Yelagiri- A Quaint Hill Station...!!

A beautiful sunday morning ride took me to Yelagiri, one of the less explored destinations in South India. We were a gang of three on two bikes and left bangalore at 6 in the morning to this little hill station in Tamil Nadu. It was a lovely ride with wide splendid roads all the way till the start of the ghats. The ghat roads were also good inspite of them being not very broad.

After a climb of 14 hairpin bends we reached our destination. Near the 12th hairpin bend there is an observatory from where we had some lovely views of the plains below.

Yelagiri is quite different from the normal hill stations for the reason that there is nothing much to do over here. A couple of villages join together to form Yelagiri. There are hardly a few shops, a couple of restaurants and almost nil tourist traffic. However the charm of this place lies in the same.

The main attractions of Yelagiri are Punganoor lake and Swamimalai. The Punganoor lake has been well maintained to attract the tourists. We also had a boating session in the lovely lake. There is a small park next to the lake where the refreshments are available.

Swamimalai is a trekker's delight. A two hour trek leads to the top of the hill from where you get fabulous views of the valley. To undertake this trek it is best advised to start early in the morning and reach the top before the sun is completely out and over your head. However we were forced to miss out on this trek as we reached Yelagiri only by 11am. Also since we visited the place during the month of may, we didnt want to take on the burning rays of the mighty sun. 

After a lot of roaming around in search of a place to visit, we gave up and came to the consensus that there is nothing else to see in Yelagiri. This place is famous for jackfruits and home made honey. We infact had to be happy with a few mangoes and berries as we didnt have much of an option to carry the jackfruits and honey back home. After a lazy lunch at one of the reastaurants we headed back to Bengaluru.

This is the ideal place to visit if the intention is to just relax, smell the fresh air, ride up a few hairpin bends, enjoy the climate, stare at the lovely plains below and call it a blissful day. The best time to visit Yelagiri would be between November and January when the climate is pleasant.

Signature Note: The best way to relax is to absolutely do nothing.

Route: Bengaluru- Hosur- Krishnagiri- Bargur- Ponnari- Yelagiri
Distance: 165kms.