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| Kavaragal Betta Trek |
- Place: Kavaragal Betta Trek (Tumkur)
- Difficulty: Not recommended. (Home to Bears and Leopards)
- Distance: 100 km x 2 = 200 km.
- Directions: Bangalore > Dobbaspete > Kortagere > Kavaragal Betta.
- Krew: Datta (Dattu), Karthik (Sp).
- Bikes: Pulsar.
- Previous Visit: Puliyarasi Hill Trek.
- Budget: Rs 290/head (Petrol = 440/2; Breakfast = 140/2)
IN LESS THAN 50 WORDS:
Kavaragal Betta is one of the strangest hillocks. And there was no official documentation of the climb. The strange "Jodi Kallu" on top is the crown jewel. There are no clear trails, and it runs through forests that are home to bears and leopards. Recently heard from locals that a bear had ripped a shepherd's face into shreds whilst he was grazing his sheep, so yeah, not recommended for everyone :)
And this marked 362 days, 57 treks, 12 months, non-stop, since Oct 12th, 2025. This was our 45th trek in 42 weeks for 2026, with 42 first-time ascents and zero repeats :)
INTRO & PLAN:
Well, the Grand TN expedition was in full roar (Rayakottai, Anchetty Durgam, Ratnagiri Malaikottai, Udedurgam, Mallapadi, Jagadevi Fort, Thattakal Fort, Ankushagiri, Periyamalai, Virabhadra Fort, Maharajakadai Fort Trek, Musattu Malai Trek, Saanarappan Malai Trek, Sanjeevarayan Malai Trek, Arulagiri Fort, Mookankur Malai Trek, Melumalai Trek, Puliyarasi Trek).
With the last two being on the TN side, decided to switch up the route. It had been 8-9months since we rode on Tumkur road. Hence, we decided to hit Tumkur Road.
Sippy - "Oi, this weekend?"
Dattu - "yes READY"
Sippy - "This will be entering uncharted territory, so no expectations"
Dattu - " READY READY READY".
Love this guy's energy! So it was Kavaragal, and yeah, entering into a new territory.
TIME: 18:00 (9 Oct, 2026)
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| Total off-roading to the base of the hillock :) |
ASSEMBLE & LEAVE:
Yeah, was up by 03:30 AM, the usual. Stretched out a bit and loosened up muscles. Off late, had incorporated some weight training purely functional for treks. Had coffee and left home by 04:15. Cruised through the dark roads listening to some heavy, slow doom metal and reached Dattu's home in Mahalakshmi Layout. There Dattu was standing ready, and I noticed something near his leg; it was a cat walking all around him haha. Jumped off the bike and started playing with the cat for some time, then Dattu said we had a trek to complete. Then came back to my senses and we left Bangalore :)
TIME: 05:00
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| Breakfast at our regular hotel :) - after 8months. |
RIDE 1: (Bangalore > Dobbaspete > Kortagere > Kavaragal)
It had been some time since we rode on Tumkur Road (Jan 31, 2026 to Hiregundagal Betta Trek), hence it felt really good. It really gets you out of the city life fast. With the strict NO GOOGLE MAPS rule in place, it was a smooth cruise until Dobbaspete, where we took the Kortagere route. You can reach Kavaragal via Tumkur as well. Well, we took the Kortagere route because we could stop at our regular hotel for some yummy breakfast.
Post-breakfast, we took a left deviation from Kortagere and started riding back, and then, remembering all the turns, made it to a point where we could spot the hillock. This hillock can be spotted from kilometres away due to its weird shape. Two huge boulders sitting right on top like a Devil's horns.
As the paved roads faded, we were off-roading as much as possible to get as close to the base as possible. The area is really remote, and no locals were present; hence, we parked the bike in a field (quite far away from the mountain) and awoke the "astral goat's" spirit and were all set for the hike :)
TIME: 07:45
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| The Kavaragal Trek begins. |
KAVARAGAL BETTA TREK
ASCENT:
Well, the ascent took us about an hour. Now, the trek is not like others. There are no trails. Hence, after parking our bikes, we took in the macro view of the hillock and started marking pointers. We could spot a small fort entrance at the summit; that was the final goal (hopefully, as in some forts have false doors, which lead the enemy army to believe that it was the entrance and would mislead them)
Then the "slope of climb". We figured we would climb from the right as the slope was flatter. We spent about 10 minutes on this.
Like always, I have divided the trek into phases, so LET'S GO \m/
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| Initial circumnavigation |
Phase 1: The Initial Trails
Now, to get to the right part of the base, we circumnavigated the entire hillock, looking at suitable entry points into the forest area. We came across a lot of stream beds that were dried up. Crossing these, we found a suitable entry point. We decided to hit the right shoulder and make our way to the neckline.
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| Crazy climb :) |
Phase 2: Forest Zone
Now, this was tricky. Real tricky, I tell you. The forest, in a matter of minutes, engulfed us, making us lose sight of the summit. Hence, we had to keep heading to a clearing to keep the right orientation. And amidst all this, we had no trails to follow. We decided to follow loose water pathways to the top, taking turns leading.
