JENKAL BETTA TREKKING, SAKLESHPUR

Jenkal betta.

Jenkal betta is a mountain range that is part of the western ghats. It is located at Sakleshpur dis. of  Karnataka. The mountain is always green covered as Sakleshpur receives high rainfall throughout the year.

This is a paradise for trekkers as there is a huge range of mountains with many high peaks. Few of the famous peaks are Ompathu gudda, Deepakallu,Ettina Bhuja, Jenkal Betta. etc.

Jenkal betta

How to reach:-

The nearby City is Bangalore and is at a distance of approx 230 KM,
We a group of 8 members from Bangalore travelled to Hassan by KSRTC bus, as we reached Hassan the pre scheduled taxi was waiting for us in the bus stand. The very helpful driver took us to Sakleshpur town.
Sakleshpur town is a small place where we can find budget rooms and food .We booked a room for 2 hours ,freshened up and started journey towards the destn post breakfast from a nearby restaurant.

It is advisable to parcel the lunch and start hiking in the morning itself.
It took around 20 mins to reach Hanbal from sakleshpur town and from there we took a diversion toward Hodachalli.

There are buses available from Sakleshpur to Hanbal and from there you can take a jeep to reach the Bettadha bhaireshwara temple. Trekking starts from the temple.
There is jeep path that leads you half the way to the hill and later you can follow the small foot track to reach till the top of the hill.

There are a range of mountains available to trek, its advisable to take a guide if you are planing for a long trek.We could make out the route easily as there was proper foot track available till the top of the mountain that we hiked.

Route from Bangalore:-

Bangalore - Nelamangala - Kunigal - Hassan - Sakleshpur - Hanbal - Hodachalli - Jenkal Betta.

Bettadha Bhaireshwara temple

The heavenly view from top of the hill is an unforgettable one, you will be greeted with slight showers and  it gets foggy at times as the mist flows with wind.

Caution:-

Carry enough food and water as the place is humid and there is no shops available after Hanabal.
There will be lot of leeches during rain and its good to carry enough salt, alternately tobacco powder mixed with oil can be applied all over your legs.

We had carried tents with us but had to drop our plan due to heavy rain and leeches.

Avoid trekking during monsoon time as the hill will be slippery and leaches will be more.Best time to visit is during Sep - June.

Expenditure:-

If you are planning for a budget trip it would cost you  around 2000rps - 3000rps per head.

MAP to reach Hanbal:- Click here