Yelagiri Hills

Yelagiri hills, is an idyllic place for a short holiday. Green hills and picture postcard scenery greets you here. It is called the queen of hill stations and is the most pristine and unpolluted among the hill stations in Tamil Nadu. Yelagiri Hills is a backward area with few glaring developments like cottages and farm houses, yet a place that has maintained its 'remote' label.

The government is trying to promote Yelagiri as a tourist place. But now, apart from the lake, there is not much for the regular tourist. But the view in and around the hills is captivating enough to last a lifetime. Jalagamparai water falls is a 5 Km trek from Yelagiri downhill. Its a tough trek, but the view from the sides of the mountain, of the valley, is truly rewarding. The Javad range of hills run parallel to Yelagiri; the land is sandwiched between these two.

The towns in Yelagiri hills are Athnavur and Nilavur. Athnavur is the best place to stay and plan your trip. Some good quality cottages and hotels are available here. Also, this is the last stop with traces of modernisation. The next town (a settlement rather) is Nilavur. Here the place is full of agricultural land and vegetable and rose farms. It will be an interesting detour to visit these farms. The people here are friendly.

The Yelagiri hills is a range of mountains approximately 250 Km from Chennai on the ChennaiBangalore route. Taking advantage of the three day weekend and to have some respite from the blistering heat in Chennai, we decided to try out the hill station.

Tirupattur is a crowded, dusty town with a really dirty bus stand. The ride up the Yelagiri hills took a leisurely 2 hours. The route has 14 hairpin bends and the nighttime view of the surrounding towns during the climb is breathtakingly beautiful.

Yelagiri is a small hamlet with a single main road and a few scattered houses. However, holiday resorts abound and maybe even outnumber the resident houses. There is a small lake in which boating is allowed. A few kilometer from the town center is a trekking location called Swamimalai (No, do not mistake it for its takes about an hour and a half to climb to the top of Swamimalai through the dense jungle cover, but its worth the effort the view from the top is exhilarating. Apart from the lake and the trek, there's very little to do in Yelagiri. It seems to have become a favorite weekend resort for people from Bangalore, given its proximity almost all rooms are booked on weekends people land up in cars with family /friends. The weather is pretty chill even in mid summer and is a good place to beat the heat.

Yelagiri Hills and Resorts, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu