Mallapadi Fort Trek in Tamil Nadu🗿: Riding the Heat Waves | Chap 237 (Apr 25, 2026)

Mallapadi Fort Trek

 

• Place: Mallapadi Fort Trek (Tamil Nadu)
• Difficulty: Moderate Trek.
• Distance: 135 x 2 = 270 km.
• Directions: Bangalore > Attibele > Krishnagiri > Mallapadi.
• Krew: Anwar (Bhai), Karthik (Sp).
• Bikes: Pulsar.
• Previous Visit: Udedurgam Trek.
• Budget: Rs 290/head (Petrol = 540/2; Breakfast = 0/2; Sting = 40/2) - Packed breakfast prepared by Bhai :)

---

IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:

Alright, Mallapadi turned out to be a classic return trek. Situated near Krishnagiri, this trek offers a moderate challenge and superb views of the NH-48 (Bangalore-Chennai highway).  And this marked 30 weeks, 29 treks, 6 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 17th trek in 18 weeks for 2026, with 15 first ascents.  Yeah, somebody wished us a happy New Year with intent :)

INTRO & PLAN:

We had launched the Grand TN expedition with some Napalm spirit for sure. With Rayakottai Fort Trek, Anchetty Durgam, Ratnagiri trek and Udedurgam Trek under our belt, we had finished the west wing. Now it was time to explore (with childish intent) the other south and east wings. Actually, last week we had missed a trek as I had travelled to Gujarat for official purposes, and guess what, after i came back, I was half deaf haha.. yeah, the 45 °C heat got to me. So with the right ear not functioning, we rode South :)

TIME: 16:00 (23 Apr, 2026)

Let's start :)

ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:

Yes, this time I was actually not up by 3am. Had snoozed off, thanks for watching late-night IPL. By the time I woke up, it was 4:15, and I already felt so late. Jumped out of bed, put on regular attire and took off within 5min from home, even without brushing my teeth.  Cruised in the city listening to some heavy metal, covering about 35km to reach Attibele at Bhai's place.  After formal greetings, we decided to hit the road before the heat from the sun hit us :)

TIME: 05:15

The entire world welcoming us back :)

RIDE 1: (Bangalore > Attibele > Krishanagiri > Mallapadi)

The ride was surprisingly smooth. With a 6-lane road laid out like a carpet, it was maintaining eyes for idiots and locking in the cruising speed. Chatting all the way, we covered quick ground. We pulled over just before Krishnagiri for a stretch break. Every 50km, whether we need to or not, we pull over for a stretch break. 

Now, with the NO GMAPS rule in place, post-Krishnagiri, we became cautious and rode at a decent pace to spot the mighty hillfort just off the road. Conversing with locals, we found the actual start-point. Parking the bikes in an open ground nearby, we awoke the "Lizard's spirit" within us and were all set for the trek.

TIME: 07:30

Spot the 5-6 peacocks?

MALLAPADI FORT TREK

ASCENT:

The ascent took us about 60 minutes. With a lot of exploration done all along the way. The trek itself was an easy one. But with the onset of peak summer, we were drenched in sweat by the time we reached the top. And did I mention, Chef Bhai had packed some bread omelets, bread and jam and soaked pulses and peanuts for breakfast for the summit :)

The entire trek can be divided into two distinct phases: 1. Climb to the  Hanuman temple and 2. Push to the Summit. Alright, keep up with me here!! 

Initial Phase: Consists of a lot of steps.

Phase 1: To the Hanuman Temple

This stretch is pretty much draining but very easy. To start off things, there are 199 steps, yes, we counted them on our way back. These steps are draining and our mortal enemy for sure. With sweat dripping down our foreheads, we decided to pace ourselves, but never stop. 

Post the recently made steps, the fun starts with the ancient steps. Now things got interesting. There are arrows painted on the rocks, and it was easy to figure out the way. And yeah, zero people made it even more fun. Grinding through the first phase, we reached the spooky Hanuman temple. 

Said a big HI to the fella, asked him how he was. The statue at this place actually looks fierce. So bend down our heads and requested a safe passage and carried forward :)

The second phase is a pure grinder :)

Phase 2: Push to the Summit.

