Pillar Rocks and the Green Valley road
Kodaikanal · 6 hrs · Cab included · Pickup from your stay
From ₹3000 for the whole vehicle, up to 7 people. The price is per car, not per person.
Vehicles
- Swift Dzire: Sedan. Best for a couple or a small family. ₹3000 for the vehicle.
- 7 seater: For a larger group on a full hill day. ₹4000 for the vehicle.
One road, and the best twelve kilometres in Kodaikanal
West out of Kodaikanal, a single road runs past the lake, the golf course and the pine forest, and keeps climbing to Pillar Rocks, Moir Point and the edge of the Berijam reserve. Almost everything people photograph here is on it.
It is twelve kilometres of tar and it takes most of a day, because it is one lane in places, shared with buses and full of stops that are ten minutes each with parking that is not. Doing it by auto means negotiating at every gate. Doing it on a hired two-wheeler in the mist is worse.
So this is the road done properly: out early enough that Pillar Rocks is still visible, the viewpoints in the order they come rather than doubling back, and the far end at Silent Valley when almost nobody else has bothered to drive that far. The car is yours for the day at one flat price, and the parking at each gate is in it.
Why the road beats the checklist
Pillar Rocks disappears
On a clouded afternoon the three faces are simply not there. Going early is the only way to make the stop worth its ticket.
Six gates, six parking counters
Every viewpoint on this road charges to park. That is in your price, so the only counters you meet are the entry tickets themselves.
The far end is the good end
Most cars turn around at Pillar Rocks. Moir Point and Silent Valley are another few kilometres on, and they are the quietest stops of the day.
Where you'll go
1. Upper Lake View
The first pull-in on the road out, looking back down at the lake and the town you have just left. Two minutes, and it sets the geography straight.
2. Green Valley View
A railed platform with a straight drop below it to the Vaigai plain, and the Palani ranges stacked behind. The old name is grim and the drivers still use it; the view is the reason people come.
Viewpoint entry, where it is collected
3. The golf course and the pine forest
The course sits in shola on the same road and you see it from the fence rather than the fairway. The pine plantation just past it is the one everybody photographs.
4. Guna Caves
A cleft of deep boulder crevices, fenced off since the accidents in the 1990s, so you view it from a walkway rather than climb into it. Ten minutes and a good story.
Entry ticket at the gate
5. Pillar Rocks
Three granite faces standing about 400 feet clear of the slope, with a small garden laid out in front of them. Come before the cloud does, because when it closes in there is nothing to see at all.
Entry ticket at the gate
6. Moir Point and Silent Valley View
The far end of the road, where the tar continues towards the Berijam forest gate. Silent Valley looks over the reserve and is the quietest stop of the day by a distance.
How you get there
About 30 km, out and back on one road
Out to the Berijam gate end and back, with the stops taken in order on the way out. The vehicle, driver, fuel, tolls, driver allowance and parking are one flat price for the car. Entry tickets are bought at each gate, and a local guide is available if you want one.
- Pickup: Your stay anywhere in Kodaikanal at 8:30 am
- Vehicle: Swift Dzire up to 4, or a 7 seater, with driver
- Drive: About 30 km, out and back on a single hill road
- Walking: Short walks from the parking at each viewpoint
- Drop: Back at your stay by about 2:30 pm
The road, in order
8:30 am: Pickup
Out past the lake before the road fills up.
8:50 am: Upper Lake View and Green Valley View
The look back at town, then the drop to the plain. About 45 minutes.
9:45 am: Golf course and pine forest
Two short stops on the same stretch.
10:30 am: Guna Caves
The walkway above the crevices. About 20 minutes.
11:15 am: Pillar Rocks
The three faces and the garden in front, before the cloud. About an hour.
12:30 pm: Moir Point and Silent Valley View
The far end, towards the Berijam gate. About 45 minutes.
2:30 pm: Drop
Back at your stay, after lunch on the way in.
In your price
- Private vehicle with driver for the full day
- Pickup and drop at your stay in Kodaikanal
- Fuel, tolls, driver allowance and parking at every viewpoint
- The far end of the road, not just the stops everyone turns around at
- GoExplorer support number for the day
Not included
- Entry tickets at the viewpoints and caves
- The optional local guide
- Meals
- Anything personal
What you pay on the day
- Entry tickets at Green Valley View, Guna Caves and Pillar Rocks
- A local guide for the day, ₹1,000, optional and arranged on request
- Lunch and anything personal
Who this suits
Anyone. Every stop is a short walk from where the car parks and none of it is a trek, which makes this the easier of our two Kodaikanal days for older travellers and small children. The sedan seats four and the larger vehicle seats seven, each at one flat price for the car.
What to bring
A windproof layer, the viewpoints on this road are exposed. Sun protection, water, and cash for the entry gates.
Cloud on the viewpoints
This road clouds over from late morning through much of the year, which is why the day starts when it does and takes the stops in this order. Cloud is not a cancellation. If the road is closed after heavy rain you get a full refund or a free reschedule.
Cancellation
- More than 24 hrs before: Full refund
- Within 24 hrs: 50% refund, or reschedule free once
- No show: No refund
Safety and the operator
Run by a licensed local ground operator, one driver per vehicle, commercially registered and insured. Guna Caves is fenced and entering the crevices is prohibited, for good reason. The viewpoint platforms are railed and the drops behind them are not.
Questions
Is the price per person?
No. ₹3,000 for the sedan and ₹4,000 for the 7 seater, for the car and driver for the whole day, however many of you ride in it.
Can we go on to Berijam Lake?
Not on this booking. Berijam sits past a forest gate with a daily permit cap and its own timings, and we would rather not sell you a stop that a checkpost can refuse.
Do we need the guide?
No, and most people do not take it. If you want one for the day the local rate is ₹1,000, paid on the day, and we will arrange it if you ask when you book.
Can we combine this with Coaker's Walk?
Only in a rush. Coaker's Walk needs an early start of its own to beat the mist, so we keep the two as separate days rather than doing both badly.