Treks from Bengaluru: Comparison Table (Drive Time, Altitude, Difficulty, Price)
Every trek near Bengaluru is described somewhere as “a great weekend escape”, which tells you nothing. What actually decides which one you book is how long the drive is, how high you climb, how hard the day is, and what it costs. This page puts all four in one table so you can compare them side by side, then explains what the numbers mean in practice.
The comparison table
All figures below are for departures from Bengaluru. Drive times are one way from central Bengaluru and assume normal traffic; add 45 to 60 minutes if you are starting from Whitefield, Electronic City or the airport side. Prices are per person for the trek as published on each page.
| Trek | Drive from Bengaluru | Drive time (one way) | Altitude | Difficulty | Best month | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savandurga Trek | ~60 km | 1.5–2 hrs | 1,227 m | Moderate | Nov–Feb | Rs 1,499 |
| Skandagiri Trek | ~60–70 km | 1.5–2 hrs | ~1,350 m | Moderate | Oct–Feb | Rs 1,499 |
| Makalidurga Trek | ~60 km | 1.5–2 hrs | ~1,100 m | Easy | Oct–Feb | Rs 1,499 |
| Shivaganga Hill | ~60 km | 1.5–2 hrs | 804 m | Easy | Oct–Feb | Rs 1,499 |
| Siddarbetaa Trek | ~70 km | 2 hrs | ~1,000 m | Moderate | Oct–Feb | Rs 1,499 |
| Avalabetta Trek | ~90 km | 2–2.5 hrs | ~1,300 m | Moderate | Oct–Feb | Rs 1,499 |
| BramhaGiri Trek | ~250 km | 5–6 hrs | ~1,600 m | Moderate | Oct–Feb | Rs 3,999 |
| Kumara Parvatha Trek | ~280 km | 5–6 hrs | 1,712 m | Moderate to Difficult | Oct–Feb | Rs 2,999 |
| Kudremukh Trek | ~330–350 km | 7–8 hrs | 1,890 m | Moderate | Oct–Feb | Rs 3,999 |
| Kodachadri Trek | ~380–400 km | 8–9 hrs | 1,343 m | Moderate | Oct–Feb | Rs 4,499 |
| Coorg Trip (1N/2D) | ~250 km | 5–6 hrs | — | Easy | Sep–Feb | Rs 4,800 |
| Gokarna Weekend Trip (1N/2D) | ~480 km | 9–10 hrs | — | Easy to Moderate | Oct–Feb | Rs 6,800 |
| Kodaikanal Group Trip (1N/2D) | ~460 km | 8–9 hrs | ~2,100 m | Easy | Sep–Feb | Rs 6,200 |
How to read the table
Drive time is the real constraint, not distance
The single most useful column is drive time, because it decides whether a trek fits a day, a weekend or a long weekend. Anything under two hours each way is a genuine day trip: you leave before dawn and you are home by afternoon. Anything between five and six hours each way means an overnight departure on Friday and a Sunday return, which is the standard weekend trek shape. Beyond eight hours each way, you are looking at a long weekend or a Friday-to-Monday commitment, and the trek fee stops being the main cost.
Kudremukh and Kodachadri sit in that last bracket. Both are excellent, and both cost you a full weekend plus a Friday night. Savandurga, Skandagiri, Makalidurga, Shivaganga and Siddarbetaa are all inside the day-trip band, which is why they are the treks people repeat.
Altitude matters less than you think in the Ghats
None of the Karnataka treks on this list go high enough for altitude sickness. Kudremukh at 1,890 m and Kumara Parvatha at 1,712 m are the two highest, and both are well below the 2,500 m mark where altitude starts to affect most people. What altitude does here is change the weather: the higher peaks catch cloud, get more rain, and are cooler at the summit. If you are preparing for a Himalayan trek later, these are good fitness training but not altitude training.
Difficulty grades are relative to the trail, not to you
An “Easy” grade on Makalidurga means a short walk with a gentle gradient. A “Moderate” grade on Savandurga means a steep climb on open granite with no shade. A “Moderate to Difficult” on Kumara Parvatha means two long days with sustained climbing and a genuine endurance test. The grade describes the trail; whether it is hard for you depends on how much you walk. If you are new to trekking, start with Makalidurga or Shivaganga and work up.
Best month is the same for almost all of them
October to February is the reliable window across Karnataka. The monsoon clears, the grass is still green in the early part of that window, and by December and January the air is clear enough to actually see the views. March to May is hot and hazy. June to September is monsoon: green and dramatic, but slippery, cloudy and in some cases genuinely unsafe on exposed rock. The monsoon versus winter guide covers the trade-offs in detail.
Which one should you pick
- First trek, or trekking with family: Makalidurga or Shivaganga. Short, easy, and close enough that a bad day costs you nothing.
- One day, want a real climb: Savandurga. The steepest day trek on the list, and the most rewarding view for the effort.
- Sunrise above the clouds: Skandagiri. The pre-dawn ascent is the whole point, and it is the trek most people book for that reason.
- A proper weekend in the Western Ghats: Kudremukh. The best combination of scenery, challenge and accessibility, and the one most Bengaluru groups book first.
- The hardest thing in Karnataka: Kumara Parvatha. Two long days, sustained climbing, and the most demanding trek on this list.
- Not a trek, but a weekend away: Coorg, Gokarna or Kodaikanal. These are trips rather than treks, and the right choice if you want scenery without a summit.
What the price does and does not include
Every price in the table is the trek fee per person, covering the guided trek and the arrangements listed in that trek’s inclusions. It does not include transport to the base unless the page says so, personal gear, or food outside the trail meals. For the day treks the all-in cost is close to the fee because you are driving yourself. For the weekend treks, add fuel and tolls if you are self-driving, or the group transport cost if you are not. The individual trek pages break down the all-in figure from Bengaluru for each one.
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