Kudremukh Trek: Karnataka's Horse-Face Peak

The Kudremukh trek climbs one of the great grassland ridges of the Western Ghats to a summit shaped, as its Kannada name says, like a horse's face — kudure-mukha. At about 1,894 m, Kudremukh is among Karnataka's highest peaks, and the whole climb sits inside a protected national park. That means it is not a walk you simply turn up for: it is a permit-controlled, guided day trek across rolling shola-grassland, streams and forest, and the reward is a long open ridge and, on a clear morning, a sea of Ghats folding away in every direction.

What Kudremukh is

Kudremukh is both a peak and a national park. The park protects a large stretch of the Western Ghats — a mosaic of shola forest tucked into folds of high grassland, one of the richest and wettest habitats in southern India. It is the catchment of the Tunga, Bhadra and Nethravathi rivers, and shelters lion-tailed macaques, tigers and a long list of Ghats-endemic birds and amphibians.

The range also carries a heavier history. For decades an iron-ore mining township operated in these hills, until the Supreme Court ordered the mining to stop in the mid-2000s to protect the forest and rivers. Today the grassland is recovering, the old company town has largely emptied, and the whole area is managed for conservation — which is exactly why access to the peak is now so tightly controlled.

The route

The trek begins from the small village of Mullodi, reached from Kalasa via the hamlet of Balgal and the forest checkpost. The last stretch of road to the Mullodi homestays is rough, and most trekkers take a jeep for it. From the homestays the trail sets off through coffee and forest, crosses a couple of streams (log bridges in places), and then breaks out of the trees onto the open grassland that Kudremukh is famous for.

From there it is a long, undulating ridge walk — down into shola-lined dips, back up over grassy shoulders — with the horse-face profile of the summit drawing closer. The final push is the steepest and most exposed part, a continuous climb up open grass slopes to the top. There is little shade on the grassland and no reliable water past the early streams, so you carry what you need for the whole day.

Permits and rules

Because the trail runs through Kudremukh National Park, a forest permit is compulsory and there is a daily cap on trekker numbers. Permits are issued through the Karnataka Forest Department's Aranya Vihara online portal, and it is best to book ahead — walk-in booking is no longer the norm and the daily quota can fill on weekends. A forest-department guide is also mandatory: you cannot enter the trekking zone without one, and a guide is assigned to your group at the base. Camping inside the park is not allowed, which is why Kudremukh is done as a single long day rather than an overnight.

There is a per-person entry fee (recently around a few hundred rupees, and revised from time to time by the department), usually paid along with the guide charge at the checkpost. Rules change, so confirm the current fee, quota and booking process before you travel.

Summit and views

The summit is a grassy crest rather than a rocky peak, and in clear post-monsoon weather the view is the whole point of the climb — ridge after ridge of the Western Ghats, valleys filling with cloud, and the coast hazy far to the west. Mornings are the best bet: the grassland is often wrapped in mist that lifts as the sun climbs, so an early start buys you both cooler walking and a better chance of a clear top.

Nearby: Hanuman Gundi, Horanadu and Kalasa

Inside the same national park, Hanuman Gundi Falls drops around 30 m into a forest pool, reached down a long flight of steps off the Kudremukh–Kalasa road — an easy add-on for the day after the trek, and fullest just after the monsoon. On the road in, the Annapoorneshwari temple at Horanadu is a major pilgrimage stop on the Bhadra, famous for serving a free meal to every visitor. The small town of Kalasa, on the Bhadra a short way east, is the practical hub for homestays, food and transport, and the base village of Kudremukh itself sits deeper in the hills.

Getting there

Kudremukh lies in the far west of Chikkamagaluru district. Most trekkers base themselves at Kalasa or in a Mullodi homestay and start before dawn. Kalasa is roughly 90 to 100 km from Chikkamagaluru town and reachable by road from Mangaluru on the coast as well; the nearest airport is Mangaluru. There is no public transport up the rough final track to Mullodi, so a homestay jeep or your own high-clearance vehicle handles that last leg.

If Kudremukh whets your appetite for the Chikkamagaluru highlands, the state's highest summit is an easier outing on the Mullayanagiri trek, the temple-topped ridge of Kodachadri makes another classic Ghats climb, and there is plenty more to fill a trip in our roundup of things to do in Chikmagalur.