Karnala Fort Monsoon Trek

My first trek of this monsoon season.  Karnala is about 13 kilometers from Panvel city, Navi Mumbai, in the Indian Sate of Maharashtra and the fort is located within Karnala bird sanctuary.

How to reach Karnala:

Reach Panvel by train/Bus and take an auto in Mumbai-Goa Highway route to Karnala bird sanctuary.

Once the site of Buddhist rock-cut caves that were used for meditation, Karnala Fort later played an active role in guarding the coast under Kanoji Angre and the Marathas. The dense forests around the fort were a favorite haunt of the late Salim Ali who helped establish the Karnala Bird Sanctuary.

Entry fee of 25 Rs per person is charged before entering the area. They will charge Rs 100  for small camera. The entry guards checked the number of bottles and plastic covers carried which if found missing while on one's return- there might be a fine of Rs. 200/- . Entry time is restricted between 7 am to 5 pm.

The trek begins at the entrance of the bird sanctuary. 

After 10 min walk we reached  bird sanctuary. This small sanctuary is home to lot of birds, monkeys, mongoose and other small animals. The best and amazing to watch was the peacock who had spread its beautiful feathers and was giving different poses.

peacock spreading feathers

After an introductory session we started to climb the fort. A sign board on the left side of the road indicates the direction to the Karnala fort. The fort is nearly 1500 feet above mean sea level and takes about one hour to reach the top.  Beware of snakes in this area especially in monsoon .

Karnala fort also called Funnel Hill or The Thumb Fort because it shape. Karnala fort actually consists of two forts one at a higher level and other lower. The higher level was used as watchtower when the fort was occupied however now it is in a ruined condition. It is also called Pandu’s tower. Soon we reached the entrance of the fort .

Entrance of Karnala fort 

Main door

Inside the fort, there are few water tanks around the pinnacle and ruins of some buildings.  From the top of Karnala, you can see a vast area below. 

To the northeast, you will find Haji Malang, and just below before that, Prabalgad and Matheran.

To the east, in the distance, is a hazy view of Bhimashankar.

To the south are Rajmachi and the Duke’s Nose, to the Southwest is the Mahal Mira hill range while to the west is the metropolis of Mumbai.

The fort is famous for its strange thumb shaped pinnacle and the bird sanctuary that is setup in the forest . 

It was a nice experience to see the  rainy clouds covering the mountain and  we enjoyed the heavy rain, cloud and cold weather. Around 4 pm,  we reached back to the entrance. Local transportation can be hired from outside the sanctuary gate to get back to Panvel city.