Hulukadi - The Grass and Twigs Cross Trek

About Place

HuluKadi betta is around 80 kms from Bangalore, near Doddaballapur town in Karnataka. On top of the hill is a cave inside which is a temple of Veerabhadra swamy. The statue of Veerabhadra swamy is around 4ft tall and is very beautiful. It is supposed to be thousands of years old. HuluKadi means grass and twigs in Kannada, the local language of Karnataka state.

HuluKadi Betta owes its appeal to the verdant shrub forests, beautiful lakes surrounding it & the remains of the fort said to built by Chola kings sometime in the 16th century. Though as near as just 70 km away from Bangalore, HuluKadi betta is still a relatively not-so-popular trekking place near the city.

GPS Location (Parking Place): This is where the steps to the hills starts > GMaps Location Link for Trek Start Point

Eastern Exit GPS Location (you can climb from this location too, but there is no road to this place for vehicle, need to park at above location and walk through farmlands to reach here):

 GMaps Location Link for Trek Start Point from Eastern Side

What to do?

You can also see the ruins of fort walls & watch towers built by the Chola kings on the trek trail. The trek trail starts near a lake on the eastern side of the hill & ends at the opposite side making it one of the very few cross treks to do near Bangalore.

Grade : Easy - Moderate (Cross Trek)

Trail Type: Rocky terrain with moderately steep incline & steps while descending

Journey:

A usual we started rom Bangalore at 4 Am and reached the base of the trek start point, which has parking lot, owned by temple office, also a community hall besides it. Since it is cross trek you don't come back in same path on return. The climb is pretty decent with steps all the way, however the steps inclination along the way gets steep at some places, otherwise a decent climb. For a regular trekkers it should not take more than 30 mins to reach the summit.

At the summit you can explore the temples, the various view points and rocks around it, the ruins of the fort can be seen all around the fort hills while climb and on the top

Half way through these huge rock formation can be seen at close-up, also can see Moon on horizon as it was full moon day.

Steps with moderate inclination, aged people might find it difficult to climb here. These steps are newly carved and did not look historic, like the one found during the acent

Moon and the monkey..!

Old structures found enroute

The rise at the summit

The eastern side of the hills, the historic watch point can be seen, these structures were the vantage point use by the soldiers during those times.

The eastern side of the hills, the historic watch point can be seen, these structures were the vantage point use by the soldiers during those times.

The summit doesn't have much flat surface, and this is one of the best ones found, which could be used for camping..

The arch is historic and marks the entrance for the fort hills, this can be found on the foot hills, after the acent

The forthills far view..!

The Nandhi temple, found the eastern side of the forthill, this is very old structure, probably from the cholas time.

The steep inclines path during ascent.

Note: The view and information provided in just for information, appropriate groundwork and caution should be exercised by the reader before using it.