Urakkuzhi drops into a steep ravine. That simple feature shapes the visitor experience: where a person can stand determines how much of the fall can be seen. A path beside the upper stream, a bridge over a channel and a viewpoint towards the drop are different positions, with different views and access rules.
The drop is deeper than the upper stream suggests
Kerala Tourism’s waterfall photograph looks down beside a dark rock wall towards white water and spray. It gives a very different impression from photographs of the smoother pools and rounded rock above. A calm-looking upper channel should not be mistaken for the whole waterfall landscape.
The forest closes around these smaller water spaces. Branches, banks and the angle of the rock can partly screen the falling water. A visitor may hear more than is visible from one admitted position. The answer is to use the designated viewpoint, not to search for a lower ledge beyond the path.
What happened to the older bridge
The Forests and Wildlife performance budget for 2023–24 records that an older hanging bridge at Urakkuzhi had fallen into disrepair after flooding. It discusses a glass bridge and other amenities as proposed improvements. Its development table also identifies a suspension bridge as work required for Kakkayam.
Those passages explain a gap in the visitor infrastructure; they do not describe a completed glass bridge. The proposal should therefore remain a proposal in a trip plan. A general photograph of a footbridge somewhere in the upper visitor area cannot establish that the damaged waterfall-viewing bridge has been replaced.
A bridge photograph needs its own context
The image here shows a green metal truss crossing a rocky forest channel, with dense vegetation around it. It records one structure in the Kakkayam landscape. Its visible deck and railings explain the crossing’s shape, but neither identifies it as the proposed glass bridge nor confirms that it is currently included in the admitted route.
This distinction is practical. Before continuing from the lower forest reporting point, ask which viewpoint the sightseeing admission reaches and whether a bridge crossing forms part of it. The current booking page lists Urakkuzhi, sightseeing and the dam together, but supplies little detail about the exact walking route.
Recent access reports add another reason for that precise question. In April 2026, local reporting described restrictions at the Urakkuzhi viewpoint and Shankaranpuzha. A later report about reservoir boating restarting concerned a separate operation. Neither the bridge proposal nor the boat news supplies the missing detail about the waterfall position admitted today.
When a viewpoint is open, use the view it provides. The steep ravine is part of Urakkuzhi’s character, and a partly screened view can still explain its scale. The purpose of the visitor structure is to allow observation within a managed area; it should not become a starting point for an improvised descent.
Sources: the Forest Department’s current Kakkayam listing, its 2023–24 performance budget, and Kerala Tourism’s Urakkuzhi photograph.
Plan the visit: Kakkayam trek.