Ganpati Gadad Amazing Trek – The Ultimate Guide You Need
Ganpati Gadad means a group of caves dedicated to Lord Ganesha. This trek is famous for its unique features like a jungle trail, an easy hike and, most importantly, caves behind a series of waterfalls during the monsoon season!
Yes, you read that right; it is a sight to behold and should be on every trekker’s list, especially someone who is a beginner.
Many trekking groups do not cover this trek, so if you are looking for a hike with less crowd, this should be your go-to option.
- Best Season: Monsoon (July – September)
- Difficulty: Easy
- Base Village: Sonavale
How to reach?
Located in Maharashtra, the base village of the Ganpati Gadad trek is Sonavale (Sonagaon). You can reach this location via public transport and a private vehicle.
Public transport:
Coming from Mumbai, you must take a train from Dadar/CST & get down at Kalyan station. From Kalyan ST Depot, you can take a local bus heading towards Murbad. Then take another local bus from Murbad to Dhasai.
You can hire a local rickshaw or another bus (the frequency of the local buses is significantly less) to the base village from Dhasai.
The entire journey will cost you about INR 200-350 depending on the mode of transport you opt for.
Private Vehicle:
Distance from Mumbai is around 110 kms & will take approximately 2-2.5 hours to reach. You can either take the EEH and go from Airoli moving towards Navi Mumbai or go via Thane. Get Directions.
Distance from Pune is 160-170 kms and can take 3-4 hours to reach.
(It is advisable to travel with a trekking group, as travelling to this base village via public transport is a bit more complicated than usual.)
Trek route & Difficulty
It is a relatively easy trek in terms of difficulty; it takes around 1.5-2 hours to reach the caves from the base village. The distance is approximately 3-3.5 kms.
The trek is easy in terms of the trail, but you require decent endurance to cover the excursion because the final patch of the hike gets a bit tiring as it involves a steep climb.
Most of the hike is through the dense jungle; hence, we recommend hiring a guide from the local village, even though the trail is appropriately marked as it becomes easier.
The local guide will not help you with the trail but can also help you make arrangements for breakfast & lunch after the trek.
(It is advisable to have breakfast at Kalyan station, as you have many options available.)
Prefer trekking in groups and having the entire planning sorted out by someone else?
We list over 100 groups in India with their events, contact details, social links and ratings.
Ganpati Gadad Trek Video
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