Treks Near Bangalore: One-Day Hills, Weekend Peaks and How Aranya Vihaara Booking Works

Treks near Bangalore at a glance: distance, difficulty and daily caps

Most treks near Bangalore are short, steep climbs up granite hills, often to a ruined fort, within 100 km of the city. The Karnataka Forest Department now sells every forest trek through one booking site, Aranya Vihaara, which lists each trail’s distance, time, difficulty and a daily cap on trekkers. The table below uses the portal’s own figures (checked for a Saturday in November 2026), plus Karnataka Tourism and Wikipedia for heights and road distances.

How trek booking near Bangalore works on Aranya Vihaara

If you searched for “treks near Bangalore booking” or “trekking near Bangalore BookMyShow”, the official answer is the Forest Department’s Aranya Vihaara site (aranyavihaara.karnataka.gov.in). Karnataka Tourism’s Skandagiri page says walk-ins are not accepted, and the portal is the only place to buy a forest trek permit. Here is how it works, from the portal itself (checked October 2026):

• Booking window: at least 1 day and at most 30 days ahead. After 12 noon, the calendar stops offering the next day, so a Saturday trek has to be booked by Friday morning at the latest.
• Group size: each trail page lists a maximum of 3 visitors per booking, so a group of six needs two logins or two bookings.
• ID: carry the original government ID you booked with. It is checked at the start point.
• Reporting: be at the start point at least 10 minutes before your slot begins. Karnataka Tourism adds that late arrivals at Skandagiri are refused entry.
• Cancellation (from 15 July 2026): cancel 8 or more days ahead and you get 50% back; cancel within 7 days and you get nothing. Cancelled tickets can’t be rebooked.
• Help: the Forest Department helpline is 1926.

The trail pages you can open without logging in don’t show a fee. The only published fee we could confirm is Skandagiri’s: Karnataka Tourism lists ₹250 per person for the permit, plus ₹50–100 to park a vehicle at the base (checked October 2026). Weekend slots on the popular hills sell out, so Karnataka Tourism suggests booking Skandagiri 5–7 days ahead for weekends and holidays.

One-day treks near Bangalore within 100 km

Skandagiri: the sunrise climb opposite Nandi Hills

Skandagiri, also called Kalavara Durga, is the trek most Bengaluru people try first. It starts at the Papagni temple in Kalwara village, about 3 km from Chikkaballapur, and climbs to a ruined fort and an old Shiva temple at about 1,350 m. The portal grades it “adventurous”, its hardest level, and the 8 km round trip passes through thick scrub before rock scrambles and narrow ledges near the top. On the portal in November 2026 there was one slot, 6 to 11 AM, capped at 150 people. Karnataka Tourism notes that sunrise and afternoon slots may be suspended at short notice, so check what is on offer before you plan a night drive.

Savandurga and Bidirukatte: Asia’s big monolith, off Magadi Road

Savandurga, about 60 km west of Bengaluru off Magadi Road, is a pair of granite hills (Karigudda and Biligudda) rising to 1,226 m, described as among the largest monolith hills in Asia. The climb is a steep, exposed slab, which is why the portal grades it adventurous and caps it at 180 people a day, starting from the Kempegowda tree park. Sloth bears and leopards live on the hill, and the south face gets hot early, so start at 6 AM and be down well before midday. If the main climb is too much, Bidirukatte, from the same tree park, is a 3 km moderate trail to a Basavanna temple, capped at just 30 people a day.

Makalidurga, Hulukudi and Kaiwara: the easier options

For treks near Bangalore for beginners, the portal grades two hills as easy. Makalidurga, about 60 km away and 15 km from Doddaballapur, starts with a 2 km walk from a railway station to the Muthurayaswamy temple, then climbs 4 km to a hilltop fort. It is the only trek in this list the portal describes as all-season, and it had no blocked dates in 2026. Hulukudi Betta, 55 km away near Doddaballapura, is a 2.12 km return climb to a cave temple on a rocky summit. Kaiwara Betta in Chintamani taluk, about 65 km out, is graded moderate: a 5 km trail from Kaiwara Tapovana that the portal itself calls steep and rough.

Treks near Bangalore without booking: Nandi Hills and Kunti Betta

Not every hill near Bengaluru needs a forest permit. Nandi Hills, about 60 km away and 1,478 m high, is a hill station rather than a forest trek. Karnataka Tourism lists it as open 6 AM to 6 PM, with an entry ticket of about ₹10–20 and parking of ₹60 for a car on weekdays and ₹100 at weekends (checked October 2026). Weekend crowds are heavy, so arrive at opening time. It is also the city’s favourite cycling climb (see cycling in Bangalore).

