Yercaud – King of Eastern Ghats
Yercaud is small quite hill station in Tamilnadu. I had heard lot about this place and it was in my bucket list for quite a long time. The town’s name is derived from the lake located at its center – in Tamil Yeri Means Lake and Kaadu means forest. Scenically, Yercaud is as enchanting and picturesque as the hill stations on the Western ghats.
Last weekend I managed to travel Yercaud with Vijay & Gaurav. It was last moment plan so we didn’t get chance to book bus tickets or hotels/resorts. This time we decided to just start the journey and see how its goes.
Yercaud is 222 km from Bangalore. I didn’t see any direct buses, however there are many Volvo bus services & train from Bangalore to Salem. And then from Salem you can take another bus for Yercaud which is 30 km.
Bangalore -> Hosur -> Salem -> Yercaud
We took 3 buses to reach Yercaud. Till Salem , weather was hot and humid. The 30 km uphill drive from Salem took 1 hr. When we started riding up to the hill, suddenly weather got changed, it became pleasant & chilly. You will have to also negotiate 20 hair pin bends that offer panoramic views of the hills and valleys.
Reached Yercaud around 3 pm & left the bus near yercaud lake. After taking tea and sandwiches we started looking for hotel/resorts to stay. Yercaud is very small town and most of the hotels are located near the lake or bus stand. We tried Tamilnadu Hotel, GRT, Golden Nest, Lake view hotel but all hotels were fully booked. Finally managed to get Hotel Shevaroy. The rest of day we spent walking around the town.
Next morning I woke up early and didn’t want to miss morning walk around the town and hill. It was pleasant walk and best time to explore the town.
After heavy breakfast, it was time for visiting all the attractions. Some negotiation we managed to get one auto. Who earlier agreed to take 500 and cover all the places but at the end he was asking for 150 rs more.
Attraction
Yercaud Lake and Boat House
As you will enter in the town the first thing you will see is the Yercaud lake. Certainly it’s the main attraction of Yercaud. Its rain water lake and picturesque surrounded by gardens and well wooded trees. It has one boat house, where you can hire paddle boats, row boats.
Pagoda Point
Pagoda point is 4.5 km from town and another vantage view point in yercaud. coffee plantations. Pagoda point is also known as Pyramid Point. The name comes from the hill tribes having made four piles of random stones in a Pagoda or Pyramid formation reportedly to mark some event. There is a Rama Temple which lies between these Pagodas.
Yercaud is characterized by pleasant weather all through the year and thus making it an all weather all season weekend Getaway. You do a bit of walking, trekking and visiting view points around enjoying good climate and green surroundings. One thing which worries me is commercialization there. So many new resorts coming up, its getting crowded.
Before visiting Yercaud, as usual I was reading few travel books and travelogue. Most of them referred Yercaud as poor man’s ooty, cheapest hill station. But after visiting Yercaud I feel labeling it poor or cheap would be insulting. Its so rich in its natural charm and pleasant weather. On a lighter note the resorts & hotels in Yercaud are not cleap (so why call its less expensive hill station), I found some of the resorts and luxury villas, cottages are so expensive. But off course there are many options available for stay.
2 days was enough for us. Evening we took bus for Salem and then from Salem another bus to reach Hosur (we didnt wait for direct bus for bangalore). When we took that bus I was happy to know that bus is direct, point to point and will take 3:30 hrs to reach.It means it will start from Salem and without any stoppage, direct Hosur (It was written as well in the bus and the bus conductor was keep calling people mentioning the same).However it didnt happen, bus stopped in Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and one or two more places.I guess everything works that way.
Last weekend I managed to travel Yercaud with Vijay & Gaurav. It was last moment plan so we didn’t get chance to book bus tickets or hotels/resorts. This time we decided to just start the journey and see how its goes.
Yercaud is 222 km from Bangalore. I didn’t see any direct buses, however there are many Volvo bus services & train from Bangalore to Salem. And then from Salem you can take another bus for Yercaud which is 30 km.
