17 April 2010
Chakrata is a quaint little hill station and a cantonment area situated in Dehradun district at an elevation of 2,270mts above sea level. It was in April 2010 when i first read about Chakrata in an article in Times of India. I remember during that time Adhiraaj and i were planning for our first bike trip over a weekend and were looking for a destinations for the same and out of the blues came Chakrata. I googled the route, took the printouts and we started our first road trip on 17 April 2010.
- On the way to Chakrata….
The photo quality is not that good as the pics have been taken from a 3.2 mp mobile camera….
It was 5 a.m when i picked up Adhiraaj from his office and soon we were out of Noida cursing along NH 24 after crossing Indirapuram. As we took NH 58 in Ghaziabad, the first bad thing happened. The rear tyre of the bike got punctured and we lost close to 2 hours in finding a shop and getting it repaired. Soon, we crossed Modinagar, took Meerut bypass to Muzzafarnagar and then a state road towards Saharanpur. The heat was intense and the condition of that particular stretch from Muzzafarnagar to Saharanpur was pathetic with some very big pot holes. From Saharanpur we took the the Chakrata road crossing Herbertpur, Vikasnagar and Kalsi on the way. The rear tyre of the bike got punctured again near Herbertpur and we lost some more time finding the shop and getting it fixed.
We thought of reaching Chakrata by the end of the day but it was never meant to be. It was evening when we crossed Kalsi and as we were moving towards Sahiya, the rear tyre again got punctured, this time in the hills. God! It was frustrating. Anyways, i switched on the ignition of the bike and we started moving down towards Kalsi. After replacing the tube once again we started moving towards Chakrata. It was around 8pm when we reached Sahiya – a small village some 25 kms before Chakrata. And we decided to spend the night at Sahiya and cover the remaining 25 kms the next morning.
18 April 2010
We woke up early and covered the final 25 kms in an hour. As we reached Chakrata, we were treated to a spectacular sunrise and all our pain and agony of yesterday was vanished.
Chakrata was earlier known as Jaunsar Bawar and the region is mainly populated by Jaunsari tribes. Chakrata is an exquisite hill station situated amidst coniferous, rhododendron and oak trees. To the east of Chakrata, lies the Mussoorie and on the west lies kaleidoscopic Kinnaur. The access of foreigners to Chakrata is restricted.
For visiting Chakrata foreigners have to obtain a permit from the Commandant 22 Force c/o 56 APO.
Sunrise, Chakrata
Sunrise, Chakrata
We got ourselves a nice room in Himgiri Guest House. And after getting refreshed and inquiring from the locals we started moving towards Deoban. Deoban is situated at a height of 9400 ft and is 13 km away from Chakrata. The road was narrow, steep and uneven. But once you reach the top of the hill the views will make up for everything else.
Chakrata
On the way to Deoban
On the way to Vyas Peak
View Point, Vyas Peak
Deoban
There’s a Forest Rest House at Deoban as well. If you plan to stay there, you have to make the bookings at Chakrata and carry all the essential items along with you. After spending some time atop the hill we negotiated our way downhill amidst rain and a narrow, slippery road. After reaching safely back to Chakrata, we headed to our next destination Tiger Falls. Tiger Falls, at 312ft is the second highest waterfall in India and is 5 kms away from Chakrata. And believe me going there was the best part of the trip.
On the way to Tiger Falls
On the way to Tiger Falls
En Route - Tiger Falls
En Route - Tiger Falls
Locating Tiger Falls
Here we are - Tiger Falls
The Pond below - Amazing Sight...
Perfect Place for camping...
Bliss...
Sunset, Chakrata
19 April 2010
On the way back...
Ponta Sahib
Ponta Sahib
The End….
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Nice Photos, these encourage to plan a visit.
Thanks Sharma g… :)
Nice Pictures !!!!
Came back from Chakrata day before yesterday only, , covered the same along with Kanasar forest , Ram Tal Garden , Chilmiri Neck , Chinta haran Mahadev , Ashoka rock edict – Kalsi & Lakha Mandal (70 Kms from Chakrata.
Thats great mahesh bhai, but where is the the travel story?
came back day before yesterday only , give me some time sir. Will write soon :-)
Mahesh Ji,
Please don’t make us wait long for your travelogue.
Tarun
I will try to write in this month only.
Thanks Mahesh :)
Thanks for such a beautiful post, aditya.
All pics are amazing, I especially loved – 1st, 3rd, 5th and 11th.
Very soon I would also love to go there.
Thanks Vinay :)
@ Aditya…Good One.
