Kudremukh trek is a part of Kudremukh national park in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka. Kudremukh is the third highest peak after Mullayanagiri and Bababudangiri. Kudremukh trekking information is given in full details below:
How to reach Kudremukh trek base?
Reaching for Kudremukh trek base by private Vehicle:
It is recommended that if you want to go for Kudremukh trek, prefer to go by a private vehicle because of the location of the Kudremukh trek. On google maps, search for “Balagal Bus Stop, State Highway 66, Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka 577124“, you will get a direct route map from your place. From the Balagal bus stop, a raw trail goes to the Mullodi village which is the base of the Kudremukh Trek. Mullodi village is a small village of around 5o houses and there are also a couple of homestays there.
Reaching for Kudremukh trek base by Public transport:
Get a bus to Kalasa. From Kalasa, get into any bus which goes towards Kudremukh town but remembers to get down at Balagal town. Once you reach Balagal, you can hire a jeep from Balagal bus stand to Mullodi village which is the base village of the Kudremukh trek. The jeep charges around 700 rupees until Mullodi village. Keep the contact number of the Jeep driver because you will again need the jeep to return to Balagal town after doing the trek.
Kudremukh base Homestay Accommodation at Mullodi:
There are a couple of Homestays in Mullodi village sometimes referred as Mullodi House. These homestays offer stays for 600/ person which includes meals and warm water. Given below are the phone numbers of Mullodi Homestays:
Rajegowda (Mullodi House): 08263-249333 / 09481179008
Satish: 08263-249595 / 9481074530 / 8722847688
Kudremukh Trekking Information:
Kudremukh trek distance: 9 Km (One side)
Kudremukh peak height: 6050 feet
Time to trek: 4 to 5 hours (one side)
Camping: Not allowed
Trekking permission fee: 475/ person (Near Balagal Bus stand)
Since Kudremukh trek is a part of Kudremukh national park, camping inside the reserve forest is not allowed in the night. Kudremukh trekking permission has to be taken in the Balagal town itself. You can ask anyone about the forest department building. It is nearer to the bus stand.
(The permission is taken at the blue hut in the picture above at Balagal)
Once you reach to Mullodi, you can get fresh at Raje Gowda’s house. Please make sure you call well in advance and make your booking. Since there is no night camping at the peak so, one need not carry cooking vessels or cooking stuff to cook at the top. The clever is to order food at the village. They sometimes can pack lunch for you too. On demand, hot water is also available. There is not need of carrying much water. You will walk along a water stream initially so, nearer to the top there is a small water stream which you can clearly see on the way.
Try to avoid monsoon season because the Kudremukh trek would be full of leeches. After monsoon, a whole of the terrain is full of greenery. Thus it's better to start in mid-sept. However, grasses start to die from November and sometimes the sun could be little warmer in Nov/Dec. Take a look at the weather report before leaving.
Kudremukh Route map details:
You can download the Kudremukh trek route map on your device using google offline map. You can use the same offline map using GPS to keep tracking of the Kudremukh trek. In the google map search for “Kudremukh Peak, Mularahalli, Karnataka 574230, Balagal Mullodi Road, Karnataka 577124” from Mullodi, select the walking option and you will see the whole Kudremukh trail. While trekking, you can keep on using GPS to track if you are walking on the correct trail or not. Here is a video on How to download google offline map.
Lobo house on the way.
A signboard showing the road towards Kudremukh in Balagal.