What to expect
Highlights
- The cliff-set Veerabhadra temple beside the falls.
- The post-monsoon cascade down the rock.
- A short stop on the Kemmanagundi circuit.
Kalhattigiri Falls
Kalhattigiri (Kalhatti) Falls lies at the foot of the Chandra Drona hills near Kemmanagundi, where a hill stream drops down the rock face past a Veerabhadra Swamy temple built into the cliff.
Practical guide
Plan Kalhattigiri Falls
Who's going?Tailor Kalhattigiri Falls to your trip
Typewaterfall
Nearest baseKemmanagundi
DistrictChikkamagaluru
Best timeJuly to December for full flow
Time needed45 minutes to an hour
EntryFree
Places to visit2→Listed businesses5→The temple and the falls together make it both a pilgrimage and a scenic stop; the water is a fine cascade after the monsoon and a trickle in the dry season.
Getting there
How to visit
- Near Kemmanagundi, ~55 km from Chikkamagaluru; reach it by road/taxi and a short walk of steps.
- A temple site — footwear off near the shrine; the steps and rocks are slippery when wet.
Distance by road
- Hassan55 km
- Shivamogga90 km
- Mangaluru150 km
- Mysuru165 km
- Bengaluru245 km
Road km to Chikkamagaluru; ghat roads and traffic vary — allow extra.
Timing
Best time
July to December for full flow; combine with Kemmanagundi.
Weather in Kalhattigiri FallsSeasonal guide
Live forecast loads in your browser.
Today at Kalhattigiri Falls
Sunrise6:16 am
Sunset6:38 pm
Golden hour best light5:38 pm–6:38 pm
Blue hour after sunset6:38 pm–7:03 pm
Sun sets toward compass bearingW · 278°
Moon tonight🌖 Waning gibbous · 61%
South-west monsoon. June to September brings heavy rain to Karnataka. Trails, falls and ghat roads can be slippery, swollen or closed at short notice, and forest departments sometimes suspend access. Check locally on the day before you travel.
Sun and moon are calculated for this location and shown in IST. Photography windows are the hour around sunrise and sunset; the sunset bearing is degrees clockwise from true north. Moon phase is accurate to about half a day.
Visitor notes
- Slippery rocks and steps by a temple — go carefully and dress modestly.
Stay · eat · do · rent · see · shop
Stays, food & things to do near Kalhattigiri Falls
Verified hotels, homestays, restaurants, experiences, sights, shops and rentals around Kalhattigiri Falls — commission-free, with direct contact. Filter by what you need.
4 places to stay near Kalhattigiri Falls
1 place to eat near Kalhattigiri Falls
4 sights to see near Kalhattigiri Falls
2 nature spots near Kalhattigiri Falls
K
Kemmannugundi Hill Resort Restaurant
Where to eat
Restaurant
Kemmannugundi Hill Resort RestaurantThe restaurant attached to the government hill resort, and effectively the only regular kitchen at the top of Kemmanagundi — everything else on the hill is a tea stall. Jungle Lodges has run it along with the guest houses since March 2021, and meals are built into the resort packages. If you are not staying, ring ahead or ask at the reception rather than assuming you can walk in, and if you are heading out to Hebbe Falls or Z Point for the day, carry water and something to eat, because there is nothing at either end.
Book with the place itself. India’s cyber-crime coordination centre warned in April 2025 that convincing copies of hotel and pilgrimage booking sites are being pushed through sponsored search and social ads, taking payment for rooms the property never hears about. Every listing here links to the business’s own contact details and its own Google or Bing profile — we take no commission and sit in nobody’s payment path. If a booking page reached you through an ad, check the address bar against the property’s own site before you pay. Fraud can be reported on cybercrime.gov.in or on 1930.
Ranked
The best of Kemmanagundi, ranked
Kalhattigiri Falls sits in Kemmanagundi, and these rank everything verified across the town rather than this one spot — built from the same listings shown above, ordered by the strength of the source evidence behind each entry rather than by anyone's star score. Every card shows how many places are really on it. Nobody pays to appear.
Nearest to Kalhattigiri Falls, on foot
Ordered by a real routed walk from Kalhattigiri Falls itself — the walking network, not a line on a map, which understates a real walk by about half again. A different question, and a different answer, from the town-wide lists below.