I went to Chakrata last year. We also drove ahead of Chakrata to Lokhandi , Kanasar , Tuinni , Hatkoti.
I think you missed the places ahead of Chakrata. Tuinni offers some wonderful views. But the road ahead Chakrata was really bad . Some portion of the road was just stone laden and bumpy.
Sahil
Thanks Sahil :)
Aditya,
Thanks for sharing the experience with us. Good information with some nice captures.
Tarun
Thanks Tarun :)
your 3.2 mp camera can put any digital slr to test man….
nice write up….gr8 pics,….
Thanks Jatin :)
Dear Aditya, Myself and some of my friends had visited Chakrata in April-2007 . Really Chakrata is a beautiful place . We reached Chakrta bye Vikas nagar , kalsi and we came back through Lakaha mandal and Massurie . Lakha mandal is the place related to pandvas.
Road from Chakrata to Lakha mandal was worst. The tyre of our car got punchared twice and we had to replace tyre and tube at Paonta sahib while comming back.
Tejinder Singh , Lovepreet Singh and Sudhir Joshi.
Hi Tejinder,
Chakrata is indeed a beautiful place. Love to visit their again. :)
Still the road condition of Chakrata – Lakha Mandal is same (too bad). Should be avoided during rainy season.
Great story Aditya. You have been away for a while and we have been missing your stories.
One thing which occurred to me while reading the first part was about story telling. Is Adhiraaj is real person or a character which you have been building over time ? :-)
I went there about 4 years back and been contemplating going to Kinnaur side via this route.
https://www.ghumakkar.com/2007/08/14/chakrata-a-quite-jungle-town-near-dehradoon/
Thanks Nandan… :)
Adhiraaj is real… ‘ll post a pic whenever we travel next…. :)
Hi Aditya. As usual a great post with equally beautiful pictures. The roads are really seems to be threatening. You are real courageous to drive on such a road. Waiting for your next post :-)
Thanks Amit :)
Nice place and good pics.
A little more description about the route you took to different spots around Chakrata would’ve been useful as it seems, you need to trek the latter part to Tiger Falls.
Thanks… :)
I made the trip in April last year. So, i don’t remember which road i took for going to the tiger falls. But yes after the initial 4-5 km by road, one has to trek for 2-3 km in order to get to tiger falls…
@ Aditya – Tiger fall is on Chakrata – Lakhamandal road, condition of road is bad.
Distance – Aprrox. 20 km by road & approx 1.5 kms. trek.
Hi, I m planning to visit Chakrata in Nov 11. Here are my queries:
1. Is it a good time to visit? Snowfall occurs in Nov or not?
2. There are two routes to Chakrata from Dehradun a) Dehra-Mussorie-Yamuna Bridge-Nagthat-Chakrata b) Dehradun-Herbertpur-kalsi-chakrata. Which one is better?
3. Are the roads motorable or not?
4. Do we need to book our stay in advance in Chakrata?
Can you please provide me the answers to my queries. Thanks
Hi Swapnil,
1. Being November, it’ll b cold for sure but no Snowfall. Carry appropriate winter clothing.
2. Take the Dehradun-Herbertpur-kalsi-chakrata road. The road is tarred and excellent to drive on.
3. The roads are motorable, infact in excellent condition as Chakrata being a cantonment area.
4. This time of year you can easily find a room in Chakrata. You can stay at Snow view hotel or himgiri guest house.
Regards
Aditya
Swapnil,
i’ve been to chakrata this october only, yes this is the best time to visit or you can wait then plan between december last and january first week. i suggest you the hotel snow view which is located at 1km down chakrata. it is very good hotel with all modern facilities and there is also a short router to Tiger falls which can be done by trekking but this route is dangerous.
Do not take the muzzafarnagar-saharanpur road as it was very bad and i dont think it is get repaired just go through roorkie-dehradun-paonta sahib and vikaspur.
yes. the roads are motorable, we took are own vehicle to chakrata.
you can go to the website of Hotel snow view and ask for the availability of the rooms.
Thanks for the information. I have heard that only 1 way traffic is allowed between kalsi-chakrata. And you have to wait for 2 hours (if missed the opening of Army gates) to start from kalsi. Do you guys think that Dehradun-Mussorie-Yamuna Bridge-Nagthat-Chakrata is a better option?
Thanks
That was the case earlier not now. The traffic is open both ways and their is no gate system now.
I went to Chakrata in 2013.Road to Tiger fall and Deoban was such a bad shape that we (my family) had to cancel our trip to those places half way on route. We instead went to Chirmiri Point , a ground on hill top and enjoyed the view. No doubt Chakrata is beautiful but approach to places via roads is horrible.