Bahulagad Trek Blog – Secret Fort no one visits

From the moment I decided to go for Bahulagad trek I started to find information about it. Even google didn’t have any information related to bahulagad. I hope this Bahulagad trek blog will clarify most of your doubts. 2018 New Year Resolution– 20 Sahyadri Treks & 2 Himalayan Treks. After the first trek of 2018 in January at Padargad (which was pretty exciting with Chimney Climbing patch) I succumbed to a knee injury which took me out of action for the first half of the year. Having recovered and strengthened my knee I was waiting to be back again in the wilderness. Onset of monsoon triggered that enthusiasm with the Bahulagad Trek. More adventures like this one at the end of the post.

Disclaimer

• This Fort lies besides the military firing range at Devlali Artillery Camp. Hence getting entry here requires government clearance.
• Since Sunday is the only off day for the firing range, it can only be safe on a Sunday (local source).
• If you are found by security personnel without any permission near the area strict action will be taken. Read thrashings by wooden & plastic rods (“That hurts a lot” – locals). Beatings are for all irrespective of caste, sex & age. Just the way life should be – No discrimination here.
• After taking hits from the military Howitzer guns (Read Bofors) for many years, the rocks are very loose on the fort. Rock falls in monsoon are common. I experienced one myself when a rock size of a small car fell down just minutes after we had passed it.

Why did I do it – “Cause I was not aware till after the trek”. Dont Try This

How to reach Bahulagad 

If you are driving from Kasara towards Nashik this fort will lie on your right side. There are two ways to get here:

• From RaigadNagar (besides the highway): There is a Hanuman temple in the village here where we stayed for the night after taking permissions from the Sarpanch. 10-15 people can easily stay.
• Another route from AmbeBahula

History of Bahulagad fort

Not much info is available regarding the fort. But this triangular plateaued fort located at 956 m above sea level was ruled by Marathas during 1670-71.

Things to See at Bahulagad fort

• Harihar-esque rock cut stairs. Almost 92 stairs available ( North west of the fort)
• 4 water tanks – almost hidden under mud & stones
• Some fortification is visible on the fort ( prominently towards west side)

Things to See around Bahulagad fort

• Little ahead after the stairs is a cave in good condition (north of fort)
• Further ahead from the stairs is a temple & one more water cistern ( North)
• While descending towards the north you will also find a remains of horse stable. Descending further you will find another water tank ( north east of the fort)
• Huge natural shivling besides the fort ( South of the fort) – Seen from far off – Can be used to identify the fort from far off distance

Forts Visible

• Towards east of the fort is Gadgada / Ghargad
• Towards North lies the Pandavleni & the Nashik concrete jungle

Availability of water

Nil – since all the tanks are almost reclaimed by mother earth

What should I carry on this trek ?

TheFreeBird’s Story – Bahulagad Trek Blog

As has always been the format for any Nashik side trek, we took the local to Kasara ( Rs 50 Return ticket) & then took the easily available trax / cab towards the base village of Raigadnagar ( Rs 150 per seat ). We reached there by around midnight & started to look for places to crash for the night. Entire village was fast asleep. The dogs, cows & the one horse made sure that everyone new that we had arrived. A quick discussion with villagers lead us to the Hanuman mandir where we stayed for the night.

After the on & off sleepy moments, finally got up around 0500 hrs. The village was still mostly dreaming & we made way to the river near by to lay down some land mines 🙂

Back at the temple, we made some new friends with energetic local children who agreed to take us to the fort. With our rucksacks packed we left for the Bahulagad Trek. This route started from the main highway ( from Raigadnagar) – from the left of an almost dry well – over a small hill ( through what appeared as an abandoned road)- towards the fort in line of sight. ( Image for google map of route is at the start of the blog) From far off the forts were crowned in clouds and could not be differentiated.

However on the return we could easily spot the natural shivling & the route we had taken.

The vast expanse of empty land dotted with scarce vegetation made for a very surreal appearance. This reminded me of Jaisalmer desert in Monsoon. We continued to walk towards the hills with the wind getting increasingly soothing & clouds getting darker. Soon it started to rain which got me excited. Even though I had my raincoat, I decided to get drenched in this first monsoon trek. Wore it half-heartedly to protect my camera charger. 

Before any one could look around and enjoy the beauty , clouds came into play.

We continued to walk to reach the top of the rocky hill from where we just had to walk on a flat ridge to reach Bahulagad hill. We walked from left of the huge rocky wall (Rock Hill 1) to cross the connecting hill to reach our destination.

As we moved away from the rock hill we could see Bahulagad wreathed in clouds making up for a dramatic entrance.

We moved ahead through the sticky & slippery route to reach this rocky behemoth. And continued further north to reach the grand entrance. The main entrance consists of stairs like Harihar rock cut stairs (more like Durgabhandar stairs).

These 92 stairs are not in the best of the conditions. With years of neglect, scree & rain water climbing it was definitely an excellent adventure.

The holds in the rock walls & stairs were too far off & had become blunt over the years. Major efforts are required to handle the camera. (Checkout my Bahulagad youtube video,  Here is my Youtube Channel).

Once at the top it was a huge anti climax due to the Clouds. Nothing was visible. There are four water tanks. Two of them in the centre of this small fort completely taken over by nature and other two on the forts periphery. We used one to hide from the rain and finish our food.

Once done we moved around a bit and tried to look over the fortifications. But nothing much was visible. Finally started descend over the tricky Bahulagad stairs.

Getting down from the fort instead of taking the same route we decided to go a bit north and descend to meet the starting route. A bit ahead we found a cave.

The cave is in a good condition and contains 3 windows & an entrance door. A Crowd of 15 people can easily stay here (not permitted though). Moving further ahead there is a temple & another water cistern.

Further north are the remains of a horse stable. These were the luckiest horses to get such a brilliant view. Further down is another water tank probably for the horses. There are whole lot of ConkerBerry/ karvanda available here. 

Back to Raigadnagar, we had lunch at a villager’s home. Tastiest food you will ever get.

Bags packed. Trax to Kasara and into the local to Mumbai. Weekend well spent.

Here is proper vlog, I am sure you will like the video

The Bahulagad trek is short & sweet and can be done in about 4-5 hours. However there is a huge risk factor involved since it lies in the firing range. Years of firing has loosened many rocks which fall down during monsoon. So unless you have the proper permission & safety please don’t visit the fort. I am not sure on where we get permission. I did the Bahulagad trek because I was not aware of the regulation.

Hope you enjoyed reading about Bahulagad trek.