- Raj Bhavan (Horticulture Department Guest House)1.6 km · 19 min
- Krishnarajendra Botanical Park1.7 km · 20 min
- Rock Garden1.8 km · 21 min
- Z Point2.9 km · 35 min
Across the whole of Kemmanagundi
Roampedia is commission-free — own or know a stay, eatery, guide or shop near Kalhattigiri Falls? List it and it appears here once verified.
Add a nearby businessBefore you go
Kalhattigiri Falls — at a glance
TimingsDaylight hours
Best timeJuly to December for full flow
Entry: Free or nominal
Getting here
How to reach Kalhattigiri Falls
Near Kemmanagundi, ~55 km from Chikkamagaluru; road + steps
Getting back
Work out your return before you settle in for the sunset. Public transport here thins out sharply in the evening, and Kalhattigiri Falls is easier to reach than to leave. We do not publish departure times: there is no official live feed we are permitted to republish, and a wrong time here would strand you. Check the operator directly on the day.
- KSRTC — the Karnataka state bus operator; route and schedule enquiries. Online booking.
- Indian Railways — live running and seat availability for the nearest railhead, named under “Getting here” above.
Ask at the bus stand for the time of the last service back, not the next one. If you miss it, an auto or app cab is the fallback — agree the fare before you get in.
Getting around Kalhattigiri Falls
We have not assessed physical access at this place yet. Across India, step-free routes, handrails and accessible toilets are the exception rather than the rule, and pavements are often interrupted — if step-free access matters to you, contact the site or a local operator before committing to the trip.
If you need help at Kalhattigiri Falls
112All emergencies (police · fire · medical)The single number to call in any emergency (ERSS).100Police101Fire108Ambulance (emergency / EMS)1091Women’s helpline (distress)1098Child helpline1363Tourist helpline (India, 24×7, multilingual)
Emergency numbers are verified against official government and state tourism sources. 112 works anywhere in India.
Nearby
What’s near Kalhattigiri Falls
Walking and driving times are real routed distances, except the few marked “straight line”, which are direct-line estimates and will read short. Routing: © openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT | Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
On the map
Where Kalhattigiri Falls is
Good to know
Kalhattigiri Falls — frequently asked
When is the best time to visit Kalhattigiri Falls?
July to December for full flow; combine with Kemmanagundi.
What are the entry fee and timings at Kalhattigiri Falls?
Entry: Free or nominal. Timings: Daylight hours.
How do I reach Kalhattigiri Falls?
Near Kemmanagundi, ~55 km from Chikkamagaluru; reach it by road/taxi and a short walk of steps. A temple site — footwear off near the shrine; the steps and rocks are slippery when wet.
How much time do I need for Kalhattigiri Falls?
45 minutes to an hour.
What else is near Kalhattigiri Falls?
Nearby you can pair Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary (14.2 km), Baba Budangiri (32.1 km), Manikyadhara Falls (32.5 km), Amrutesvara Temple, Amruthapura (35.7 km).
Read before you go
Kalhattigiri Falls guides, stories & itineraries
We have not published a story about Kalhattigiri Falls itself yet. These cover Kemmanagundi, the town it sits in, and the wider district.
Around Kemmanagundi
Kalhattigiri Falls sits in Kemmanagundi, so these cover the streets, buildings and surroundings around it.
Story
The Ramayana that runs backwards: reading the Amruthapura friezes
6 min read · Read →
Story
A poet and a sculptor at Amruthapura, 1196
6 min read · Read →
Story
Hebbe Falls from Kemmanagundi: the jeep, the walk and the season
5 min read · Read →
In-depth guides to Kemmanagundi
Written about Kemmanagundi as a whole rather than about Kalhattigiri Falls — its history, its streets, and how to spend a day in it.
Place guide
The Amrutesvara Temple at Amruthapura: the Hoysala temple nobody stops at
8 min read · Read →
Town guide
Kemmanagundi: the king’s summer hill, and what is actually up there
7 min read · Read →
Itinerary
Two days between Tarikere and Kemmanagundi
6 min read · Read →
Karnataka-wide guides & itineraries
Route-level itineraries and practical guides for the rest of Karnataka.
Image credits
Photographs: Vinayak Kulkarni, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Wikimedia Commons.