Andharban- The Dark forest
Andharban, itself means dense dark forest. Andharban is one of the most beautiful trek in Sahyadris. The best time to visit this place is during monsoon or post monsoon. In this trek, it takes around 4 hours to descend the forest covered with dense forest and shade both sides. En-route enjoy the waterfalls & Dark forest and awesome view of Kundalika valley.
Andhar means Darkness and Ban stands for dense jungle, so the word Andharban literally means The Dense Dark Forest. The intimidating factor of this 13 km long trek has to be the hardcore jungle cover over your head. A major portion of this trek route involves walking through this denseness. The start point of this trek ie Pimpri dam begins in bright daylight which keeps on fluctuating as we keep entering the dense part of the forest and out, this only adds up to the magic that this place has to offer.
With the onset of monsoons, this trail becomes a denser and greener, with waterfalls all along. Best suited during monsoons and winters, this trek can also be done in summer.
The trek concludes at yet another dam called the Bhira dam which is also the source of the Kundalika river which is famous for its White Water Rafting. 30% of the trek is all descend and remaining is normal walking. While on the route we can see the beauty of places like Ghangad, Tailbaila, Sarasgad, Plus valley, Tamhini ghat, Kundalika valley. If time permits after the trek we will be also visiting the famous ganesh temple at pali.
Situated on the crest of the Western Ghat mountain ranges, Tamhini Ghat is noted for its surroundings comprising scenic waterfalls, lakes and dense woods. The best time to visit is August and September.
The Tamhini road ghat cuts the Sahyadri range to join Mulshi to Tamhini and makes the route in Konkan from Pune. This ghat stretches almost 15 km. The road is not very good, with a lot of potholed sections. The entire stretch becomes a popular destination during the monsoons. During the rainy season, the place transforms into a green bed with lots of waterfalls and small streams. There are state buses which ply through the ghat connecting Pune city with places on the Goa highway (NH17).
Tamhini Ghat can be accessed from Mumbai via the Mumbai-Goa Highway by reaching Kolad and after crossing the bridge over Kundalika River, take the left turn that leads to Pune via the Mulshi Dam backwaters. Tamhini Ghat is the stretch between Kolad and these backwaters. It contains different kinds of green velvety carpets, gushing streams, dark grey clouds stooping low, and the occasional waterfalls. These impromptu waterfalls attract tourists from far and wide.
From the Tamhini Ghat, the road that leads to the Mulshi Dam backwaters which goes to the waterfall at Palse. This particular waterfall is nowadays getting crowded. Further ahead is Kolad which is now becoming immensely popular for river rafting that you can do on the river Kundalika