Tung Fort (किल्ले तुंग) monsoon hike in Sahyadris | Places to visit near Pune

Located in the Sahyadri Range of Maharashtra, Tung fort or Kathingad Fort is a fantastic hike, especially during the monsoon!

Tung Fort hiking pune trekking kathaingad
Hiking on Tung Fort

Here's a video from our adventurous trip there!

 

The fort was a lookout fort for other larger forts and was meant to accommodate only about 200 soldiers. It was built by the Ahmed Shahi dynasty and was also later conquered by the Maratha rulers. Eventually British took over the fort after the conquest of this region and destroyed access to it. Currently that makes the hike a bit more challenging as the steps are mostly gone, especially during the monsoons.

My trip to the fort was largely unplanned. I had discussed doing a hike with my friend Vishal, and since his cafe is shut only on Mondays, we could only hike then. As I am currently on a sabbatical, Monday worked great for me. Also, Mondays are often less crowded on hikes and forts - in fact, I would say absolutely avoid weekends for these adventures as they could be ruined due to traffic jams - both on the road as well as on the hike itself.

Visshal also invited his sister-in-law Ruchi and his friend Siddharth, and the four of us became the formidable conquerers of Tung Fort! We drove in Vishal's car and parked it as the Hanuman Temple at the base of the hike. It's a good parking spot unless you come here on a weekend. From that point onwards, the explorations are on your foot.

Thankfully it didn't rain while we were there, but it had rained just the night before so the rocks were all wet and slippery. None of us slipped, but it certainly made the ascent slower. Since I was also making a video, I did walk back and forth a few times to get the shots and that slowed down everyone else as well. Damn! 

There are a couple of gates as you hike up - Ganesh Gate and Hanuman Gate. In fact, I thought that we had reached the top when we reached the Ganesh Gate, but that was far from the truth. There's still a decent amount of steep climbing to reach the highest lookout point of the fort. Don't skip that - it has the best views! As it was a Monday, we weren't really expecting many people, but the place was completely empty. At the summit we only met a few goats who were chilling in the sun. A large male goat was a bit upset with us for spoiling their party, but we eventually reached a truce. There's also a small temple on top but otherwise there isn't much to do except enjoy the views - which is the best one can do at the summit anyway. Surrounded by Pawna Lake from three sides, the fort's location is gorgeous. 

The hike down was easier than we thought and we finished it within an hour. Exhausted with the day's efforts we then decided to head out to Tiger Point near Lonavala for chai and maggie, and later also a walk in meadows with local and seasonal flowers. A perfect end to a perfect day!

Hike Details:

Fort name: Tung Fort/ Kathingadh 

Level: Medium 

Time: 1.5 hours up and 1 hour down

Parking: Yes

Starting point of the trek

Comments

  1. We only came across a few goats who were lounging in the sun. We had an argument with a giant male goat since we had ruined their party, but we eventually came to an agreement.

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