One Tree Hill Point : Higher than the Clouds

"One Tree Hill Point" in Matheran is one of the most beautiful place in entire Maharashtra. Matheran is one of India's smallest hill station, situated 2625 feets above sea level.

About the Trek

Our Itinerary

Difficulty and Risk Level

Best Season To Visit

Things To Carry

How To Reach

Cost

The Trek

About the Trek:

“Bhai, Ho Jayega (Bro, Can we do it)?” I asked Chirag who was there just behind me and we both were looking at the waterfall, standing in front of us. “Hamse ho jayega, baaki teeno ko karwana padega (We will do it, but we need to make it happen for other three guys)” He replied.
Let me start with the beginning. On Friday evening, We made the plan to go for One Tree Hill Point Trek near Matheran. Sahyadri Range in the Western Ghats is the heaven for trekkers or nature-loving people, living in the hustle and bustle of two megacities of India, Mumbai, and Pune. And this trek is one of the best I have done in this range (So far, as I had done only three in Maharashtra before this: D). So we, a group of five people, decided to do this trek.
Let me first tell you about my group members. Chirag, who is my college-friend, was coming from Pune. Rests of the people were from Mumbai. Ukti, Ankit, Rahul and me (Himanshu) work in the same organization in Mumbai.
If you want to do 8 km trek near Mumbai or Pune, it is worth giving this trek a thought. There will be nothing for which you would regret. It is said that Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj climbed this on his horse. That’s why this trek is also known as Shivaji Ladder trek. On the top, you can see a hill having only one tree on it. It is the reason for the name of this trek.

Our Itinerary:

1. Leave from Mumbai and catch direct CSMT-KARJAT local at 7:29 AM from Thane.
2. Reach Karjat at 8:50 AM.
3. Have breakfast there or get it packed and take auto-rickshaw for ‘Ambewadi’ Village.
4. Reach Ambewadi by 10:00 AM and start the trek from the village by 10:30 AM.
5. Reach at the top by 1 PM.
6. Have fun there for 2 hours. Click pictures, eat Maggie at the nearby shop with the warming sips of hot tea (there is only one shop there named as Kadam Tea Stall, but the taste is too good. One must try Maggie and tea there). Have packed lunch, if you have.
7. Leave for Matheran Market at 3 PM. Reach there by 4 PM.
8. After exploring the market. Leave for Dasturi Naka which is on the same way of Matheran Market.
9. Reach Dasturi Naka by 5 PM and take a shared taxi to Neral Railway Station.
10. Reach Neral by 5:30 and after having something to eat (If you are feeling hungry), take 6:12 PM local from Karjat to CSMT and leave for Mumbai.

Difficulty and Risk Level:

1. Easy to Moderate Trek when taken the popular route. Endurance Level required is normal.
2. Please try to avoid climbing waterfall during the monsoon. It is too risky. Instead, look for the common route. During winters, I don’t think there is any waterfall in the range. So you can take this route for more adventure.

Best Season To Visit:

1. Any season is good to visit such serene places. But according to me, monsoon is the best season as there is nothing except greenery all around.
2. According to many blogs, winter is preferable. My suggestion is, search on google map, compare the pictures of monsoon and winter and then decide. Thank me Later: P !!

Things To Carry:

1. Good Trekking Shoes (Make sure that sole is not flat because, at many places, the surface is too slippery).
2. Raincoat/Poncho/Wind-Cheater. Any of these three is must, whichever is comfortable for you;
3. Umbrella;
4. At least three liters of water per person;
5. Plastic Covers for Phone and Wallet; (Please do not throw them there. Because nature is beautiful, right! Let’s not make it ugly)
6. Packed Food, Chips, Biscuits, Chocolates, Energy Bars, Energy Drink (During the trek, these things save you from Dehydration and keep you energetic. Again, please don’t litter around natural places.)
7. Personal Medications, if any. It is always a good habit to keep a basic first-aid kit while doing adventures. (Because uncertainty is uncertain: D)
8. Do not carry sling bags or Jholas. Keep both your hand's free while trekking. So, a rucksack or backpack is recommended.
9. Trekking stick is also not mandatory for this trek.

How To Reach:

Ambewadi is the base village for this trek.

