Kailasgad Fort Trek

Kailasgad Fort trek is an easy grade trek located in Pune district of Maharashtra, India. The fort is not visited by many and not much is known about it’s history.

History

Villagers around the fort say that Shivaji Raje had visited once to this fort. There is not much documentation on the history of the fort and hence is not visited by many.

Geography

Kailasgad fort trek has the best scenic waterfalls that makes trekking more beautiful during the rainy season. The base village of the fort is Vaduste Village. From the top of the fort, trekkers can see the entire view of the backwater adjoining the fort by three sides. The height of the Kailasgad fort is 3300 feet from above the sea level. From the top of the hill, the backside of the Mulshi dam can be seen clearly. There is a plateau on the right side where a saffron flag is mounted. A carving of water tanks was left unfinished due to the softness of rock. Ahead of the edge of the fort, there is a wall inside which a Shivling is carved in stone.

The Trail

Besides the signboard where the ridge of the mountain descends, there is an unpaved path that takes the trekkers to the top of the hill within 15 min. The small hill ends when we cross the tall standing wall of the mountain. Keeping the valley to the left, we start a journey to the Kailasgad fort. There is a plateau on the right side where a saffron flag mounted on it. Diverse to the left, that descends for 5 min to reach the water tanks which is carved in the rock. From the base village, it requires one and a half hours to reach the top of the fort.

How to Reach

Pune-Tamhini Road (85 Km)

From Pune take a drive towards Tamhini Ghat, take a right turn and move ahead to Pimpri village. From here trekkers can reach Vaduste Village via Vandre Village.

Pune-Lonavala Road (100 Km)

Get to Pune-Ambavane road and reach to Vandre village then Vaduste Village that is 5-7 Km away from the base village of the fort.

Buses are also available from Lonavla to reach the base village of the fort. One can reach Lonavala if coming from Mumbai.