Sandhan Valley: Maharashtra's Grand Canyon(Valley of Shadows)
A.k.a Valley of Shadows
A.k.a Asia's 2nd biggest Valley
A.k.a The hidden treasure of Maharashtra
A.k.a Valley of Enchantment!!!
Itas trekking, rappelling, water crossing, all of it in a single trek!!!
Sandhan valley, "Maharashtra's Grand Canyon" in the Sahyadri ranges which is a combination of a canyon and a valley. Located in the Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India, near the famous fort Ratangad.
Trek Information:-
Location Address: Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India
Trek Length: About 6 km from the base village (12 KM in Total).
Difficulty: Easy to Medium grade.
Endurance: Moderate
Suitability: Beginners to Professionals!!
Trek Duration:- 8 Hours
Descend- 6 Hours
(Due to Rappling and excitement, photo session, excitement)
Ascend- 2 hours
(Hungry, exhausted and need a place to relax)
Night Camping at Samrad Village:-
Samrad is the base village for Sandhan valley, all the Trek groups stay here in there tent or tents provided by locals. You will be doing stargazing at night, enjoy the nature and chilling cold nights. We have reached around 4 AM as we were driving the whole night and our tent was already set up, we slept. We traveled on our bike to Samrad village from Mumbai.
Wake up call by trek leaders in the morning, got freshen up, and had our snacks (Favourite unlimited Kanda poha and Tea).
Adventurous Trek Begins:-
Small introduction with group and instruction related to trek provided by our trek leader and then trek begins
After a walk of 10 minutes, you will see the board of Sandhan Valley. Everyone takes selfies and photos keep moving ahead.
Rappelling experience of amazing, from the top you can not see the bottom of the valley as it is deep and not straight. It was indeed a thrilling, adventurous, and lifetime experience.
You can see in the video my Happiness and fear at the same time. My friend is constantly encouraging me.
As we were done with our Rappelling and waiting for our Fellow trekkers. We were enjoying its breathtaking view and we get to understand why its called
Valley of Shadows as there was sunlight directly reaching the bottom. As you can see the photos it’s humongous and beautiful at the same time 
Once all the fellow trekkers did with rappelling we started our descend trek to the valley and we were able to witness the beauty of valley and valley was becoming shorter and Rocks size around you is growing and you have to make your path from the huge rocks.
There was a small water cross while descending the trek and the width of the valley was getting shorter and shorter.
I was so curious to know the length of the valley from the top, I reached one of the rock.
Then after half an hour descend and cruising our path through the valley and huge rocks we came across a 4 feet watercross patch and valley width also got shortened to 6-7 feet.
Water crossing through 4 feet cold water was one hell of an experience, you are surrounded by the valley. There was a lot of noise of girls screaming due to the water, kids enjoying the water, and few people enjoying the swimming session. It's the experience one should never miss. Few people ended their journeys there due to the water as they didn't want to get wet but nature and beauty ahead were Unforgettable.
After descending for 1 hour in wet clothes we reached the end of the valley and till then our clothes also dried up. The view at the end of the valley makes you Speechless, you just enjoy the mesmerizing view and you get a feeling of conquered and happiness of joy.
This photo is taken on the last rock you can see at the end of the valley,
it was dangerous but we did that memory.
There are two ways of completing Sandhan Valley trek:-
1.Full descend trek:-
From here descend down to dehene village and from there you can go to Asangaon Railway Station (difficult and need experts to guide you)
2.Back to base village:-
From here, we return to our base village from the same route which we came from.
We took a lot of selfies and photos and then moved back to our base village from the same route. Again we enjoyed the 4 feet water crossing and Valley of shadows.
There are two ways of completing Sandhan Valley trek:-
1.Full descend trek:-
From here descend down to dehene village and from there you can go to Asangaon Railway Station (difficult and need experts to guide you)
2.Back to base village:-
From here, we return to our base village from the same route which we came from.
We chose second and reached our base village from the same route.
