers like us love to reach Matheran by trekking from base village to these view points. I have broadly divided these treks based on the base village area as Dhodani Treks, Ambewadi Treks, Katwan Treks & Neral treks.

Following view points ( mentioned in yellow ) are the different Matheran trekking routes. For the expert trekkers rocky waterfall streams ( marked in blue) provide an excellent scrambling route to top.

Here is my classification of Matheran treks on the basis of widely used routes. These trek routes mentioned below are from a base village which is the most commonly used route. Since there are multiple villages near by a particular Matheran view point each of them have different trek routes to the same point. We will be discussing those alternate Matheran trekking routes later in the blog

Simple Matheran Treks

• Peb Trek via Matheran
• Garbett point trek via Diksal/Bhivpuri
• Madhav Point trek via Katwan
• Alexander point Trek via Katwan
• Rambaug point trek via Dhanwadi
• One tree hill point trek via Ambewadi
• Sunset point trek via Dhodani
• Monkey point trek via Dhodani

Intermediate Matheran Trekking routes:

• Hashyachi Patti trek to Malang Point
• Pisarnath Trek via Umbarnewadi

Many waterfalls cascade from Matheran gullies which look beautiful in monsoon. These waterfall routes act as a unique route to climb up to Matheran. Being a waterfall route there is no proper trail here but just raw adventure to climb up lots of rocks to reach the top. These route requires rock climbing ( basic & technical ) at many places which makes it a thoroughly exciting trek. These waterfall scrambles ( khind/naal trek ) are inherently difficult & risky. Below are the famous named routes I am aware off.

Difficult Matheran Trekking routes:

• Beatrice Cliff Trek ( Kalokhyachi khind )
• Myra Point Trek ( Galtichi vaat)
• Koltyachi Naal
• Kadam Naal
• Malet spring (Maldunge Ravine)
• Vetaleshwar Naal
• East side col between peb & matheran – Peacock Route
• West side col between Peb & Matheran

What is the best time for Matheran trekking ?

All Matheran treks are perfect monsoon treks ( except for waterfall routes). Winter provides its own twist with beautiful sunsets & sunrises. This treks are also worthy of summer time because once you toil through all the climb Matheran provides with a very cool weather ( should preferably start early morning). Mostly trekkers plan monsoon treks but i also prefer Matheran treks on winter evenings to enjoy the beautiful sunsets.

Matheran Range Trek Ideas

For doing a range trek you can trek to any of these points and then descend from another point. If some of you are tired after the ascend they can simply skip the remaining part of the range trek by taking a taxi from Dasturi Naka ( Matheran’s entrance). My personal choice is to select Garbett for descend since it is better connected with railways for going home easily after a tiring Matheran range trek. One can also plan multiple day treks trying different combinations of these individual treks.

Alternate trek routes to Matheran points

Since there are many villages at base of Matheran each of these view points might have different trek routes other than mentioned at top. Lets try to cover these routes in the map below.

NERAL Side Treks:

Apart from the famous Garbett trek from Diksal / Bhivpuri & Peb trek from 134NM toy train route, there are few variations to same places as below. Below is the Neral Matheran trek map:

KATWAN Side Treks:

Katwan has been a find for me with so many unique treks starting from here. Upcoming treks would be from this side.

DHODANI Side Treks:

AMBEWADI Side Treks:

Sunsets from different Matheran trekking routes

The sunset from Matheran is visible over the range of mountains (if weather is clear) like Manikgad, Karnala, Irshalgad , Prabalgad , Kalavantin Durg & Nimda hill with Morbe dam on south side & Gadeshwar lake on North side. Here are few sunsets I have seen on treks.

⬇️Sunset from Peb / Vikatgad trek

⬇️ Sunset from Porcupine / Sunset Point trek

⬇️ Sunset at Louisa Point on Hashyachi Patti Trek

⬇️ Sunset from Lord Point on Pisarnath Trek

⬇️ Sunset from One Tree Hill Trek

If you liked my coverage on Matheran treks do share with your trek friends . I am always in search of offbeat adventures & you can follow those on my social handles.