Treks Near Udaipur: Sajjangarh, Neemach Mata, Badi Lake Hills and the Ranakpur Forest Trail

Hikes near Udaipur: Aravalli hills you can climb before breakfast

Udaipur sits on the southern slope of the Aravalli range, and the hills come right down to its lakes. That makes trekking near Udaipur unusual for a Rajasthani city: you can start a climb from the edge of Fateh Sagar, be on a ridge within the hour and be back for breakfast. None of the city hikes is long. What they offer is height gain on rough stone and sanctuary roads, which is exactly what you need to train for bigger trips, and views over water that most hill walks in India can’t match. The table sorts the main options from easiest to longest (checked October 2026).

The Sajjangarh climb: walking up to Udaipur’s Monsoon Palace

Sajjangarh is the hike that defines Udaipur’s skyline. The Monsoon Palace stands on Bansdara peak at 944 m, about 340 m above Lake Pichola, roughly 5 km west of the city. Maharana Sajjan Singh began it in 1884 and meant it partly as an astronomical centre for watching the monsoon clouds; his successor, Maharana Fateh Singh, completed it. Rajasthan Tourism notes that it was also used as a hunting lodge. Today the Rajasthan Forest Department controls the palace, and visitors are allowed up until sunset.

The palace sits inside the Sajjangarh Wildlife Sanctuary, declared in 1987. At 5.19 km² it is the smallest of Rajasthan’s 25 wildlife preserves, enclosed by the Kishan Pol wall, with a 28.7 km² eco-sensitive zone around it since 2017. Its bird list runs to 129 species, including three vulture species that the sanctuary’s records class as severely endangered. At the foot of the hill, the Sajjangarh Biological Park covers 36 hectares, and you can walk its paths or take a paid golf cart.

Most people drive up the winding sanctuary road. Walking it instead turns a sightseeing trip into a proper hill session: one long, steady gradient with almost no flat recovery. Outlook Traveller listed the palace ticket at ₹110 for Indians in July 2024, about ₹305 extra to take a vehicle up, and sanctuary entry at ₹30, with ₹80 for a camera and the sanctuary closed on Tuesdays and public holidays. Fees change and published figures disagree, so check at the gate before you plan a walk around them.

Neemach Mata: Udaipur’s 900-metre stair climb above Fateh Sagar

Neemach Mata is a hilltop temple in the Dewali area, on the Fateh Sagar shore, and its approach is the best stair workout in Udaipur. Pilgrims climb a mix of steps and a sloping walkway about 900 m long, which Outlook Traveller said typically takes 45 minutes to an hour. The view from the top takes in Fateh Sagar and the hills to the west.

Since 22 January 2024, a monocable ropeway has run alongside the path: about 500 ft long, with 12 cabins carrying up to 400 passengers an hour. The two-way fare is listed at ₹220 for adults from 19 February 2026, with free parking at the lower terminal opposite the lake. For training, the ropeway is useful in one direction only. Walk up and down if your knees are healthy, because the descent is where trekkers get sore. If a knee is still recovering, walk up and ride down.

Badi Lake, the Bahubali hills and the walk from Gorilla Point

Badi Lake, about 12 km from Udaipur, was built by Maharana Raj Singh to protect the city against drought and named Jiyan Sagar after his mother; Rajasthan Tourism records that it proved its worth in the drought of 1973. Three chhatris stand on its banks. On the hill above it, the Bahubali hills viewpoint is about 13 km from the city: the road is sealed around the lake, then an unsealed track climbs to a dirt car park, and a very short, steep path crosses the hill to the lookout over the water and the jagged dry ridges behind.

The Bahubali climb is short, so treat it as a sunrise outing rather than a trek. For something longer, Wikipedia’s Monsoon Palace article describes a trek from Gorilla Point to Badi Lake through the same hills; we found no official route or distance, so go with someone who has walked it. The terrain on all of these is rocky, shadeless scrub, and it heats up fast after 9 AM for most of the year.

