October 9, 2015

My TripAdvisor Review No.128: Kaas Plateau, Satara District, Maharashtra.

“Kingdom of Flowers.”
4 of 5 starsReviewed 8 October 2015NEW
The Kaas Plateau is gaining in popularity as a tourist attraction day by day. In 2012, Unesco recognised Western Ghats (Sahyadri Mountains) of India as a World Heritage Site, and Kaas is one of the 39 sites in the mountain chain that was given this status.

Flowers start blooming on the rocky plateau after the onset of the monsoons from July to early October, and the plateau becomes a riot of colours. You can see purple, yellow, pink and blue flowers spread out as far as the eye can see. The sight is indeed beautiful and mesmerising.

We took a day trip starting at 10 am from Mahabaleshwar and going down the Medha Satara ghat route to Kaas. We reached Kaas at 12 noon, after covering a distance of about 80 km. We did it on a week day because we had already heard that the narrow road near the plateau gets jammed due to the weekend crowds from Mumbai and Pune. The route itself was very scenic affording beautiful views of the hills, valleys and lakes in the hilly areas. Even though there were sparse flowers this year we quite enjoyed the drive.

There are plans to restrict the entry of visitors to the plateau on a daily basis. In future you may have to pre-book your trip through the website maintained by the Forest Department. But as of now you can pay for your entry on arrival, at Rs.10 per visitor and Rs.40 for your car. Once you arrive on the plateau you have to step down and walk past the fenced enclosures to the open areas beyond. People are advised not to litter and trample on the flowers or you may soon have some floral names on the list of the endangered species of living things!

One can easily spend an hour or two walking along the laid out pathways leading into the bushes and small trees, admiring the natural beauty of the flowers and greenery. The Kaas Lake and the nearby hills covered with mist and cloud on a rainy day add to the magical surroundings. All in all it is a place worth visiting at least once, on a weekday in the months of July to October.
Visited September 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC

No comments:

Post a Comment