Drive + Trek - Devarayanadurga (DD hills)

DD hills is a hillock situated in Tumkur district of Karnataka. It is around 80 kilometers from Bangalore. It is a green rocky hill with not much elevation at 1200 meters. The 'Bhoganarasimha Temple' , which it is famous for, is situated at this altitude. I must say it is one of the most alluring and picturesque hillocks close to Bangalore. If you lean much more towards photography, than trekking, then this is the place for you.

The photographer in you is sure to go nuts, as there are pictures to be clicked in every direction you look. If you are into both landscape, and macro photography, then this place is definitely going to keep you occupied for a very long time. I highly recommend keeping an entire day for it if you are going there to hone your photography skills.

But first, let's begin with the drive.

I shall say that 70% of the drive is on the NH75, and the rest is on SH 3. There must be a ton of ways to get onto the NH75. I used the following route:

Tin factory - ORR - Hebbal - BEL circle - Tumkur main road - Nelamangala Toll gate - NH48/75. Continue on the NH75 for about 40-50kms

Off the NH and onto the SH

From here, you'll have to take the exit at the left just before the flyover at Ratnam Hotel (circled), get off the main NH, take a right under the flyover (circled), and get onto State Highway 3. From here, the drive gets picturesque, and interesting as you are surrounded by villages, Areca and coconut plantations, hillocks, and long winding roads that have smooth inclines and declines. It is quite exciting to drive on this road with sweeping views all around, but do remember to maintain your speed as you pass by villages intermittently.

The condition of the road is pretty good overall, and very good at some places. There aren't many deviations or turns that you'll need to take to get to this place unlike Skandagiri or other hillocks near Bangalore. The one below is the last turn you'll take, which takes you onto the Devarayanadurga hills road. From here its pretty straightforward until you reach another junction. I was told you can either go straight or take a right for the hills (as the signboards say), but I haven't checked out the route that goes straight.

Take this left and you'll be on DD hills road

You'll reach this place on taking the left turn

Please drive/ride very slowly and carefully on this road as you will  notice plenty of morning walkers, joggers and cyclists. So please be cautious and considerate for pedestrians, no matter how tempting the road might be. I spotted quite a number of bikers, including the HOG's along with some cars as well. After barely driving for another 5 minutes or so, you'll hit an eye-catching water body to your left, just adjacent to the road. It was a pretty small water body, so I'm not sure if it even exists during summers.

By the time I reached this place, I had done 80kms on the trip meter:

Most tourists park their vehicles here to go check out this wetland marsh:

Now let's get onto the trek.

After this lake, you'll notice that the climb up the hill, or shall I say, Trek begins. Because that's exactly what I did. I got out of my car, changed into sports wear, and trekked from this point. There are a myriad number of parking points on this route. Some people park their vehicles right here and begin the trek, some park it at the bridge, some park it at the Jackfruit point, some park it at the gate, and some go right till the top where the road ends, and hike up the remaining small footstep laden section towards the temple.

So you can choose from either of the following options:

1. Park it right at the water body point and hike all the way up. (This is most recommended for trekkers and photography enthusiasts, as you are bound to miss most of the natural scenery if you drive up this section)

I started my GPS late, but the trek from the water point to the temple and back gave the following stats:

2. Park it at the bridge and start hiking. (you'll come across a wide bridge in a kilometer or so, which I presume is pretty new looking at the construction):

View from a drain hole on the bridge

You'll find streams of water flowing on both sides of the road as you approach this bridge but they are highly seasonal, I suspect.

You'll come across some pretty amazing sights on the way, like tangled roots, very old trees with massive trunks, huge boulders, trees growing off of those huge boulders, beehives, all of which are breathtakingly gorgeous, as you trek up the hill, after which you'll arrive at Jackfruit point.

A massive tree trunk

Tangled roots everywhere

Trees growing directly off the rock

Roots

whats root and whats tree?

Heart Creeper

Got a glimpse of some pretty big boulders on the way up

A beehive

An Anthill

More tangled roots

More trees growing directly off the rock

3. The third option is to park it at the Jackfruit point:

Take this right to continue. Jackfruit point is on the left.

Jackfruit point

At this point you can hydrate yourself with Tender Coconuts or Sugarcane juice, or munch on some Jackfruit, to fuel you up for the rest of the trek. You'll also get Corn on the cob, Mangoes, and other local fare to munch on, if you're still driving up. I ordered some Jackfruit-which the vendor gladly packed-only to discover that I'd left my wallet in my car. So after all that cutting and packing, I regretfully told him that I didn't want it. For just 6 Jackfruit pieces, it shouldn't be much of an inconvenience, and someone else is sure to come pick em up.

4. The fourth option is to park it on either side of the road, after you take the right turn at Jackfruit point:

Most people parked on the left

There are some quite massive trees on the way

5. The fifth option is to park here at the gate. There is a junction here. Going straight takes you to the hilltop, and going left takes you to the village.

'Karnataka Tourism' signboard at the gate

Direction boards at the gate

After crossing the gate you'll enter a forested area again

Left of the junction: Road to the village on the top

From here, as you continue with the trek, you'll again be presented with a myriad options on how to proceed. A road goes in a zig-zag fashion around the hill. If you've come here for the peace and quiet, avoid the road and take the stairs. The stairs are intermittent. They are just a crossover from one hairpin bend to another. From there, again you'll have to use the road for a few metres before getting onto stairs again.

Deity carving on stone

6. The last and final option is to park right at the temple itself and take the stairs up:

Here, there is a tank where I drank water from (not pictured). There is no other water point that I know of, unless you'd like to buy it in plastic from vendors on the way. From here onward, you must beware of aggressive monkeys, especially if you have a backpack on you shoulder, or are carrying one in your hands.

Final stair section from parking spot. Notice the monkeys?

View of surrounding hillocks from the top

I reached the peak, rested and took in the scenery for a while, which included some beautiful broad winged birds, hovering up in the air:

After 15 minutes, I started my descent back to where I parked my car. The weather was really good, and it didn't allow me to break a sweat even while ascending. So descending was much easier. Going from the stats on my watch, it must be around 3.5 kms from water catchment area to peak. I got back to the car, changed into tee shirt and jeans again, and left for home. It was around 1.30 when I got home, where I had lunch, and called it a weekend.

I had done 170kms, which is pretty decent for a half day drive including a trek. Not bad at all.