Delhi to Haridwar on a no-traffic route
There are few thousand people who go to Haridwar everyday and most of them use the traditional route of
Delhi – Meerut – Khatauli – Purkaji – Muzaffarnagar – Chhapar – Roorkee – Haridwar
and then there are some who go much less often and take the road less traversed.
which even though being a national highway is actually nothing closed to being called one. This highway is actually not better then any small town road and can actually get worse then that courtesy the usual traffic rush and impatient drivers. Also, the towns which fall on the way are not too great outsiders-lovers and their own life revolves around this highway, unlike NH1 esp between Delhi and Amritsar section, where you do get long stretches of no-habitation. So all this heavy traffic is dealt with bad speed breakers and what not.
So in one of our trips, we had the same dilemma and we were struggling hard to figure out whether an alternate route will make sense. We were essentially thinking of a way to avoid this highway as much as possible and if somehow we can connect to NH24, which is much better and quicker.
And after lot of calculations and some brave calls, we decided to do the following
Haridwar – Najibabad – Bijnaur – Mirapur – Mawana – Meerut – Delhi
This route will connect us back to the standard road at Meerut and was coming out to be about 25 KMs costlier but we took the bait and boy, it was worth it, every meter of it.
Haridwar – Kotdwar / Najibabad : From Haridwar, turn right at the gol chakkar (roundabout) towards najibabad / kotdwar. This is a big turn and anyone would know it. As you turn right, you hop on to a bridge ending in a temple. If your taste buds dont need the certificate of city-clean-food always and are permeable enough for street food then have some fresh fruit chat. If you love visiting temples then there is this famous temple on the river bank, I think it was Durga, I am not 100 % sure though. Keep driving on this road and you will notice that you are actually driving along a animal sanctuary, Rajaji. All those years, we used to look at Jim Corbett map and wonder that how come this is so big, as big as 500 Sq KM and we never know from where it starts and where does it finish. So actually this road connects to the Kumaon and you can go to Kashipur and to Corbett. Rajaji has lots of Elephants and you may get lucky.
The road is very well laid, the tar was fresh but it was not meant for a high speed drive so be careful as it can get a little bumpy and the curves could get dangerous. Keep driving straight till you get a gantry where you need to take a right which goes towards Bijnaur and then further to Delhi.
Najibabad – Bijanur : In this section you hit smaller towns, villages but no traffic. You keep going straight, occasionally you will have a tractor or two to maneuver or a group of cattle but thats fine. Again, you dont hit more then 100, usually you drive at 70 but with no traffic, fields on both sides and a countryside to cherish, you wont get fatigued.
Bijnaur – Mirapur : Bijanur is the biggest town in this route so you would want to stop and take a bite, there are some decent option. We stopped at ‘Vyanjan Vatika’ which is just after Bijanur. From here you need to go straight to Mirapur. This section is the best section in terms of driving pleasure and speed. The road is really impressive, you can push the pedal and you still dont see too much of traffic. But now we are entering into the sugrcane belt.
Mirapur – Mawana – Meerut : From Mirapur, you go towards Mawana, the town which has made its name in Sugar trading. Mawana is a decently sized town and you can get your provisions here incase you are a long drive and most likely coming from Delhi. It takes a while to clear Mawana owing to petty traffic and from here you head on to Meerut.
Getting Through Meerut : This gets a little tricky so avoid this route in odd hours since you would need to ask your way through. Go towards Cantt, then towards jail-chowk or karagar-chowk or something like that. Move towards Chaudhary Charan Singh University and you will reach a fork, take right and then first left again. There is a minuscule, hidden cut on your right so be very very vigilant. Once you take this right, you will wonder that where-the-hell you are driving since now you are a narrow tar-strip with fields on both sides. Again avoid this in odd hours, keep going straight and you will meet the main highway. Go a little further and now you are on partapur bypasss, hooooh you are back.
From there you just go straight towards Ghaziabad and then hit Delhi.
So if you are looking for a countryside drive which is away from the maddening crowd on the main highway then take this one and you will thank your stars. We did this in Apr’2007 and roads can change over time but its well worth it.
hi! sudipto here ,i would like to know how should i go nazibabad to hardwar .is there any bus or car are available .if yes than whats the approx fare .plz help me as soon as possible.
