Counting Steps enroute to Kalavantin Fort

One of the toughest trek in Maharashtra as said, Kalavantin Fort is located on the outskirts of Panvel. Located at a height of 2300 feet, it is one of the most enduring and thrilling Trek. One cannot lose his patience or take a peaceful breath until he reaches the pinnacle. Steep Climb, Huge steps makes the Climb even more difficult. October to February being the most favorable period for trekking this place.

The best way to complete this trek is in two stages. First reach Prabalmachi by night and then start further ascend to Kalavantin Fort. Base village to Prabalmachi is Thakurwadi. There is a tum tum service for Thakurwadi village. The hike from base village to Thakurwadi village is easy. But if trekking in the night, need to be extra careful. This hike involves 2-2.30 of trekking. Prabalmachi provides the best that nature has to offer. From fantastic weather, lush green slopes to fresh air, you will get a unique experience at this hillside village. Laid with unique stories and unexploited nature, Fireflies Trek to Prabalmachi offers you so much to unfold. At some place, the climb can be rough as soil is loose and are possibilities of slip-ups.

Once you reach Prabalmachi, you can set up tents and enjoy the night view of the Panvel city. The weather is just awesome as its windy and that makes up for all your exhaustion. The night sky and mesmerizing view just makes it better. There is a hotel on the Plateau (Machi) where you can get the local food which is very delicious. After having dinner, one can lit a bonfire or else can retire in their tent.

Next day, one has to start trek early morning at 6 sharp. The reason being the capacity of the Kalavantin fort to hold people is less and so precautions are taken to maintain the balance of people ascending and descending on fort. One can freshen himself and have breakfast. The early morning view on Prabalmachi is very beautiful and mesmerizing. One can actually get to see the views that were not able to watch at night due to dark.

The ascend to the fort starts from the route adjacent to the hotel. This route goes through a village again. One can see small hutments, while going for the climb. Also the route is very steep, narrow and has a lot of loose rocks and stones. So proper grip is very much essential.

After trekking for around 45 mins, you get a big rocky patch. All this while we were trekking through the jungle & now the trek starts for Kalavantin Fort. This is the first difficult part as you have to literally crawl on the Rock and climb upwards. It’s a 5-10 step climb, and then you get step climbs. There are sharp climbs here and also the height of these steps is more, which makes it difficult. After around 25 mins of steep climbs, you reach the base of the pinnacle. This is the final part of the trek where you require climbing. There are marks made for climb or else need a rope to get support to over haul. And finally you reach Kalavantin Fort.

The forts of Chanderi and Peb are to the west. The Manikgad Fort is to the south while the Karnala fort is located towards the north. There you can see the fort of Prabalgad.The lush green, the mountain ranges just makes gives you immense satisfaction of trekking this dangerous but a superb Historical Monument. Kalavantin Fort is also known as Kalavantinicha Sulka. 

The Descend part is a little bit treacherous at the start i.e. at the pinnacle. While the rest of the trek is a pretty straight forward descend of 3hrs. One cannot be careless and take it easy as nature has its own way of giving it back.