As the monsoon ages to is mid… during the month of August my planning to the milky way of waterfalls begin … year over year a pilgrimage to the king of waterfalls Kataldhar …. dep into the Ulhas valley ..untouched by the crowd and pollution … soaking in the showers till my fingers turn soft and crinkly !Eagerly waiting to reach to the caves inside the waterfall to experience the roaring sound with lots of water spray .. having dream lunch …
every year I would think of having photographs or video shooting inside the caves, but could not dare to do so because of lumps of water that one has to carry while entering the caves …one can not enter without being pressure washed of few seconds as a entry fee to the caves !!!
But this year I decided to risk my Sony cybershot to get waterfall shoot from inside the caves and could get a lonng shot for 10 seconds ! before the lens blown off by the water spray !
Kataldhar Waterfalls Trek in monsoon Lonavala 2019
Basic information on Kataldhar Lonavala trek
Located in Ulhas valley at Lonavala, on the way to Rajmachi, this is beautiful waterfall with nice swimming pond 🙂 (be careful if the water flow is more due to heavy rains)
Difficulty level
Medium to hard level the last patch is difficult and needs rope to reach to the bottom of waterfall
Experienced trekker is needed as guide since many trekkers lost their way in this valley.
What to see !
Heavenly waterfall 🙂 and enjoy swimming (be careful !)
Place to stay/take food
before descending down to the waterfall there is cave where you can keep your sacks or other option is under the waterfall there is a huge cave (see photographs below) where you can stay or take your food (staying in rainy season is not recommended)
Location
Ullas vally near Lonavala
How to reach
Distance from Lonavala ~7 Kilometers, ahead of Kune Gaon & on the way to Rajmachi
Identification to get down to vally; see photo at end of post, two mango trees are the only mark available, u must get down from that location, there is no other way.
mobile range available – BSNL, IDEA, Vodaphone mobile range is available in this Vally, so better to have one of this sim card with u s as 2 use in case of emergency
Precautions:
- This is semi-hard trek, u must have proper trekking gears for this trek
- Odomas or any other mosquito repellent is necessary
- Full sleeves shirt & proper full pant is must
- at the last patch where u get down to the water fall, rope is required due to difficult rock patch
- Markings on the way by keeping three stones one above another is done by FONA team, carefully follow them, due to density of forest there r chances to loose track easily
- do not take undue risks in the waterfall, the water falling down gets doubled in minutes as per the rain fall rate .. so risky
if u wish to get details of the trek, time, location, difficulty, instructions etc, get on to my previous blog post ..
https://trekbook.in/2010/08/chalo-kataldhara-near-lonavala.html/ cheers !!
Recommended reference reading –
One day trek in Sahaydri mountain ranges – Do’s and Don’t, Things to carry list
And one more long shot for the waterfall from outside the caves … on the way while u descend to the base of waterfall ..Here is the refreshing snap shot of Kataldhara … the one of the remaining untamed nature of Maharashtra … clean … fresh .. untouched from PLASTIC BOTTLES & GARBAGE !!!!
kataldhar waterfall trek
and for someone who is interested into the google coordinates for this waterfall he can goto 18.814688,73.405684
The FONA team for August Kataldhar trek
FONA team for kataldhar trek
Having the morning cup of tea ..on the misty background .. with Deepak, RN (ravindra), Rajendra sir.
misty tea at lonavala ulhas valley
way to rajmachi
Team getting safety instructions from trek leader .. please note the white direction arrow marked to show u way to start ur descend in the valley for the waterfalls …
ready to descend to kataldhar waterfalls
descending to kataldhar waterfalls
descending to kataldhar waterfalls jungle entangled
and the first point where u get officially wet ! this is like on the way to Pandharpur u hv “ringan” .. official stop .. called as Padav in marathi 🙂
first bath on the way to kataldhar with trek leader
first bath on the way to kataldhar
Valley descend is over … now if u wish to have first look at Kataldhar waterfall .. u hv to climb again .. Sachin and me were last benchers .. sachin spending lot of time using his Canon shots … and as i m so used to the route .. having timepass with him ,,. and anyway as unwritten rule someone has also to be at the trail to take care that no one is missing ..
the last climbing towards kataldhar
and when u reach for the first view .. u will feel that it is worth doing all efforts to reach here .. getting up early morning .. heading to catch the bus .. walking so long .. this is it ..
kataldhar waterfalls first look
its not over … now u hv to descend down .. obviously i could not take any photographs on the way down ! hey ! u know it or what !! since i did not do this .. i am back to write the blog post .. else .. 😛
kataldhar the closeup misty showers
if u r a beginner then getting down to the caves is the difficult task .. not to take any risk we always prefer to tie rope for the last patch .. since mostly it becomes slippery due to continuous rains ..
mahesh inside the caves of kataldhar waterfalls
wild flowers on rock
Kataldhar waterfall trek – green
mitsty in lonavala on the way to rajmachi
Every time i get into the showers of this waterfall .. i get into deep love with it ..
Hi, I want to for kataldhar trek on this weekend with my friends. I need some help. We are going by train to lonavla, so we have to walk from lonavla to Kataldhar? or can we go by auto till starting point of trek ? and then walk! can you tell me the point where vehicles can go? I read in other blog posts that it is on the same way to Rajamachi trek. But is there landmark where to start descending the valley to find waterfall?
Yes, it is on the way to Rajmachi, in past I have walked from Lonavala to Kataldhar, you can hire auto and check if he is ready to drive till half way to Rajmachi, There is one Tapari (small chai shop), where you can leave the auto and ask that person way down, from tea stall it is around 500 meters. There is twin mango trees from where you need to descend down.
where to park our bikes in lonaval or kune gaon
I have been to Kataldhar Waterfalls near Lonavla and can say that these are the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen in my life. You can simply walk down from Lonavla railway station to this place. Carry food with you. and take care on shoe quality to avoid slip issues during monsoon. Thank you Mahesh for detailed information sharing on Kataldhar waterfalls.