Sudipto – From Nazibabad, you can easily get the ‘UP State Transport Bus’. I do not exactly the fare amount but I would guess that for a normal bus (Non A/C, plain jane) it would be Rs 50 – Rs 80 odd.
Hi Dear , If u want i best drive and comfort in journey and there r no option to go delhi to haridwar rishikaish badrinath and so many good hill stations throught NH 58 is the best way I have check both way , But
Delhi – Meerut – Khatauli – Muzaffarnagar Chhapar – Purkaji — Roorkee Haridwar- Badrinath
This is the best way you can enjoy 4 LANE Express High Way ON NH 58
Enjoy cheers
I used it for my trip to Mussoorie as the NH 58 was very crowded due to Kanwadiyas heading to and from Haridwar. The route from Haridwar to Najibabad is really very green and good.
http://arounddelhi.blogspot.com
Hi,
Any one travelled recently on Haridwar – Najibabad – Bijnaur – Mirapur – Mawana – Meerut – Delhi route ?
Wanted to know the road quality wrt traditional route thru Delhi -Muzaffarnagar – Roorkee.
regards.
4 wheeler – Recently a fellow Ghumakkar did this on his bike. From the log, it looks that this alternate route is still the better thing to do.
You can read more here – https://www.ghumakkar.com/2009/09/08/rising-above-the-clouds/
HI DEAR
I READ THIS BLOG AND GET SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT ALTERNATE ROUTE ,RECENTLY I HAVE MADE A TRIP FOR DEHRADUN AND I FOUND THAT THE Delhi Meerut Khatauli Purkaji Muzaffarnagar Chhapar Roorkee Haridwar (NH-58)
IS THE BEST ROUTE BECAUSE
1. HOTEL, ATM PATROLL, CNG PUNP AND PANCHER WALA U CAN FOUND ANY WHERE IN NH 58 THESE ARE THE BASIC REQUIRMENT WHAN U R TRAVELLING
2. TRAFFIC PROBLEM 100% SOLVED BECAUSE NOW it is a FOUR LANE EXPRESS HIGHWAY TILL DEHRADUNE.
U CAN DRIVE AT 100 KM/Hr
3. AND OTHER FACILITY U FOUND ON OTHER HIGHWAY THESE R ALSO AVILAABLE IN Delhi Meerut Khatauli Purkaji Muzaffarnagar Chhapar Roorkee Haridwar ROUGHT
SO GUYS AND GORLS OLD ROUTE IS GOLD NO TENSSION DRIVE AT NH 58
Hi Manu,
Which expressway are you talking about? NH 58 is not even close to a highway with the high density of population around it. And after Muzaffarnagar it is just a two lane road?
Are you talking about any other route. Please give exact details. Thanks a lot.
hello sanchit ji mannu bhai or dono ek hi rout ki baat ker rhe ho aap chintit na ho hmare liye or baki sabhi k liye bhi yhi rout better hain or jesa aap bool rhe ho ki two line road h to bhai jhan city aria padta hain vhan two line bhi h lekin nh58 vhi h
Hi All,
I went on the traditional route (NH 58) few weeks back. If you leave from Delhi early enough (6 am sort of) you really avoid the traffic and you can reach Meerut before the real traffic starts. Road is good till Meerut (4 lane) and without the traffic its really good. Meerut Bypass is under construction but is still quite wide and you should not face any problem. After Meerut its a 4 lane good highway till Muzaffarnagar. The last 70 Km approx is a two lane road. Thus this route is straight and easy and safest if you leave early morning from Delhi. The alternate route through Mawana is not easy to find – may be more details posted on how to find this route will be appreciated.
I am a regular visitor to Dehradun because of relatives, so exploring alternate routes is always required. Recently, I have been using a route that runs next to a canal that can help avoid some of the rush, although you do need to be a bit careful because it is a bit less wider than a 2 lane road (but can do almost a constant >60 speed).
From Delhi, go upto Muradnagar, and then you cross the Ganga Canal. Just after the canal, there is a left turn that starts following the canal, and keep on going straight. It passes through a village in between, which is the only rough patch (the rest of the road is fine enough for me – although the canal is right next to the road, so need to be a bit careful).
