Kemmanagundi — Kemmannugundi on the older signs — is a hill station in Tarikere taluk, about 1,434 m up on the Baba Budan or Chandra Drona range, with its peak at 1,863 m. The name is three Kannada words: *kempu*, red, *mannu*, soil, *gundi*, pit. Red soil pit. It is also called Sri Krishnarajendra Hill Station, because Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV made it his summer retreat and then donated it to the state, and the Horticulture Department of Karnataka has run the place ever since.
That history explains what Kemmanagundi is and is not. It is not a resort town. There is no bazaar, no strip of restaurants, no nightlife and, at the top, essentially one place to sleep and one kitchen. What there is instead is a government flower garden with a view off the edge of it, two walks, a waterfall down in a coffee estate, and quiet.
- Elevation about 1,434 m; the ridge above reaches 1,863 m.
- Tarikere, the nearest town and railway station, is about 30 km down; Chikkamagaluru is 53 km.
- Sleeping: the government Kemmannugundi Hill Resort run by Jungle Lodges, the Horticulture Department guest house (Raj Bhavan), and homestays on the road below.
- Eating: the resort restaurant, and tea stalls. Carry food if you are walking.
- Best months: October to February. The monsoon here is heavy.
The gardens, and the sunset problem
The Krishnarajendra Botanical Park is the centre of the place: terraced beds on the hillside, roses in quantity, level paths, benches, and the valley dropping away beyond the wall. The Horticulture Department maintains it, and the Raj Bhavan guest house stands inside it. A few hundred metres east, the Rock Garden runs paths through cuttings in the rock and faces west, which makes it the sunset spot for anyone not walking up to Z Point.
Both are half an hour each, and both are best treated as one visit rather than two. If you have driven up for the day and are wondering why people rate Kemmanagundi, the honest answer is that the gardens are not the reason — the walks are.
Z Point and Shanthi Falls
The walk up to Z Point starts at Raj Bhavan and climbs steeply for about forty-five minutes. No vehicle goes up. Partway along you pass Shanthi Falls, water coming off the hill above and dropping into the valley beside the trail — modest for most of the year, worth the pause after rain. At the top the western face of the range falls away in ridges and everyone staying on the hill is sent up for the sunset.
One piece of advice, and it is the important one: start with daylight in hand. The path is loose underfoot, it is unlit, and coming down it in the dark after a sunset you stayed too long for is how people get hurt at Kemmanagundi.
Hebbe Falls, and how you actually get to it
Hebbe Falls drops about 168 m in two stages — Dodda Hebbe, the big fall, and Chikka Hebbe, the small one — inside a working coffee estate roughly 8 km below Raj Bhavan. You do not drive to it in an ordinary car. The accepted way is a shared four-wheel-drive jeep from Kemmanagundi followed by a walk of about a kilometre with stream crossings, and the jeep is a large part of the experience whether you wanted it to be or not.
It is full and loud from June to about December and a trickle by March. Go in the morning, wear something you do not mind soaking, and do not attempt to climb the rocks beside the fall.
Kallathi, and the temple under the water
About 10 km away at Kallathipura, the Kalhattigiri falls come over the cliff past a Veerabhadra temple built into the rock, attributed to Vijayanagara times, with local tradition tying the site to the sage Agastya. It is a living temple rather than a monument, so footwear comes off, and the rock underfoot is wet and slippery most of the year. There is a second Horticulture Department guest house down at Kallathi village.
Sleeping and eating
At the top of the hill the choice is small and mostly governmental. The Kemmannugundi Hill Resort has been run by Jungle Lodges and Resorts, a Karnataka government company, since it took over the guest houses and the restaurant on 1 March 2021; rooms are in named blocks and cottages, and packages include meals, a guided Z Point trek and the jeep down to Hebbe. Raj Bhavan, the Horticulture Department guest house inside the gardens, takes visitors in a plainer way and is booked through the department rather than a website. Below the hill on the Kemmanagundi road there are homestays with their own grounds, of which The Last Resort at Ballavara is the long-established one.
Eating is simpler still: the resort restaurant, and tea and coffee at stalls. If you are going out to Hebbe or up to Z Point, carry water and something to eat, because there is nothing at either end.
Getting there
Kemmanagundi is 53 km from Chikkamagaluru, about 30 km from Tarikere and 71 km from Shivamogga; the nearest railway stations are Tarikere, Birur and Kadur, and the nearest airports are Mangaluru at roughly 212 km and Bengaluru at about 277 km. Buses run up from Tarikere and Chikkamagaluru, and there is a long-standing private service from Lingadahalli — but public transport up here is thin, and the last bus down leaves in the afternoon. Come by car if you can, fill up in Tarikere, and drive the hill road in daylight.
If you are already on this side of the district, the Hoysala temple at Amruthapura is 37.7 km away by road, down on the plain near Tarikere, and it makes an excellent half-day off the hill.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kemmanagundi famous for?
The Horticulture Department flower gardens and rock garden laid out on the hillside, the Z Point viewpoint reached by a forty-five-minute climb, Shanthi Falls on the way up, and Hebbe Falls in the coffee estate below. It was Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV’s summer retreat, which is why it is also called Sri Krishnarajendra Hill Station.
How many days do you need at Kemmanagundi?
One night is the right amount for most people — an afternoon in the gardens, the Z Point walk for sunset, and Hebbe Falls the next morning. Two nights if you also want Kallathi and the Amruthapura temple down on the plain.
Where do you stay at Kemmanagundi?
At the top, the government Kemmannugundi Hill Resort run by Jungle Lodges and the Horticulture Department guest house known as Raj Bhavan. Below the hill on the approach road there are homestays in their own grounds. It is a small place — book ahead in season rather than driving up hopefully.
When is the best time to visit?
October to February: the rain has stopped, the hills are still green and the views are clear. The south-west monsoon from June to September is heavy here — dramatic, but the road is slow and the viewpoints are inside cloud.
Can you drive to Hebbe Falls?
Not in an ordinary car. The falls are about 8 km below Raj Bhavan inside a coffee estate, and the accepted way in is a shared four-wheel-drive jeep from Kemmanagundi followed by a walk of about a kilometre with stream crossings.