One Tree Hill Point
Information
Type
Matheran is a well known hill station in India and unique for many aspects such as proximity with Mumbai and Pune, pollution free weather,prohibition of entrance to vehicle and red soil.There are many points which are tourist attractions.One such popular point is One Tree hill point.
The conventional ways of reaching Matheran are either by 9 KM Ghat road from Neral (85 KM from Mumbai and 115 KM from Pune) to Dasturi (Entrance of Matheran where you need to park your vehicle) or by toy train from Neral Railway station (not running in rainy season). These ways are crowded in weekends due to the popularity of Matheran.
There are four non conventional hiking or trekking ways to reach Matheran. First from Chowk end (One Tree hill point trek),second from Karjat end (Garbett point trek),third from Panvel end (Dhodani to Sunset Point trek) and fourth from Umbarne to Matheran near Charlotte lake (Shivaji Ladder).
Location
One Tree hill point is located at the southern side of Matheran.It is far from where you enter Matheran by the conventional routes mentioned (Approx 3 KM).The base village Ambewadi is on the northern bank of Morbe lake.
How to reach
One Tree hill point trek starts at Ambewadi village.You can either ascend from Ambewadi to One Tree hill point or descend in other direction but ascending is easier compared to descending.
In case of ascending,you have to reach Ambewadi village.Ambewadi village (75 KM from Mumbai and 110 KM from Pune)
is a small remote village.You can reach here from Mumbai by road on Mumbai - Panvel -Chowk - Borgaon Vadvihir (left turn from Borgaon) - Ambewadi route.You can reach here from Pune by road on Pune - Lonavala - Khopoli - Chowk - Borgaon Vadvihir (left turn from Borgaon) - Ambewadi route.
If you are traveling by public transport then you have to reach Chowk first.There are 6 seaters (sharing basis) run between chowk to Karjat.You can get down at Borgaon Vadvihir.As there is no regular transport available from Borgaon to Ambewadi (7 KM) you have to wait for any vehicle for Ambewadi.You can also reach Karjat by train from Mumbai or Pune and reach Borgaon by 6 seater from Karjat.There are private auto rickshaws which can take you to Ambewadi from Chowk (12 KM) or from Karjat (13 KM)
The road ends at Ambewadi and the trek starts with the route running parallel to the Morbe lake. Initial half an hour of trek is simple walk on wide soil based path.A paneroma of Irshalgad can be observed in its full stretch from the close proximity in the route.After half an hour of walk, gradual ascend in soil begins and as you move up, the wider view of Morbe lake is visible.The ascending route passes through mostly barren terrain with some bunches of dense tree pockets.As you move up the ascend starts becoming steeper.After half an hour of ascend the peculiar hill of one tree is visible.The steeper route enters in the gorge.After 2 hours from the start of the trek/hike rock patch begins.The narrow rock patch is the steepest of all.It is advisable to move in a single row cautiously on the rock patch.It is necessary on the rock patch that If someone comes from opposite direction then coordinate mutually so that one person can ascend/descend and other person can wait.One hour of rock patch in the gorge takes you to One Tree hill point of Matheran.
Total Ascend/Descend Time -
3 hours 45 minutes (Ascending)/ 3 hours 15 minutes (Descending)
30 minutes -Ambewadi to Start of Ascend and vice-versa
90 minutes (Ascending)/75 minutes (Descending) - Start of Ascend to Start of rock patch and vice versa
60 minutes (Ascending)/ 45 minutes (Descending) - Start of Rock Patch to One Tree hill point and vice versa
45 minutes - One Tree Hill Point to Matheran Railway Station
Places of Interest -
One Tree Hill Point -This is a famous point in Matheran,located at the southern side of Matheran.This point got it's name as 'One Tree Hill Point' due to a tiny hillock separated from Matheran hill having only one clearly visible tree (some bushes).You can watch a spectacular view of Morbe lake and dam,Irshalgad fort,Karnala fort,Prabalgad fort and Chowk side landscape from this point.There is a small garden near this point.
Accommodation -
This trek ends/starts at/from Matheran which is a very popular hill station.There are enough hotels and homestays in Matheran.There are many hiking locations near Karjat.One can stay at Karjat and can visit as many hikes as you can do.There are hotels available in Karjat.
When to visit -
An ideal season of trekking in this region is rainy season where the weather supports trekking or any physical activity and you could see lush green landscape & foggy atmosphere.Trekking can also be done in Winter especially for photography as the spectacular views of valleys, lakes and forts can be clearly captured due to absence of moist & humid weather. Summer season is rarely preferred for this type of trekking.
