Info:

Type: Hill fort

Height : 1876 feet

Base:Vadgaon village

Difficulty level: Easy to Medium

Time required : 3-3.5 hours

About:

Manikgad is situated on a hill in North Konkan near Chawk and can be seen while travelling on Mumbai - Pune Highway. The fort has couple of water cisterns and remains of settlements and fortification. The fort was used as a watch tower and offers a commanding view from top of that region. Manikgad was built to look upon the trade route from Maval(Pune) to the coastal ports. This fort though looks easy requires high endurance and capacity of the trekker for long walk.This fort is situated near Vashivali (Rasayani MIDC), which is 27 km from Panvel.

This fort was built by Sarkhel Kanhoji Angre , to whom it was ceded in 1718 by Peshavas. The fort is in ruins. There is a big rock-cut cistern on the fort called as "Darya take". There is a small shiva linga and few small rock-cut cisterns. The Ganesh gate is the only standing structure on the fort. There is a circular trench cut in the rock meant for lime mixing. If the sky is clear nearby forts i.e. Karnala, Prabalgad, Chanderi, Malang gad, Irshalgad, Sondai, Lohagad, Visapur, Sankshi are seen.

Itinerary

Meeting Point : Panvel Bus Station at 07:30am

Day 1 : Sunday.

07:30 AM : Panvel Bus Station

09:00 AM : Reach Base village after Breakfast and Tea

Introduction Round

10.00 AM : Start Trek

01.30 PM : Reach Top

Explore the Fort and Lunch (Carried by self)

02.30 PM : Start Descending

05.30 PM : Reach Base Village

06.00 PM : Start our Return Journey

07.00 PM : Reach Panvel Station (Depend on the Traffic)

Local Train time Table

Thane - Panvel (S)

06:19 am Thane

06:27 am Airoli

06:36 am Koparkhairne

06:48 am Nerul

06:55 am Belapur CBD

06:59 am Kharghar

07:10 am Panvel

Train Time Table (Thane to Panvel)

06:19 am Thane

06:48 am Nerul

07:10 am Panvel

Andheri – Vadala Road Slow Local

05:17 am Andheri

05:31 am Bandra

05:42 am Vadala Road

Inclusion

Transport from Panvel to Panvel

Breakfast and Tea

Expertise if any

Cost Excludes:

Mineral water, Any kind of insurance, Soft-drinks etc.

Anything other than above mentioned inclusions.