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| Sippy, happy with the challenge :) |
Then came the major hurdle of the entire climb. Vertical rock faces ran all across the ridgeline. This was really tricky to get past. We had to actually keep walking across it until we found a small crack in the wall big enough to squeeze us past. And climbing it was challenging, but fun.
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| Final summit push :) |
Phase 3: Summit Push
Now, we were closing in on the summit. We locked that fort wall entrance and decided to scout around again. Now, this opened to beautiful grasslands. The sun was up and shining, and we were losing a lot of water. As we approached, the trails became slightly clear, and we saw something that took us back. Steps like structures carved into boulders; this brought us huge relief, and we spotted a clear path to the fort door.
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| Finally made it to the fort door :) |
As we made the final push, the terrain turned to rock. Felt like home, and we started scrambling up the hillock and passing through the door; we hit the summit :)
TIME: 08:45
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| Dattu at the summit :) |
TOP:
Whew, that was some climb. Passing through the door, we found a lot of signs of ancient settlements. We did a quick reconnaissance of the place and found a nice shaded spot and hydrated well. Then, we took off our jackets. Mine weighed a ton, like Goku's. Kept it for drying, and simply crashed and allowed the body to heal. After about 30mins of rest at the top, we decided to head back down as we had no clue how to get back down. And moreover, we had to search for the bikes parked under a particular tree - this was no easy task we felt then.
TIME: 08:15
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| The grassy stretch :) |
DESCENT:
The descent took us another 60 minutes, knowing we would never be able to retrace the route. We kept options open. From the summit, we searched hard and guess what, we actually spotted the bike. Then made mental markers all along the route because, when we hit flat land, it would blind us.
The descent was done differently; we took a completely roundabout but safe route. And navigated completely on the ridge until we came in contact with a hillock which was beside us, and then got down from there into farmlands. Then it was mere walking back on farmland. As we were grinding the flat land, hopping from farm to farm, happy that our feet were feeling flat ground, a person was standing in one of the farms.
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| This route is easier and takes less time :) |
He asked us what we were up to. We told him we had come to climb the hillock. This took him by surprise "Which hill, that one?" he asked with a flabbergasted look. I proudly said yes, and said we also finished it and were searching for our bikes. Then, he said that hillock houses a lot of bears and leopards. Recently, a bear had torn a shepherd's face into shreds. And the neighbouring hill is home to leopards, which sit in dawn and dusk and watch the landscape.
Our jaws had dropped a long time back. We laughed aloud and said, "Good thing you told us after the trek, if u had before, then we would be in two minds". Sometimes "ignorance is bliss adventure".
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| The parallel hill houses leopards :) |
We sat with him and spoke about the experience; he told us local stories about how people went earlier up the hillock in search of buried treasure and, after these animal incidents, have abandoned it completely. he offered us some cool bore water freshly being pumped to wash our faces and drink :)
Feeling freshly hydrated, we continued our search for our bikes. Trying to see the starting photos and trying to re-orient ourselves at a similar angle, keeping all the markers in mind, and lo and behold, there she was peacefully resting under the tree (whose branches and leaves looked like a banshee's head - haha, that's how we remember things). Ran up to her, kissed her on the dome and asked if she was ready for the ride back home.
We got onto the bike and looked back at the hillock one last time. Thanked her for the rich experience and, more importantly, "LETTING US GO BACK".
TIME: 10:30
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| Finally found the bike :) |
RIDE 2: (Kavaragal > Tumkur > Dobbaspete > Bangalore)
This was a 100km ride back to Bangalore. Well, there is a good reason why we chose this route. We had marked about 15-20hillocks in this region. And this entire chapter was actually a scouting trip. We wanted to ride along these unknown arteries, trying to "feel the pulse" of the region.
We could spot a lot of massive hillocks which we had on our list. And oh yeah, we also spotted Hiregundagal Betta, which we had covered in January 2026. Cruising past Tumkur, we decided to have lunch at Nelamangala. We pulled over at our regular "Whity Dhaba" on this road for some ice-cold beer and Biryani. After that, dropped Dattu and cruised along, listening to some doom metal and reached back home.
TIME: 14:30
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| Narrow pathways :) |
CONCLUSION:
Well, this was one crazy climb, completely free-style. And the fact that we survived the ordeal and then found that it houses bears and leopards, with a recent attack incident, gave us that real "kick". This trek is a real treat, almost like a treasure hunt. But yeah, unfortunately, would not recommend it due to the animal activity.
In the past 362 days, we have pulled off 57 treks, ~11,200 kms in total, 12 months, non-stop. The Flame lives on \m/
KREW:
Sippy: Extremely happy with the trek. Can say one of the best. Very fact that it was free-stying all the way to the top. Reading the mountain and climbing it is so much fun. Now, lets see, we take this 2026 year seriously and do zero repeat 50+ treks this year. LET'S GO ON THE FLYING NIMBUS \m/
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| INTO IBR :) |
And guys, one important announcement: "THE LOAPERS" have made it to the INDIAN BOOK OF RECORDS - for maximum treks undertaken - 52 treks in 11 months. You can check out the top right banner on this page :)
Until next time, Ta-da Cia \m/
Oh yeah, if you want to read about the past 57 treks, here is the link: 57 NON STOP TREKS.
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| Sippy's got the devil's horns \m/ |
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