The Fateh Sagar pal: training ground, not just an evening stroll

Every Udaipur hiker knows the pal, the north-eastern embankment of Fateh Sagar also called the Drive or Connaught Bund. Fateh Sagar is 2.4 km long and 1.6 km wide, with about 8.5 km of shoreline, and its surface sits at 578 m. Maharana Fateh Singh rebuilt the dam in 1889 after floods washed away the earlier earthen bund; the masonry overflow section alone is 800 m long. Rani Road, Moti Magri Road, Fateh Sagar Drive and the road along the eastern shore together take you around the whole lake.

Flat as it is, the lake circuit earns its place in a trek plan. A brisk lap with a loaded daypack builds the endurance that the hills then test, and the pal is lit, busy and safe early and late. Pair it with Neemach Mata on the same morning: one lake lap, one climb, and you have a two-hour training session that starts and ends in the city.

A weekend from Udaipur: the Kumbhalgarh to Ranakpur forest trail

When the city hills feel short, go north into the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, 610 km² of Aravalli forest whose eastern ranges reach about 1,060 m (3,478 ft). Outlook Traveller’s sanctuary guide lists forest walks of 25 km from Ranakpur to Kumbhalgarh, 15 km from Ranakpur to Thandi Beri and 14 km from Kumbhalgarh to Thandi Beri, and says the sanctuary entry permit is the only document you need to trek. It suggests asking for a forest guard to walk with you, at ₹200–500 a day when it was written.

That guide dates from 2017 and also listed the sanctuary as closed from July to September, so confirm current permits, guard rates and any monsoon closure with the forest office before you book. Leopards and sloth bears live in this forest, which is the main reason to walk with a guard rather than alone. The fort itself and its famous wall are covered in our guide to treks near Jaipur; from Udaipur, the forest trail is the part worth training for.

When to hike in Udaipur: the season by month

Udaipur’s hiking calendar is set by heat and rain. India Meteorological Department normals for Udaipur airport (1991–2020) show average highs of 40.2 °C in May and 37.8 °C in April, against 24.5 °C in January. July and August bring about 441 mm of rain between them, most of the city’s 674 mm year, which turns the hills green and the stone paths slick.

Staying safe on Udaipur’s hills

• Respect sanctuary hours. Sajjangarh closes at sunset; Kumbhalgarh has been listed as sunrise to sunset. Plan to be off the hill with time to spare.
• Carry more water than the distance suggests. These are dry, exposed ridges, and a 45-minute climb in October can feel like a summer walk.
• Wear shoes that grip polished stone. Temple steps and old paths are worn smooth, and monsoon algae make them worse.
• Don’t hike forest trails alone. On the Ranakpur trail, take a forest guard; on Gorilla Point and Bahubali routes, go with someone who knows the way.
• Keep food out of sight around temples, where monkeys are bold.

Six weeks to the Ranakpur trail: a training plan built on Udaipur’s hills

A 25 km forest day is a long time on your feet, with hours of up-and-down on uneven ground. The plan below uses the pal for endurance, Neemach Mata for stairs and Sajjangarh as the dress rehearsal. It assumes you can walk 5 km comfortably today. The reasoning behind each exercise is in our national guide on how to prepare for a trek.

1. 1

   Loaded step-ups, 3 × 10 each leg

   Use a 30–40 cm step and your daypack. This is the Neemach Mata staircase in miniature.

2. 2

   Three-second step-downs, 3 × 8 each leg

   Control the way down. Coming off Sajjangarh and the Bahubali track is what tires the front of the thigh.

3. 3

   Single-leg Romanian deadlift, 3 × 8 each leg

   Builds the hamstrings and hips that steady you on loose forest trail.

4. 4

   Suitcase carry, 3 × 30 m each side

   Hold a full water can or bag in one hand and walk tall; it trains the trunk for a lopsided pack.

If you already train in a gym near Sukhadia Circle, Personal Gym Training in Udaipur adds loaded step-ups and deadlifts with a coach watching every rep. If a knee or ankle has kept you off the hills and your physio has cleared you, Rehab & Recovery in Udaipur rebuilds strength slowly. On the flat, cycling in Udaipur covers the lake loops and the Sajjangarh road on two wheels, and healthy food in Udaipur helps you fuel long hiking days; the TDEE calculator sizes the extra food. If gym costs are part of the plan, see gym fees in Udaipur, and for everything else start at online personal training in Udaipur.