1. From Mumbai: Direct local from CSMT to KARJAT. From Karjat, take an auto to Ambewadi Village (13 km from Karjat Railway Station).
2. From Pune: There are many direct trains from Pune to Karjat. One is Singhad Express, and another is Sahayadri Express. Try to catch the former one so that you can reach Karjat by 8 AM because Sahayadri Express is not reliable and doesn’t reach Karjat before 9:30 AM. From Karjat, take the auto to Ambewadi Village.

Cost:

Our overall expenses were less than Rs 300 per person. You can refer to below-written expenses for more clarity.

Local Ticket from Vashi to Karjat: 30 per ticket

Breakfast: 20 per person.

Auto: 300 for 5, i.e. 60 per person. (If you are 4 people, don’t pay more than 250)

Maggie and Tea-Biscuits: 65 per person

Return Taxi till Neral Station: 80 per person

Return Local from Neral to Vashi: 25 per ticket

Total: INR 280.
Woooaaaaahhhhhh!!!!! Isn’t it great??

The Trek:

We all gathered at Karjat Railway Station at 8:50 AM. It was raining continuously, and we all were a little bit tensed about it because trekking while raining is generally not a rational thing to do. Rahul was more stressed, and it could be seen clearly on his face. I assured him that everything would be fine; we would play safe. I had neither an umbrella nor a raincoat. Only Ankit had a raincoat, others were carrying the umbrella. We talked with auto drivers outside the station. They said that we had to hire two autos as 5 passengers can’t travel in one. But one of them got ready to take us with some extra charge (We saved 200 Rs with this). He told that auto couldn’t climb steep road with 5 passengers so he would drop us at the bridge, from there we would need to go by walking. We agreed. We got VADAPAVs and left for Ambewadi Village.

After around 15 minutes ride, there was some water body on our left-hand side. It was looking so beautiful that we asked the auto driver to take a halt there so that we could enjoy for some time. By that time, the rain had also stopped, and we all took a sigh of relief. The driver was so cooperative that he stopped the auto and we all got off. The environment was calm and cold. On the right side, a hill was there, and on the left side, we could see that water body. This was nothing but Morbhe Dam (As the driver told us). Beyond this, we could see some houses on a hill. The driver said that those houses belong to Ambewadi Village. We spent 10-15 minutes there, had VADAPAV and dry fruits (See, this is the main advantage of a girl in your group, you don’t need to take care of all the things. They have Hermoine’s bag with them, having all the necessary items) and took some photos.

Can you see that one tree standing in the dam??

Beyond the clouds on the left side, there is the base village for the trek!!

So after a ride of 15 more minutes, the auto driver told us to go by walking. I checked on google maps. Ambewadi was still 2.5 km away from the point. But as the weather was too good and the roads were empty also, we decided to do so. It increased our total trek distance by 2.5 km but who cares!! So, we started from here only. Walking alone on the road which was leading to nowhere. There were just three colors all around; green of surroundings, Dark coloration of the clean road, white of dam and sky. We kept walking. We had started enjoying this walk from beginning only. We kept clicking photos at different stops. We went through rice fields and various flora and faunas. And we finally reached the village at 10:40 AM.

Follow the Road, and you will reach the destination!

Base Village- Ambewadi (Tadwadi)

So, at 10:45 AM, we started the actual trek to One Tree Hill Point, after confirming from the villagers. We were given a warm welcome by 50 meters of the muddy road. It was red soil and completely dirty. Basically, in the first 15 minutes of our trek, our clothes and shoes got utterly filthy. And we were enjoying this too.

After that, it was a simple trail for approx one hour. It was not steep too much. But as Ankit was on his first trek, it could be seen that he wants a break. So we stopped and allowed him to catch his breath. It kept allowing us to take photos and enjoy the loneliness without wasting time. Finally, we saw someone coming from the upside. He was a villager. So we confirm about the route from him (It is always recommended to verify the correct trail as there are many trails during a trek).

The first challenge came in the form of ‘Shivaji Ladder.’ The trail had shrinked and we were in the middle of the clouds. Suddenly we found some 5-6 big rocks in front of us. It was not easy to climb them. But we carefully climbed over them. It was not over yet. The way was like this for 100 more meters from there.

The Trail- Shivaji Ladder

In the above picture, if you think that the topmost point is the destination, then I need to correct you because due to clouds, you can’t see top easily. You need to keep going, and the road ahead will be visible.