Now, post this, there are no clear trails. Here, we had to really put our scouting skills to the test. With thorny bushes all around, whenever we hit an impasse, we used to split and scout in both directions and then call out and follow one of them. Tag-teaming perfectly along, we pushed to find the face rock - the first image of this blog post. It was like a huge monster staring right at us with its cold dark eyes. We tried to make monkey faces at it, seeing if it would react, but with no response got from its end, we decided to climb on its head and fool around :)

Bhai is climbing on the rock face at Mallapadi

Post fooling around the rock, we found the two gateways that would lead us to the top. The first one was intact, whilst the second one lay in ruins. It was spooky, and the wind was blowing at a slow pace. And finally, we made it to the top :)

TIME: 08:30

The second gateway lay in ruins.

TOP:

As we reached the top, we found it had a lot of flat land and things to explore. As we started exploring the top, we realised it has a lot of shrubs and bushes which were in semi-dry condition, and yes, it had a lot of thorns. We were actively hunting for a peaceful spot to sit down and have our breakfast, but it proved to be tougher than we thought. 

We tried going through a shrub and bam, it tore right through my pants, exposing my left knee and shins - I felt half naked then. Laughing it away, we climbed up a rock and found a nice spot and sat down, took of our soaked jackets, felt much lighter. Then we dug into Chef Bhai's special :)

Pahadi Bread Omelette :)

After having some kick-ass bread omelettes and soaked pulses and peanuts, we hydrated and just crashed. I mean, literally collapsed. We kept our jackets for drying in the sun, allowing it to do something in our favour at least, and we slept flat, making the sun dry our soaked clothes as well. 

After sleeping for about 15-20 minutes, we awoke, hydrated ourselves again and decided to head back down :)

TIME: 09:00

The only luxury we need - a peaceful breakfast on top of a mountain :)

DESCENT:

The descent took us about 30 minutes. It was a surgical one as well. The top part was tricky. We tag-teamed again. A quick thumb rule, while climbing up, make bad dirty jokes (with pure intent, of course) about everything you see. It will embed in your spatial memory and help you find the route back without hassles.  As we made our way back to the temple, we looked at the Hanuman; he was still staring furiously at us. We smiled nervously, made a monkey face and ran away from there. As I was running away, BAM. Another thorn bush slit right across my right knee, exposing my right knee and shins. 

I was literally standing like the highest certified beggar in that region. It was like Mallapadi wanted to harass me really bad haha :) Bhai was laughing at my state.  To distract ourselves, we decided to count the steps of the final stretch, and we reached back our bike.

TIME: 09:30

The spooky Hanuman temple at the midway mark

RIDE 2: (Mallapadi > Krishnagiri > Attibele > Bangalore)

As we mounted the bikes, we looked back at the hillock, thanked her for the rich and playful experience, and thanked her for "LETTING US GO BACK". Took the bike cloth and covered my left knee, took Bhai's kerchief and wrapped my right knee, looking like a clown, I hopped onto my bike and asked Bhai to sit behind, he was controlling his laughter as best as he could. 

We were really dehydrated, and as we began the ride, we stopped at the houses of a few locals and tried the taps and found no water. We continued to find a small bakery, we had some Sting and boy did it feel good, gulping down some more water, we continued to ride non-stop. The roads felt really good, and with some no-nonsense riding, we reached back Attibele to drop back Bhai at his place. From there, put on some music, ignored the stares I got and rode in my own zone to reach back home :)

TIME: 12:30

Bhai enjoying the view from the Outpost 

CONCLUSION:

Now, the grand TN expedition hit a small "rumble strip" last week. But the fire is back. With the right ear partially functional, and the heat wave at its peak, the trek felt really good. The dehydration levels are real and we need to be more more careful in the upcoming weeks. And yeah, nothing like a Pahadi Omelette. 

Past 30 weeks, we have pulled off 29 treks, ~5800km in total, 6-7 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/

KREW:

Bhai: Getting up, preparing bread omelettes and getting soaked pulses for the summit. And when asked not to take such troubles, he says this is my way of thanking you. Haha what else can be said about this soul? Onwards towards next time \m/

Sippy: Crazy happy to get half stripped by a mountain, haha. Some time she plays with you and need to just play along with a smile. 30 weeks, 29 treks, 15 first ascents in 2026 \m/

Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/

Time for some stitching lessons :) - wish us luck in the Grand TN Expedition.