Bangalore -> Hosur -> Salem -> Yercaud
We took 3 buses to reach Yercaud. Till Salem , weather was hot and humid. The 30 km uphill drive from Salem took 1 hr. When we started riding up to the hill, suddenly weather got changed, it became pleasant & chilly. You will have to also negotiate 20 hair pin bends that offer panoramic views of the hills and valleys.
Reached Yercaud around 3 pm & left the bus near yercaud lake. After taking tea and sandwiches we started looking for hotel/resorts to stay. Yercaud is very small town and most of the hotels are located near the lake or bus stand. We tried Tamilnadu Hotel, GRT, Golden Nest, Lake view hotel but all hotels were fully booked. Finally managed to get Hotel Shevaroy. The rest of day we spent walking around the town.
Next morning I woke up early and didn’t want to miss morning walk around the town and hill. It was pleasant walk and best time to explore the town.
After heavy breakfast, it was time for visiting all the attractions. Some negotiation we managed to get one auto. Who earlier agreed to take 500 and cover all the places but at the end he was asking for 150 rs more.
Attraction
Yercaud Lake and Boat House
As you will enter in the town the first thing you will see is the Yercaud lake. Certainly it’s the main attraction of Yercaud. Its rain water lake and picturesque surrounded by gardens and well wooded trees. It has one boat house, where you can hire paddle boats, row boats.
Pagoda Point
Pagoda point is 4.5 km from town and another vantage view point in yercaud. coffee plantations. Pagoda point is also known as Pyramid Point. The name comes from the hill tribes having made four piles of random stones in a Pagoda or Pyramid formation reportedly to mark some event. There is a Rama Temple which lies between these Pagodas.
Killiyur Fall
Kiliyur Falls is 3km from town. The surplus water from the Yercaud Lake and the other reaches of the Shevaroys Hills fall deep into the Kiliyur Valley. I heard that its 300 feet fall and views from the bottom is breathtaking. But I didn’t see like that may be because it was not the right time to visit that fall with less water. You can also trek to the bottom of the fall. The surroundings is great and heavily wooded.
Kiliyur Falls is 3km from town. The surplus water from the Yercaud Lake and the other reaches of the Shevaroys Hills fall deep into the Kiliyur Valley. I heard that its 300 feet fall and views from the bottom is breathtaking. But I didn’t see like that may be because it was not the right time to visit that fall with less water. You can also trek to the bottom of the fall. The surroundings is great and heavily wooded.
Lady’s Seat, Gent’s Seat & Children’s Seat.
These are another vantage points, 2km from town.Cluster of Rocks over looking the ghat road and the town of Salem. There is a natural rock formation in the form of a seat where reportedly a white English Lady of yester years spent her evenings viewing the magnificent panorama before ones eyes. Near children’s seat there is one botanical garden, good place for picnic.
These are another vantage points, 2km from town.Cluster of Rocks over looking the ghat road and the town of Salem. There is a natural rock formation in the form of a seat where reportedly a white English Lady of yester years spent her evenings viewing the magnificent panorama before ones eyes. Near children’s seat there is one botanical garden, good place for picnic.
Before visiting Yercaud, as usual I was reading few travel books and travelogue. Most of them referred Yercaud as poor man’s ooty, cheapest hill station. But after visiting Yercaud I feel labeling it poor or cheap would be insulting. Its so rich in its natural charm and pleasant weather. On a lighter note the resorts & hotels in Yercaud are not cleap (so why call its less expensive hill station), I found some of the resorts and luxury villas, cottages are so expensive. But off course there are many options available for stay.
2 days was enough for us. Evening we took bus for Salem and then from Salem another bus to reach Hosur (we didnt wait for direct bus for bangalore). When we took that bus I was happy to know that bus is direct, point to point and will take 3:30 hrs to reach.It means it will start from Salem and without any stoppage, direct Hosur (It was written as well in the bus and the bus conductor was keep calling people mentioning the same).However it didnt happen, bus stopped in Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and one or two more places.I guess everything works that way.
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