There are 2 stretches of this canal,
1. 60 KM stretch that starts after Muradnagar and comes out after Khatauli (so that you skip Modinagar, Meerut Bypass, and Khatauli – can be incredible)
2. It comes out at Khatauli, and then again starts (I have not done this next stretch, but I know people who do this stretch) all the way to Roorkee from where you can take the road to Dehradun next to the Cantt (or continue upto Haridwar straight). This one skips Muzaffarnagar, Pulkaji, and others.
delhi-meerut-mawana-bijnor(bypass kumbhmela road)-ramraj-najibabad bypass-haridwar is an excellent road, few atm’s puncture wala’s also there, drive at 90–100kms in lush green fields bounded by trees, no need to in tension of overtaking, no traffic hassles, road is good only problem is passing through meerut interiors, if some one can help through that it will be grateful. i will always go through this road inspite of meerut. visited on 19th of june 2010 & back on 21st.
regards
I must say, I have fallen in love with the Canal road ):-
It was originally build for Kanwaris. Althogh this is narrow and one must be careful in order to avoid collision with speeding vehicles coming from the opposite side, the surroundings are full of greenery. Heavy vehicles are not allowed which is a matter of relief. There are indeed a few Dhabas on the route. Also, one can fall back to NH 58 through connection roads throughout.
Travelling at night is NOT recommended. Unlike NH 58 there is no petrol pump and there is no car repairing shop. I doubt whether I would try to avail this route when Kanwari yarta takes places(July/August).
i recently travelled from delhi to rishikesh via haridwar and then returned the same route. It ws smooth at night. BUt there huge rush out there
Hi everyone,
Please suggest the best time to of day to use meerut -mawana- najibabad- hariwar, as i have heard its not safe and lacks basic facilities also.
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Since Rishikesh is my hometown , I often visit it and have been doing continuously for last 10 years.Around 10-12 years back,there was not much traffic and I remember taking night bus to rishikesh and reaching early morning amidst the chanting of hymns and ringing of bells in the temple. That time the road was 2 lane after modinagar.
Now though the road has converted to 4 lane till muzaffarnagar and more work is going on to make it 4 laned till dehradun.The imfamous muradnagar and modinagar traffic jams are still there and I don’t why can’t they build a bypass on such an important national highway.Coming to the point, I will share my driving routine.
Since I live in Gurgaon,its around 270kms house to house.In summers,I start around 4 in the morning and by 8:30 AM I am in my house in rishikesh. In winter I start around 6 AM and by 11 I am in rishikesh.
If you are leaving that early,its best to take NH-58 since there would be very less traffic except on some religious day/kanwariyas days.Coming on the back journey,its best to take canal route till khatauli and then take 4 lane toll road uptill 3rd flyover of merrut bypass road.Now there are 2 options – either follow toll road and enter modinagar which can be very frustrating on a sunday evening …the second option is to take right turn from under the flyover and head straight till you hit the canal road again.Follow it for around 20 kms and modinagar jam could be avoided.After that its the usual jam till delhi.Hope the government is doing something to decongest this area…
Hi,
My husband I used the alternate route while coming back to
delhi from Haridwar – Haridwar Najibabad Bijnaur Mirapur Mawana Meerut Delhi.
Thank you very much for your blog about this route. We visited the Chandi mandir too on the way and
we really enjoyed the ropeway visit to the temple. Driving along a animal sanctuary, Rajaji was an excellent experience. This alternate route is worth it and we completely forgot the unpleasantness of driving through the usual route on NH58 while driving from Delhi to Haridwar.
To travel to haridwar from delhi,one can take the canal road(really beautiful), but its a tad risky due to less populated stretches. Also, you can try the bijnaur-najibabad road(personally I have never used it but I have heard positive reviews about it). Then you can always use the NH58, the usual route, just visited it on 20/10/2012, the road is good till muzaffarnagar, where you can try 90-100 speeds, but after that the road becomes a 2-lane road and you have to face traffic head-on, and the road is not in a very good condition, also there is a lot of traffic on this road. In no way is this road deserving of the name-National Highway. So, irritated with this road I decided to come back from Haridwar using the Haridwar-Roorkee-Saharanpur-Yamunanagar-Kurukshetra(NH-1)-Delhi route and let me tell you its a nightmare to drive on this road. Even one of the world’s strongest SUVs will feel the heat. The condition of the road, well there is no road(literally), I was forced to drive on pebbles and mud for more than 40 kms, and then for another 40 kms it was a poorly patched road on which the speeds were not exceeding 50 kmph. The road I am talking about is no village road(though the quality of road is even worse than a village road) it is NH-73. Surely this road should be AVOIDED. Instead you can try the delhi-meerut-mawana-bijnor-najibabad -haridwar road and the best is, try the Delhi-Meerut-Khatauli(don’t take bye-pass)-Roorkee(via Canal road)-Haridwar. I found this road the best for Delhi-Haridwar. You enjoy nice roads till Khatauli(NH-58), enjoy the scenic Ganga Canal road, give the traffic and the unmaintained NH-58 a miss and enjoy the Journey!!!!