It took around 2 hours from the endpoint of the valley to reach the base village. By then everyone was tired had our great meal and left for our Home Sweet Home
Transport -
Those who don’t want to come by any organized trek group and want to explore by themselves.
For Sandhan Valley you will not find public transport. Private vehicles are the best option. Road to Sandhan Valley is not that good & full of turns. the 100 km journey will take 4 hours. I would suggest a Hire driver & travel. You can negotiate with Jeep available at KASARA railway station they will help you reach a samrad base village.
If you are coming by your own vehicles like Bike or Car, my suggestion would reach base Village before Sunset. The roads to the village are not great and it comes under Wildlife sanctuary, you will rarely see people on the road after sunset. There won’t be anyone to help if something goes wrong with the vehicle or you.
It will take around 3 hours to cover the last 100 km so prevention is better.
Note:-
A journey is not comfortable/safe with kids so better to avoid this trek with kids.
Places to Stay:-
There are no hotels or lodges nearby, but homestays through locals are available around Samrad.
If you’d like to not camp overnight, head to a more comfortable hotel stays in Bhandardara, I would suggest try MTDC resort, Bhandardara, or hotels in Bhandardara.
Trek Charges:-
1000 Rupees per head (Travel by selves to the base village)
1400-1500 Rupees per head (Trek Groups)
Generally, Trek Charges Includes:-
1. To and fro- Travel by private bus or Jeep
Pune-Samrad Village-Pune OR
Mumbai-Samrad Village-Mumbai
2. Stay in tents ( tents will be provided on Sharing basis)
3. Breakfast
4. Lunch
5. Rappelling charges
My Ride+Trek Diary:-
12.00 AM-Ride start from Mumbai
2.00 AM-Reached KASARA
2.30 AM- Ghoti Junction turn
4.30 AM- Reached Samrad Village
5.00 AM- After tent setup took some rest in the Tent
7.00 AM -wakeup call
8.00 AM- Breakfast started
8.30 AM- Introduction and instruction for group
9.00 AM- Trek Started
10.00 AM-Rappelling started
11.30 AM-All group rappelling done and proceed the descend
12.30 AM-Huge rock cross and small, small water crossing
1.00 PM-4 feet water crossing
2.00 PM-Reached end of the valley and enjoyed the beautiful and mesmerizing
View
2.20 PM-Return journey started to base village
4.00 PM-Reached base village and had delicious lunch
5.00 PM-Started back to Home journey
7.00 PM-Reached Ghoti junction of igatpuri
9.00 PM-Reached Home Sweet Home
Best Time to visit Sandhan Valley Trek:-
Ideal Time-After Monsoon(October, November)
Open only 8 months (October to June)
Monsoon Closed-due to heavy rainfall and valley gets filled with water
Generally, people don't prefer in Summer season as its more humid and tiresome.
You can also Visit(nearby places):-
1.Ratangad Fort
2.Nane ghat
3.AMK(Alang Malang Kulang) trek
4.Kalsubai trek
5.MTDC Bhandardara
6.Explore Bhandardara
General Trekkers group Detailed Itinerary (Tentative Timings) is as follows:-
01:30 AM - Meet our trek mates at Kasara Staion And move towards the base village in Jeep.
03:30 AM - Reach Base village, and take some rest
05:00 AM - Wake up call, freshen up
05:30 AM - Breakfast/tea to start our day.
06:30 AM - Introduction round, brief on rules and regulations to be followed by everyone on the event
07.00 AM - Start Trek
08.00 AM - Rappeling
09.00 AM - descend start inside the valley
10.00 AM - 4 feet water crossing
11.00 AM - Reach end of Valley
11.20 AM - Return journey to the base village
02.00 PM - Reached the base village
02.30 PM - Freshen up and have delicious lunch
04.00 PM - Head to Mumbai/Pune
If you have any query DM me on following channels and you can also follow me:-
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/chetan.duratkar/
Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/chetanduratkar/
Quora-https://www.quora.com/profile/Chetan-Duratkar-8
Comments
Post a Comment
Share your comment