History of Vasota Fort:
Shivaji Maharaj attacked Javali and captured it during A.D. 1656. Shivaji Maharaj Named the fort ‘ Vyaghragad’ (Vyaghra means Tiger). This fort remained in the hands of Marathas only due to its defensive capabilities. After Shivaji Maharaj, the fort was ruled by Bajirao Peshwas. In 1818, The fort was heavily bombarded by British and destroyed most of the construction on the fort.
Basic Info:
Vasota fort is situated near the Bamnoli village in the Satara region. The fort is reserved under the Koyna Wild Reserve and forest department. This region is the home to many wild animals like wild dogs, bears so it’s quite dangerous in the forest at night. The route of this trek is through the dense forest. It is a dream of every trekker to experience such beauty of nature.
How to reach:
Bamnoli is a Base village for this Trek. It is around 165 KM from Pune. Route to reach at Base village is Pune-->Satara-->Kas Pathar-->Bamnoli. Parking facility is available at base village Bamnoli.
Trekkers for this Trek:
Kajal Gupta
Savita Pawar
Sunil Mehta
Kirti Prasad
Ashwin Karthik
Hemant Borole
Trekking Details:
Difficulty level Medium To Hard
Height Vasota fort is 3842 ft (1301 mtrs) above sea level.
Base village/District Bamnoli/Satara, Maharashtra, India.
This was our first trek of 2016. We were planning for this trek from long time. Our plan was to reach Bamnoli village, do Vasota trek, stay in Panchgani and return on next day. We booked our stay one week prior to our trek. Finally the day has come, we woke up early morning, got freshen up and gathered at Wakad Bridge. We had early morning breakfast (Maggie+Tea) before starting our long bike ride. We started our Bike journey on 07th Jan 2016 at around 05:00 AM from Wakad. We were expecting to reach base village before 09:30 Am as road condition till Satara is good. It was bit chilly morning and surrounding views were spectacular. We stopped on Khambatki ghat road to take breathtaking views of sunrise.
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| Beautiful Sunrise from Khambatki Ghat |
We then started driving towards Satara. It was foggy morning and roads were not visible so we decided to take another break just before Wai-Surur bridge. It was around 07:50 Am when we stopped there. Bike driving on Pune-Bangalore highway was fun.
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| Beautiful view of Pune-Bangalore Highway |
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| Group Selfie "Excited Faces" |
After taking break for few mins, We have started driving towards Satara. We have reached Satara City in 40 mins of drive. Once you enter the city, You will have to take right turn towards Kas Pathar and you will reach to Kas Pathar in 2 hrs of drive. We stopped at Kas Pathara to take some rest. View of Valley from Kas pathar was breathtaking.
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| Breathtaking view from Kas Pathar |
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| Another view of Valley |
After taking rest for some time, We have started driving towards Bamnoli at around 09:30 Am. It was a beautiful road surrounded by trees on both side. After driving through dense forest, We reached near to Bamnoli village where we took few snaps of beautiful Koyna River. Koyna river is surrounded by mountains and dense forest.
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| Stunning view of Koyna River |
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| Happy face after driving for almost 200 Km |
We finally reached at Bamnoli Village at around 10:25 AM. We parked our bikes and had heavy breakfast(Missal Pav+Tea). Vasota fort is located in middle of forest so you will have to take boat till entrance of forest and trek for 2-3 hrs to reach at top of fort. Entry to Koyna forest is allowed during daytime with valid written permission from forest officer. We went to forest department office to take permission for Vasota trek. Forest dept charges 100 Rs per person and boating club charges ~350 Rs per person for boat ride to reach at Vasota base(P. S: Forest Dept do not give permission after 11:00 AM). Bamnoli village is located near to Koyna river so it is best place for boating and overnight camping stay.
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| Ducks roaming in Bamnoli Village |
After taking permission from forest department, we went towards booking counter to book a boat. After booking, we reached out to Boat driver and he started riding towards vasota base at around 11:30 Am. The water of the Koyna River was very clean and we were enjoying putting hands into the water. It was surprising to see the surroundings so green at this time of the year. Boat ride was amazing. You will see beautiful views of surrounding mountains. We were sitting at the edge of boat to enjoy surrounding greenery and water streams. We reached the forest entrance at around 12:45 PM.
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Excited faces during Boat ride
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| Amazing view of Boat |
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Koyna River Backwater and surrounding Greenery
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| Selfie during Boat ride |
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We reached forest gate at around 01:00 Pm. We then started walking towards forest office to declare items we were carrying and take permission for trek. After taking all permissions, We started our trek at around 01:15 PM. Initial trail of trek was simple walk. After 10-15 mins of walk, we reached at first water stream where we relaxed for some time. We washed our faces and started walking towards fort.
