Kaas Plateau – Valley Of Flowers | Travel And Trekking

Kaas Plateau – Valley Of Flowers | Travel And Trekking

Kaas Plateau or Kaas Pathar as locally said, is a UNESCO world heritage site near the scenic town of Satara. Often called as the Valley of Flowers of Maharastra, it is of volcanic origin with a rich bio-diversity full of spectacular natural beauty spots. Every year, during the post-monsoon months of August to September, the plateau comes alive with millions of wild flower blooms that turns its landscape, a dreamy place to be. Donning hues of every color, the plateau turns into a intricately woven myriad making its diverse blooms of flowers a treat for the sore eyes.

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Till a couple of years back being a secluded place, Kaas Plateau was an not well known in the map of must visit places in Maharastra. But with the ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site’ tag, it has rose higher up in the list as the most popular places among the tourists from all over Maharashtra and beyond. Being a eco-sensitive restricted area there are no public transport facilities available,yet. But if you are planning to visit Kaas Plateau during the peak time of Monsoon, you will have to reach there by your own private vehicles.

Keep in mind that, entries into Kaas protected zone is restricted and capped to 3000 visitors per day. Also online pre-registration of your vehicle details with details of no of persons visiting is mandatory, before visiting the plateau. One can do so by registering their vehicle details and paying a nominal amount of Rs 100 per person on Kaas Plateau regulatory authority’s official website www.kas.ind.in. Photography fee is extra Rs 100 per camera.

There are a total of 2500 different varieties of flowering plants, most of them growing only few inches high. Off recently to minimize human disruption and to deter people from stomping, the entire wildflower zone on the Kaas Pathar is now fenced. There are now designated pathways on either side of the road traversing the plateau. Visitors may enjoy spending as much time as they like amids the spectacular landscape of the flower filled valley. Since there are chances of insect bite and possibilities of snakes in the region, it is advisable to wear comfortable shoes and good full length trousers.

flowers in Kas pathar3

Pc: Saurabh Chatterji

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flowers in Kas pathar4

Pc: Saurabh Chatterji

flowers in Kas pathar

Pc: Saurabh Chatterji

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Kaas Plateau_1

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During the weekends, Kaas Plateau witness higher footfall of visitors than during the weekdays, so finding a parking space can get bit difficult. For visitor’s there are two designated parking area .Every visitors, may then have to park their vehicle there, which is at a distance of about 4km away from the Kaas Plateau. There are few public bus plying every 15 minutes taking visitors from these parking area till the flower zone. It takes a 10 minutes ride to reach there. Another option is to park vehicles near the Kaas Lake which is about 3km below the Kaas Pathar flower zone. From that parking area a uphill brisk walk of 15 minutes will take you to the flower zone.

flowers in Kas pathar5

Pc: Saurabh Chatterji

Things to do around Kaas Plateau

1. Kaas Lake ( located at 3 km downhill from the Kaas Plateau)
2. Yavateshwar Temple(located on the Kaas Road)
3. Thoseghar Waterfalls 22kms from Kaas Plateau)
4. Bamnoli ferry ride ( Located at 12 km from the Kaas Plateau)
5. Vasota Fort (to be accessed from Bamnoli)
6. Tapola : Mini Kashmir of Maharashtra

Tips for Kaas Plateau

Do online booking: This year onwards it’s essential to do online booking and then go. The fee is Rs 100 for Saturday, Sunday and all government holidays and Rs 50 for other days. Kaas is opening from 10th August, and online bookings starts a day in advance.

Reach early in the morning as there is so much to see and there is also quite a bit of walking. Plus reaching early will also ensure that you will get a good parking spot. I believe it opens at 9am for visitors.

Carry lots of water as you will get tired due to constant walking around the fences.

Go with a naturalist who knows the place well, if possible. Else, could buy a book at the ticket counter to know more about the place.

Good walking shoes are essential as there is quite a lot of walking to be done.

Carry a rain jacket or an umbrella: Since the plateau remains open only during the monsoon, rains are very common. So its advisable to carry a good umbrella and a rain cover for your camera and your mobile phone.

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How To Reach Satara

How to reach Satara from Mumbai and Pune

The town of Satara is at a distance of around 256 kms from Mumbai and around 115 kms from the magestic Pune city. Satara is well connected with superb network of railroads and roadways from both Mumbai and Pune.

From Mumbai, the great choices of trains are Mahalaxmi Express (8:23 PM), Tirunelveli Express (9:30 PM) and BGKT SBC Express (11:45) with the objective that you can reach Satara early morning. Otherwise, you can take a road transport bus from Mumbai to reach Satara, if you prefer bus journey over the rail. For train bookings visit IRCTC.

From Pune, you can catch early morning trains Maharashtra Express (4:50 AM), GKP LTT Express (4:50 AM) and All MYS Express (4:20 AM) to reach Satara. Additionally, regular buses do ply between the two cities.

In the case of going from Pune, it would be recommended to lease a motorbike to reach Satara,which may hardly take 2 hours.

Google Distance Map to reach Satara from Mumbai : 268 kms

Google Distance Map to reach Satara from Pune : 113 kms

How to reach Satara from Bangalore

There are many options of Buses and trains available to reach Satara town. You may book a pvt Ac volvo bus from Bangalore Magestic bus station and alight at Satara. Or otherwise the train Humsafar Exp or Jodhpur Express or Chalukya Express may fit your bill to reach Satara comfortably.

Google Distance map to reach Satara from Bangalore Magestic BS : 756kms

Where to Stay

There are only a handful of hotels and homestays available near Kaas Plateau (within 5 kms), hence one should book well in advance. Alternatively, there are many hotels in Satara which is approximately a 45 mins drive from Kaas Plateau.

Below is the list of hotels near Kaas Plateau ( within 5 kms ):

1. Kaas Pathar Village Resort and Kaas Hotel (3.7 km from Kaas Plateau)
2. Hotel Kaas Pathar Lake View (3.6 km from Kaas Plateau)
3. Kaas Holiday Resort (3.3 kms from Kaas Plateau)
4. Hotel Sahyadri Pushpa (3.8 kms from Kaas Plateau)
5. Nature Plateau Paradise (1.2 kms from Kaas Plateau)

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