Kunti Betta, near Pandavapura in Mandya district, is a pair of rocky hills reaching 878 m, about 130 km from Bengaluru and known for night treks. Mandya is not one of the districts on Aranya Vihaara (checked October 2026), so there is nothing to book online. Local rules for night treks can change, so ask at the temple at the base, go in a group and carry a torch.

Weekend treks from Bengaluru: Kudremukh and Kumara Parvatha

For a real Western Ghats trek, Bengaluru trekkers drive overnight to two big peaks, both now on Aranya Vihaara. Kudremukh (1,894 m, Karnataka’s third-highest peak) is about 320 km away in Chikkamagaluru district. The portal lists 18 km and about 8 hours from the Mullodi anti-poaching camp, graded adventurous, with 300 places a day, and on the Saturday we checked only 76 were left. Kumara Parvatha from the Beedahalli side, 25 km from Somwarpet in Kodagu, is a 12 km round trip of about 6 hours, graded moderate. Its entry slot is 6 to 9 AM, you must be back by 5 PM, and there is a plastic check at the gate: steel bottles and steel food boxes only.

Is it open now? When treks around Bengaluru close

Searches for “trekking near Bangalore open now” make sense, because the Bengaluru treks shut for months at a time. The portal’s booking calendar shows exactly which dates were blocked in 2026, and the weather explains why: India Meteorological Department normals for Bengaluru show about 129 mm of rain in May and 208 mm in September, the wettest month.

Dates move every year, so check the calendar on Aranya Vihaara before you plan. The portal blocks the date when a trail is shut; it doesn’t always say why.

A 6-week plan to get trek-fit in Bengaluru

Skandagiri’s 8 km and steep rock steps are a fair test for a desk worker, and Kudremukh’s 18 km over 8 hours is a big step up from that. This plan gets you up Skandagiri comfortably by week 4 and ready for Kudremukh or Kumara Parvatha by week 6. It uses what Bengaluru already has: apartment stairwells, Lalbagh’s rocky slopes and Cubbon Park’s long avenues. The thinking behind it (why legs, core and stairs matter, and how loaded hikes work) is in our national guide on how to prepare for a trek.

1. 1

   Weeks 1–2: base and legs

   Three brisk 40-minute walks a week, one of them a Cubbon Park loop. Two strength sessions: goblet squats 3 × 10, step-ups onto a sturdy chair 3 × 10 each leg, glute bridges 3 × 12, plank 3 × 30 seconds.

2. 2

   Week 3: stairs

   Add one stairs session: walk up 10 floors of your apartment block (or office building), take the lift down, repeat 3 times. Keep both strength sessions and make step-ups higher.

3. 3

   Week 4: first hill

   Book Makalidurga or Hulukudi Betta for the weekend. Midweek, stairs 4–5 times up, carrying a 4–5 kg daypack. Add reverse lunges 3 × 8 each leg for the descent.

4. 4

   Week 5: the Skandagiri test

   Book Skandagiri. Strength twice, with single-leg Romanian deadlifts 3 × 8 and slow lowering on step-downs to protect knees on the way down. One 90-minute walk with a pack.

5. 5

   Week 6: long day

   A 3–4 hour walk with a 6 kg pack, or Savandurga if you are confident on slabs. Taper the last 3 days before Kudremukh or Kumara Parvatha: one short walk, mobility, sleep.

Safety on Bengaluru’s rock hills

• Heat comes early. Bare granite at Savandurga and Skandagiri warms up fast. Start in the first slot, carry at least 2 litres of water and turn back if you feel dizzy.
• Wildlife. Savandurga is home to sloth bears and leopards. Stay on the marked trail, stay with your group and don’t stay on the hill after dark.
• Wet rock. Even outside the closure dates, slabs stay slippery after rain. Wear shoes with real grip, not running flats.
• Rules. Karnataka Tourism lists no alcohol, smoking, campfires or loud music on Skandagiri, and children under 10 must be with an adult. Carry all rubbish back down.
• Health. Check with your doctor first if you have a heart condition, knee or back trouble, or vertigo. Karnataka Tourism doesn’t recommend Skandagiri for any of these.

If you already use a gym, Personal Gym Training in Bengaluru puts a coach on your phone for squats and step-ups under load. Trekking with friends? Train together in group classes in Bengaluru at ₹499 per person. Hill days pair well with running: see our guides to running tracks in Bangalore and marathons in Bangalore. To plan food for a long trek day, our TDEE calculator estimates what you burn. For everything else, see online personal training in Bengaluru.