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Boat Parking near Entrance of Forest
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| Happy faces |
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| Selfie at Water stream |
After walking for few mins and crossing few water streams, dense forest of Koyana was started. The whole trail from this point onward is covered with dense forest so you will have to walk carefully. The trek passes through dense jungle and even though it was a hot day, it didn’t seem so. Sunlight could barely pass through that dense forest cover. We were enjoying each other’s company, sharing experiences of our other treks.
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| Walking through dense forest |
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| Fun Time During Trek |
Everyone was tired as it was sunny and we were walking for almost an hour. We took a break for few mins and enjoyed beautiful view of Koyna river and surrounding valley from that point. After relaxing for 5-10 mins, we have started walking towards top of fort.
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| Beautiful view of Koyna River and surrounding Valley |
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| Exhausted and Tired faces |
After walking for 20-25 mins, we have reached at the entrance of fort. You will see rock staircase at the entrance. We ascended stairs and reached top of fort at around 02:45 PM. It was accomplished moment. There is a lot to explore on fort. It will take an hour to explore entire fort. The fort is mostly in ruins. It comprises of three main sections – Old Fort, New Fort and Nageshwar cave temple. There is a temple of Lord Hanuman at the entrance. The other point of interest is Babu Kada which is a huge U shaped cliff that lies next to the Vasota Fort. From this point, one can view the Old Vasota Fort which is closed for trekkers due to the presence of wild animals. Once we reached top of the fort, we saw Hanuman Temple, there is no roof on temple but walls are intact.
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| Group Selfie at Hanuman Temple |
After seeing temple, We went to Babukada and sat there for few mins. View of surrounding valley from Babukada was mesmerizing. There are two water tanks on the fort but that water is not drinkable.
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| View of Valley from Babukada |
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| Old Vasota Fort |
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| Selfie at Babukada |
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| View of Koyna river from Top of Fort |
We have then explored other side of fort for 30-40 mins. You will see several ruined walls on top of fort. We relaxed at entrance of fort for few mins before starting our return journey.
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| Ruined Walls in back on top of fort |
After exploring fort for 40-50 mins, we have started our return journey towards Vasota base. We have descended staircase and quickly started walking towards base point.
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| Rock staircase at the entrance of Fort |
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| Selfie at the entrance of Fort |
After descending for almost 45 mins, we took a break for few mins near to water stream. We got freshen up there and sat for few mins. Descending was easy and so we covered most of distance in short period of time.
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| Chilling at Water stream |
After walking for around 20 mins, We reached near to Vasota base at around 04:40 PM. We relaxed there for few mins and started walking towards boat parking.
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| Selfie at the exit of Vasota |
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| Another Selfie before leaving Koyna Forest |
At around 04:50 Pm, boat driver started driving towards Bamnoli village. It was peaceful and windy evening. We sat on the edge of boat and were enjoying beautiful scenery of Koyna Forest.
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| View of Koyna River from Boat on return journey |
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Tired and Sleepy Faces
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| View of Sunset from Bamnoli Village |
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We have reached Bamnoli village at around 06:45 Pm. We have spent some time looking at sunset and relaxed near to Koyna river for few mins. Few people were setting up tents near to lake for overnight stay. This is perfect place for overnight stay and camping.
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Group selfie before leaving Bamnoli Village
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Our next plan was to stay at Panchgani resort and leave for Pune on next day. We have started driving towards Panchgani at around 06:30 Pm. We halted at Satara to pack our dinner and then started driving towards Panchgani via Wai. We reached Panchgani resort at around 09:30 Pm. We got freshen up and had dinner. After dinner, we spent some time playing poker. It was too tiring day so we went to bed at around 01:00 Am.
We woke up at around 09:00 Am, explored resort and took dip in swimming pool. After relaxing for some time, we had heavy breakfast. It was now time for check out so we packed our bags and started driving towards Pune at around 01:30 Pm. We too a break at Parsi point before saying good bye to Panchgani.
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| View from Parsi Point |
After driving for more than an hour, We had Lunch on the way in Dhaba and reached Pune at around 06:00 PM. It was another well spent weekend.
Best Time to Visit Vasota Fort:
Winter and Summer are the best season to visit Vasota fort. In rainy season the forest dept wont allow trekking as there are too many leaches. In fact they would not issue you any permission to venture into the forest during the rainy season. Forest department permits entry to forest during daytime and permission needs to be taken before 11:00 Am.
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