It was in the month of September’19, soon after the pandemic restrictions were lifted, I visited Malshej Ghat , which is near Mumbai. It’s one of my favorite getaways as the distance is very less and when you are exhausted from work, you can anytime go on a long ride and reach this place. The distance is about 120kms from Mumbai and a getaway – which can be planned for a one day trip without getting exhausted and at the same time enjoying the scenic view of this place. It is a mountain pass and not exactly a hill station. After a long week of work, going on a long ride to this place is refreshing. As it’s not a hill station, but a mountain pass, the time during which you visit this place plays a very important role. More than the place, the route through which you reach this place is the main attraction.

The best time to visit Malshej Ghat is in the mid of July to the start of September, as the view only comes to its beauty when monsoon is at light peak. Too much rain will block the passage and if there is sun, the view will just feel like passing through some regular highways.

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This place is near to Mumbai and not much hyped about till now but a wonderful experience. This place can be explored at its best on a bike ride rather than a car. Even one can reach via bus/train to the nearby station from Mumbai/or Pune and can take a local taxi to reach the spot.

There are two routes to reach by road –

Route 1 : Mumbai – Thane (NH 160) to NH 61 via Kalyan – Malshej Ghat

Route 2 : Mumbai – Navi Mumbai– Silphata Mahape Rd (NH 80) – via Barvi Dam Rd to NH61- Malshej Ghat.

While going we went via route 2 as we wanted to visit the Dam too. The journey is of almost 3 hrs by road if you take this route. We started from Navi Mumbai for Malshej Ghat. Very less people are aware about Dam on this route. The roads lead from a village and totally makes us forget that this is still a part of Mumbai – a complete different locality all together. The moment when you think you are lost in the lean lanes, muddy road of metro city Mumbai – the road lead to a huge Dam – Barvi Dam. It had been a long time since I had visited a Dam and I almost had forgotten what it looked like, so when we passed through this place I was shocked. I literally felt like a kid who had been shown a dam in one of their school picnics.

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The view is marvelous. Water is calm. Water flowing through dam seems scary at this height.

                                                                                                             Photo by Sonika Agarwal on Unsplash

This is the only best part of taking this route. These are the places, secluded ones, which are never spoken about while people talk about visiting tourist spots. Standing near that dam, amidst the city, yet away from city, is peaceful. We led to the highway then and this pass is almost 700 km high. Once you pass the highway, just like all other hill station, there are ring roads which lead you to the top. It’s a thin road around the valley, like a turbulence leading on top. It’s a cyclone of passage. It’s risky and scary but at the same time adventurous. While we were on bike, and as it was our first time on this pass, we were not familiar with the turns and slopes. But the joy was immense. The roads were straight for a very long time and only lead to turns while we were at certain height. Greenery was immense. The straight roads has dense green trees on each of its side. Being a Malayali, this was the place that reminded me of Kerala – as the roads and trees were in the similar fashion, except it was not coconut trees. It was like passing through a garland. Early morning views of this kind, is really refreshing. Once you reach on top, in the monsoon season, it’s like you are passing through the clouds. You can see them passing by you. The thin clouds follow you on this ranges. Once you reach this point, trust me looking downwards will not be good idea if you are a soft-hearted person. But this is the experience which you get while visiting this place. As said earlier, more than the actual point, the view while reaching Malshej Ghat is the main attraction. While going further on this route, if your timing is perfect, you will also get to witness waterfall from the ranges. The water doesn’t fall with force, but just drizzles through this area. A bit ahead there is a underpass – which is hardly of 2 mins , but is also a point worth viewing. The rest of the roads, all the bikers passing by in a disciplined sequence, giving thumbs up to the fellow riders, who may or may not belong to the group, all these along with the view is what makes this journey a memorable one. After reaching the caves – passage, almost at 10-15 minutes the main spot reaches.

The Malshej Ghat view.

When you reach at this point for the very first time, it’s like a plain surface at the top, and you will feel like there is nothing extraordinary at this point. It’s a usual surface. But reaching early morning at this point, on a rainy day is different level pleasure.

There are MTDC tourism – cottages at this point where you can book your stay for a day. There is a very small shop – run by a local which serves tea and Maggi at this point. We sat there, at the top, while enjoying the cool breeze and having hot tea along with Maggi. One cannot get this experience in their routine city life. Spending time with valleys and admiring the beauty is what we need after a long week. And this is definitely achieved at this point.

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