We had a couple of fail attempts to reach Upper Bhavani Dam due to bad weather conditions or work ( Yeha I don’t know how office calls reach even without cell reception) so we set off on a Sunday determined to reach the place.
Upper Bhavani Dam Travel Tip
Upper Bhavani Dam is different from the Avalanche eco safari trip, to be precise this the other end. Public restricted access to this place is via Manjoor – > Thaishola. You would be stopped by police after Korakundah tea factory as they only allow limited tourist each day, please talk your way through.
Once your past this you could drive up to EB guest house and then need to walk down to the Upper Bhavani Dam approx. 1 km downhill.
Our Trip
March 2013
Drive Way : Coimbatore-Karamadai-Geddai-Manjoor-Thaishola-Korakundah-Upper Bhavani Dam (return on same route)
Distance : 260 KM
We started around 6:30 AM to kick start our trip we had tender coconut and kept moving. We took our favorite route Manjoor via Karamadai -> Geddai. Usual routine in this road had to stop at two check post give the details talk for some time and get our way. Once you start up hilling the valley cheered us.
We reached Manjoor around 10:30 AM. Dive did slow down with the numerous stops to enjoy the nature. We had tea, bought some snacks and moved towards Upper Bhavani Dam. Moving forwards wasn’t easy with the picture perfect tea gardens. As we crossed Thaishola we spotted a bunch of Nilgiri langur.
Around 11:30 AM we reached Korakundah and was stopped by police, initially he was not willing to let us move forward. After few mins of talking he advised us not to throw garbage especially plastic and return back quickly.
Reached Upper Bhavani Dam guest house parked the car outside the gate and walked downhill towards the Dam. Oh boy it wasn’t an easy uphill from the dam to car.
While returning we came across a sambar deer barking it was for sure paranoid. People from car before us stopped to let us know that there is a leopard, hard luck we were not able to spot. Reached Coimbatore for dinner.
1. We are planning to reach Upper bhavani dam next week. We are planning to take this route from Karamadai-Mulli-Manjoor-Thaisholla-Upper bhavani dam. Please advise is it possible to reach the destination by the above mentioned route by Swift car? do we allowed to reach Dam by private car?
2. Once we reach the dam,our next plan is to reach ooty by Avalanche route. So please advise weather we are permitted to use this road to reach Ooty. Please reply Asap because we are planning for next week. Thanks a lot in advance.
Hello Naga Rajendran,
Sorry was traveling so couldn’t reply . You might have already done this trip anyways let me fill in with what i know.
Yes Swift is fine. You can drive till the EB guest house and walk down to the dam. You will not be able to drive through.You might be stopped at Thaisholla if its late in the evening.
To reach Ooty you need to drive back to Manjoor and take Yadakadu Rd and onward to ooty, this is a public road. There is one more road going through the reserve forest Upper bhavani to Avalanche which closed for public.
Bro… two wheeler allowed uh????
Yes its allowed but only between 6 AM to 6 PM in the base camp. So don’t start late.