And as it said, every challenge after completing rewards you and we got ours in the form of a beautiful Jungle Trek. This part of the trek was not so long. It was hardly a straight walk of approximately 10 minutes. Clouds were there, and we were amid the Jungle. Various Floras and Faunas were giving us the reason why we were there. It ended soon, but the thrill didn’t. We could see a well just after forest area, on a plateau. Clouds had become denser, so visibility was even lesser. Thanks to our group because we had 14 liters of water with us which didn’t let us feel exhausted.

Perk- The Jungle Trek

Again a dilemma was there. There were two trails from the well. One at the right side, which was going into the forest and another, was on the left side, straight flat trail. As there were no markings on the latter one, so we decided to take the former. After walking for around 15-20 minutes, we had to look for the trail. We doubted our decision then. But later, we saw a shop there and took a sigh of relief, though no one was there. We kept going. Water was coming from upside. We thought it is because of continuous raining, so we were still going in the same way. It was 12:45 PM when Chirag and I saw the waterfall. We both were leading the group, looking for the trail. And we found the waterfall, nothing else. I think we had missed the main trail somewhere. There was no option to go back because the exact position of the correct trail was unknown to us. And yes, this was a conversation between just two of us because we didn’t want others to panic about it. We told them that this is the correct and only way to reach the top. And thus we started the real adventure. Climbing the Waterfall!! Many times, I was thinking what if there is no way even after climbing this because coming back wasn’t an option. But still, we kept going. After an hour, we could see some people on our left side. Those were the visitors. And at that moment, we were sure that the destination is nearby. After crossing approximate 50 meters of the dense bushes, we reached the top!!

The Most Adventurous Thing We Did!!

We could see that tree on another hill (which was not possible to climb). It was not a green tree, same as the images I had seen on the web but I recognized it. One thing which surprised us the most was, there was a rock on that hill. On that, ‘Samir’ was written and we were surprised how one can go there and write his name. Anyway, at 1:30 PM, we conquered the trek (For fifteen minutes, we just thought about what we had done in past hour: D). We could see the correct trail there.

We were feeling hungry as we didn’t have any food. So we decided to leave at 2:30 PM, after enjoying for some time. It was drizzling so we opened our umbrellas and sat there for 40 odd minutes. The feeling can’t be described in words. We started to go to Matheran at the pre-fixed time, but then we saw the only shop there. We abused ourselves for not seeing it earlier and starving ourselves. Anyway, we ordered tea/coffee and Maggie. In that cold weather, sipping the tea with Maggie can make you fall in love with the place. That environment had already put us in a trance.

Could you see the One Tree on that hill??

The road to Matheran was straight. Matheran is Asia’s only automobile free hill station. So, either you take the horses or just walk. We always choose the second option because we are on a trek, right!! It took 45 minutes to cover 3 km distance till Matheran market. It is a good market where you can spend some time buying ‘chikkis,’ playing and eating your favorite food. From there, Dasturi Naka is 2 more kilometers.

Road to Matheran!!

You will find a narrow-gauge line, going with you all the time from May to October, when the trademark ‘Toy Train’ of Matheran is closed due to maintenance. This gives a feel of Darjeeling; being in the wild and mountains with a toy train. If you visit between October to May, do plan a one-way journey from Matheran to Neral or vice-versa. There comes a station named as ‘Aman Lodge’ just before Dasturi Naka. It is an indication that ‘Manzil Ab Dur Nahi’ (Destination is not far from here).

Railway Line for the Toy Train. Don’t miss the sceneries around!!

We reached Dasturi Naka at 5 PM, and as soon as we arrived, taxi drivers came and asked whether we want a taxi or not. It is the universal fare of Rs 80 per person there, fixed by the government. So there was no point in wasting time, and we hired the taxi. It is steep downhill from Matheran to Neral. One can see the mini railway crossings for the toy train. But the driver was in another mood. He drove so harshly that it could be considered our another adventure for the day. Anyhow, we reached Neral Railway Station in a single piece: P. There we had lunch (Or you can say dinner) at 5:20 PM and finished it by 6:15 PM. Luckily both the locals were slightly late, to Karjat and to CSMT. So we caught the train on time for CSMT. And thus, the beautiful day ended with more beautiful memories.

Check out some photos from the trip. We hope you like them.

Happy and Safe Trekking!!