Experience and Photos
My Experience
I visited this trek with a trekking group on 1 July 2018.I took local train of 6.20 a.m. from Dadar for Karjat.Usually the trains heading towards Karjat early in the morning are crowded in weekends as large number of trekkers travel in the same train for various treks/hikes in Karjat region.Huge number of trekkers boarded at Dadar and I hardly had space to stand.The train kept on filling more and more in the next stations.I reached Karjat on 8.30 a.m.I met some of the trekkers from my group at Karjat.Our group arranged private vehicle for Ambewadi. We reached at Ambewadi on 9 a.m.After the introduction and breakfast & tea,we started our hike on 9.30 a.m.The weather was just like weather required for hiking. There was light rain when we were traveling from Karjat to Ambewadi.The rain stopped when we reached Ambewadi.The majority of road from Borgaon Vadvihir to Ambewadi (7 KM) pass on the bank of Morbe lake which offers picturesque sights of lake at one side and tiny villages & lush green landscape with small hills (including forts like Sondai) at the other end.We started our hike on 9.30 a.m. with simple walk in soil path witnessing beautiful view of Irshalgad and in weather where rain stopped & bright shining Sun playing hide and seek with clouds. We reached at place on 10 a.m.where gradual ascend started.The catchment area of Morbe lake started unfolding as we continued climbing.I was witnessing the beauty of nature while hiking.I saw a rare picture of Irshalgad in front left side and Karnala fort at the back right side in one camera frame which I captured.It looked like two students sitting in a grand classroom of unimaginable length with one student sitting on first bench in left row and other student sitting on last bench in right row. It feels delightful for any trekker when he/she could capture multiple forts in single frame.We reached at small plains on 11.30 a.m. after the climb which got steeper from when we started.We decided to take small break.Due to bright sunshine and clouds,the weather was highly humid and we were sweating.One tree hill is clearly visible from this point.After the water break we resumed on our remaining hike.The route ahead pass through small dense forest.We reached at the base of gorge like structure on 11.50 a.m.This gorge like structure is formed by the Matheran hill and One tree hill.We started climbing rock patch.Fortunately there was no rain and we reached at One tree hill point on 12.50 p.m.We officially reached at Matheran. When we reached at One Tree hill point, strong winds & rain splash welcomed us.We captured a picturesque view of Morbe lake and Irshalgad fort from One Tree hill point when it stopped raining. Due to rain the weather was enthusiastic for hiking and the cool breeze was making it even better.After clicking few selfies and watching beautiful views from point,we had a cup of tea & biscuits at the nearby tea stall.On 1.30 p.m.We started our walk in the Matheran red soil towards restaurant for lunch witnessing the sweet sound of various birds. Most of the good quality restaurants are lunch are available near Railway Station.The walk from One Tree Hill Point to Matheran Railway Station is of 3 KM.The road from One Tree Hill Point to Matheran Railway Station for first 20 minutes pass through a bunch of old style bungalows which are sold or not in use from many years on a lonely path.We saw some people approaching towards One Tree hill point on ponies.Everyone visiting Matheran have to face an unpleasant smell of pony's poop but that is only one thing which you can unnotice or become habitual after some time.As Matheran has a good covering of large number of trees,we never had any problem of shed even in the sunny afternoon.After reaching near Matheran market, we came to know about the amount of crowd on Weekends on Matheran.We reached our restaurant on 2.30 p.m.We had our lunch and headed towards Dasturi for Taxi to Neral.In Rainy Season the railway service is usually inoperative so we walked on tracks to reach Aman Lodge Station (station 2 minutes from Dasturi where all the motorable vehicles are parked and from where taxi service is available to and from Neral.We got our taxi and reached Neral on 4.30 p.m.We then took train from Neral for our homes.There is always rush on Neral Station on Rainy season weekends so you (travelling towards Mumbai) can take Karjat train & travel in opposite direction to Karjat & then towards Mumbai in same train for high probability of getting confirm seat.
Things to Carry
One Day Hikes - A pair of trekking shoes,Haversack,A pair of changing clothes,Water (at least 2 litres),Torch with pair of batteries,Small scissor or knife,Easy snacks,Medical Kit (Electrol Powder + Tablets on Vomiting, dizziness fever,body pain etc +Bandage and instant relief spray or medicine on bruise + cotton piece),Other regular medicines (optional), Napkin, Towel, Handkerchief ,other things which you find necessary.
Multiple Day Hikes - Things mentioned in One Day Hikes +Sleeping Mat or Sleeping Bag,Toothpaste and brush,Ready to cook food packets and tea bags,other things which you find necessary.
Photos -
Some backside / backdrop photos are faint , hence request you to zoom and see.
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| Map of One Tree Hill Point Trek (Click & Zoom) |
Note -
1)You are requested not to litter on or near the fort,temples,sculptures,caves and historical monuments.Please keep the sanctity of our historical heritage.
2) You are requested to avoid listening high pitched volume audios while passing through the forest instead listen the chirping of different birds.
3) Please carry a garbage bag/s with you depending upon the size of group.Carry the garbage with you while descending and throw garbage in dustbins placed in base villages.
4) Walls of caves,temples and other monuments are not right surfaces to showcase your artwork.
Very informative information is provided. This will definitely benefit all the Trekkers...
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