The DELHI-Modinagar-Meerut bypass- partapur-Khatauli-Muzaffarnagar-Roorkee stretch is now better due to Toll patches at approx. 170 kms. Can do in 3 1/2 – 4 hours..
Delhi-Modinagar – 45 kms. Takes about an hour .. Dabur-Mohan Nagar-Ghaziabad-Murad Nagar-Modinagar strech is all crowded at most times of the day though there is a bypass after Mohan Nagar now after hindon bridge via Raj Nagar Extension Housing project which saves you atleast 20 mins.
Modinagar – Modipuram Toll Gate – 25 kms is a good strech with flyovers on the partapur bypass meerut and you can do 80-90 kmph here.
Modipuram – Muzaffarnagar – 50 kms strech is the Best !! Once you pay the Toll you can cruise at 100+ kmph and pass the sakauti Tanda Rail overbridge and stop at Khatauli bye-pass @ ‘Cheetal Grand’.. This is Must Stop.. Excellent food and ambience/service. Muzaffarnagar bye-pass is also good.
Muzaffar Nagar – Roorkee 50 kms is a single road with oncoming traffic and just 2 lanes as soon as you exit MZN bye-pass.. 4 laning is in process in patches and will take another 2 years !!! Road is bad in patches and to add to it is the Trucks line for Uttrakhand Border tax. Easily 01 hour until you reach Roorkee.
Overall 4 hours for 170 kms with a stop.. Safe strech though avoid Night driving and Kanwariya season in July..
Return Roorkee – Delhi Trip .. 170 kms .. 4 hours
Roorkee – Muzaffar nagar bye-pass – 50 kms . Road is not too good which is bad in patches. Being 2 lane and loads of traffic – saharanpur/haridwar/Rishikesh/Dehradun/Mussorie it can be quite bad.
Be careful of speedbreakers at Gurkul Narsan and Barla which have no markings and appear out of nowhere.
Muzaffarnagar – Meerut : 75 kms is an excellent stretch and can be done in an 0100 – 0115 hours. Once you start off from the MZN by-pass via khatauli bye-pass, Toll plaza at Mawana crossing, Modipuram, partapur meerut bye-pass its a great hassle free stretch with speed upto 100 kmph.
Lots of food stops on this stretch starting with Cafe Midway/Mc Donalds/Haldirams/Bikano before Katauli and Cheetal Grand once you pass Khatauli.
Meerut – Delhi: 50 kms.. 0115 – 0200 hours . This is the worst strecth with you slowing down from the word go as soon as you exit from the Partapur byepass. Modinagar stretch for sure takes 30 mins minimum sue to bazaars esp. after 4 pm until 10 pm. If its the sugarcane / marriage season then Lord may help you !!! Then you have until Murad nagar canal of clear but packed traffic before you hit the Ghaziabad stretch to crawl again.. Take a right at the Hapur Mod tri-junction red Signal. This will take you via Raj Nagar extention housing societies.. and again take a right at the signal tri-junction after the traffic Triangle.. This is a pontoon makeshift bridge for LMV/2 wheelers and takes you straight to Mohan Nagar… After this is smooth though packed traffic of Autos, tempos, buses, trcuks until you reach Delhi Border.
Minimum 4 hours for this trip !!!!
NO CNG on this route, though plenty of petrol pumps and Dhabas…
Cheers !!
Hi Saleem
I will be travelling to Haridwar from Gurgaon on 27th feb with Family – We can not start before 7 AM on 27th . Which Route will you suggest for this trip? Also – what will be the best route from Haridwar to Delhi assuming we start from Haridwar at around 10 AM? Thanks!
@Roy – Please take Gurgaon-Ring Road Delhi – Nizamuddin Bridge Road Delhi – Left at UP gate to catch NH58. And then take ghaziabad-Modinagar-Meerut bypass- partapur-Khatauli-Muzaffarnagar-Roorkee-Haridwar.
If you leave at 7 from GGN then the first traffic snarl would be at NZB Bridge and then at UP gate. Ghaziabad-Modinagar-Meerut would also have some traffic. Post that, it should be all clear and clean.
Take same route while returning.
Please update here on your travel time and road conditions when you are back. Wishes.
@Nandan and All – I have completed this journey Delhi to Haridwar and back this Sunday 3rd Mar . Here are route updates.
We started from Gurgaon at around 7:30 in the morning – reached Nizamuddin Bridge around 8:41 – then took NH 58 and the nightmare started. This highway should not be called a highway – it is just another busy town road like I see everyday in Gurgaon/Delhi. However things started to look better after we crossed Modinagar and the Highway feeling starts from 30 KM (or so) before Meerut and continues till you cross Mujaffarnagar. After Mujaffarnagar – It is single lane , hot and dusty , full of potholes. We Reached Haridwar around 1:15 PM.
While coming back – I followed the same route but took the Ganga Canal road to reach Roorkee. This road is really deserted as many have said , broken and full of potholes. However – it gave a scary(!!) feeling in the morning mist. So I changed lane to get into NH58 from Roorkee. Same ordeal and Delhi city traffic made me reach home around 2 PM.
If anybody is planning to follow this route – only getaway is the timing. You need to start early – from both sides – if you want to avoid the traffic etc.
Let me know if there are any specific queries.
I forgot to mention that we started from Haridwar around 7:30 AM – So it is 6 hours approx. (minimum) both ways if you are taking NH58.
Hi All,
I have just come back yesterday from a one day trip of Delhi Hardwar and would like to share my experience of the road condition.
Well actually the reason I am writing here would itself give the answer. I followed Delhi-Mohan Nagar-Merrut-Muzffarnagar-Roorkee-Hardwar. And immediately I am looking for an alternate route.
Why??
Because this so called highway contains a part which should be actually known as Chassis breaker. Yes I am talking about Muzffarnagar Roorkee route.
Let me start from the beginning: I was travelling with two of my office colleagues / friends and was at Dabur chowk at seven in the morning. The traffic sense in this part of the country is still in the dark ages but that was expected. Crossing modinagar was ok. Paid a toll of Rs 70 and found some really good road surface where I could hit a constant 90/100.
The real nightmare started once the toll road ended. Potholes in which half of car would go down were omni present. Surely there was road widening process going on but till that time cant those monstrous potholes be filled up. All that time advantage gained at Toll road was fizzled out.
I could immediately see the repercussion of this. We had to start back at 5.00 pm. To make matters worse there are illegal speed breakers built on in this stretch which in the dark were difficult to negotiate. Most of them seem like the handiwork of dhabhawallas to slow vehicles so they can get hold of customers.
Closer to Delhi on the return leg, Modinagar was crossed with very high levels of patience. Finally I was home at 11.40pm including 40 minutes of meal break at patanjali and an another traiffic jam encountered near Akshardam temple due to police barricading.
In short avoid this route if you are planning for a high speed dash to this close neighbor of Delhi.
The latest update remains the same as for the past year:
DEL-GZB-MODINGR-MEERUT-KHATAULI-MZNGR is really good.
Once toll road ens at Mzngr bye-pass, the nightmare starts for a good 45 kms until Roorkee.
Can take you 60 – 75 minutes to negotiate this 45 kms stretch with no traffic..
Nice information provided by you about
Delhi to haridwar alternate route
Comments using disqus
I am planning to drive down to Haridwar from Delhi on 30 Dec and back on 1st Jan.
I am not sure about the traffic around Meerut / Ghaziabad while returning.
Got stuck near Ghaziabad last year while returning from Nainital.
I drove down in October 2018 via the regular route. Delhi-GZB-Meerut-Muzaffarnagar-Roorkee-Haridwar. Right before Modinagar, we took the ‘Upper Canal Road’ and it kind of worked well. At Cheetal, we came back to regular road. There is really a very poor stretch before and through Roorkee but no way to avoid so we carried on.
On my return journey, we decided to do ‘Upper Canal’ for most of the journey, thus avoiding Meerut but as luck would have it, there was a massive jam on Canal Road and we had to return to Meerut and it took ever to get back to Noida.
So net net, just brave it and go with the flow.