Pothundi Dam

A great sheet of bare granite tilted out over the valley at the end of a red-earth path through wet evergreen forest — the one walk on the Nelliyampathy plateau that anyone reasonably fit can do without the Forest Division's permission.

A rock shoulder on the Kaikatty-Nooradi road looking across an unbroken fold of evergreen forest to a conical peak — the nearest thing on the plateau to a viewpoint you can have to yourself.

Tea and orange-garden hill station reached through forested ghat roads.

A state farm at Kaikatty growing mandarin oranges, winter vegetables and a fruit forest of fifty varieties on the Nelliyampathy plateau — the Kingdom of Cochin's Poliya estate, a farm since 1943 and an orange and vegetable farm since 1956, with a passion-fruit processing unit and a published ticket.

Walking routes off the Nelliyampathy plantation plateau: an evergreen-forest footpath to the bare granite of Kesavan Para, longer forest-division routes to Hill Top, Karassuri and over the ridge to Parambikulam, and a four-wheel-drive climb to Manpara and the ruined Victoria Church.

The edge of the Nelliyampathy escarpment, where the plateau stops and the Palakkad plain opens out a thousand metres below — a place you drive to and stand at, with a seasonal waterfall below the lip and a car park full of bold macaques.

A working plantation on the southern shoulder of the Nelliyampathy plateau with a grass-and-rock top point above it, named by Kerala Tourism as a trekking destination and reached by estate track rather than by road.

A rural village ~19 km south of Palakkad below the Nelliampathy hills, known for its palace, the Vishnu temple, paddy landscapes and old Tamil-Brahmin heritage.

A quiet reservoir among wooded hills near Alathur, south-west of Palakkad town — good for a peaceful drive and picnic.

Four separate Forest Department trails from the Anappady information centre and other named starts: the 4 km Bear Path and Elephant Song walks, the 6 km Kariyanshola route with bamboo rafting, and the longer 10 km Pugmark trail from Peruvaripallam.

Major protected area accessed via the Anamalai side; permits and entry rules apply.

Well-preserved fort in Palakkad town, associated with Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.