Andara Range

The loop starts on the well-known Lonavala–Bhimashankar trail, which climbs quickly from Kusur onto the plateau — around 700 m up to 950 m, through open scrub and into open forest as you reach the big flat top. The trail is well laid and regularly used, but you still need offline navigation.

From the start you will see a thin tower-like structure in the distance — a repeater tower, and the site of the first Dhangarwadi. Before you reach it you pass through a beautiful open-forest section with some very large trees: open enough underfoot, but a wide canopy overhead.

The trail brings you to a single house belonging to the Dhangar community.

From Dhangarwadi the trail runs south, and in under a kilometre reaches a split. Take the trail east, to your left, and a huge flat plateau opens up.

Ahead is an eight-kilometre stretch that is almost dead flat. There is no water on any of it — this is a ridgeline. You pass the Waghoba Prasanna Mandir, an old stone structure with room inside for about ten people, though it is usually locked.

Keep following the main trail east. You will keep hearing people nearby — three or four Dhangarwadis sit close to the route, not on it. A second repeater tower marks another settlement, and around there your phone should pick up some signal. Pristine forest and open scrub, all of it flat.

Eventually you meet a tar road. This is where you leave the main ridgeline.

Instead of continuing east, the route drops down another broad, mostly flat ridgeline towards Uksan.

A short road section switches you onto the next ridgeline. From Uksan, the plan is Khandshi — about 7.5 km across mostly flat terrain, only around 16 m of gain. Khandshi sits on the north side of the Karla Mountain Range.

From Khandshi, a tricky and little-used trail climbs back onto the plateau — about 250 m in under 2 km, and challenging. Sections are fully covered in karvi with no well-defined trail. Even in the village, very few people still walk this route; it once connected Khandshi with Vihirgaon on the southern side of the plateau. Good navigation will get you up. Expect bushwhacking.

The Karla plateau is, again, enormous. Stay near the centre for the next 7 km. It is mostly flat, there is no water anywhere on it, and the views are excellent — even in summer there is often a steady, pleasant breeze up here. At each saddle you may drop and climb again through forest patches and karvi.

This is one of the most relaxed walks you can do, and it is ideal for beginners — take away the navigation and the physical effort is minimal. The one thing to plan properly is hydration. Sightlines are usually clear, so there is very little animal risk; you simply keep walking.

Eventually you reach a split. One trail goes south to Thakurwadi; the EST turns north to Valvand. The Thakurwadi trail is well marked and clearly laid, and leads on to Lonavala. The Valvand trail is fainter — expect a thinner path.

Turning north to Valvand, you reach a roadhead. Expect faint trails near the settlement, so you may have to work out the final approach — but you will start seeing signs of people living in the landscape again.

From Valvand you are back on the Lonavala–Bhimashankar trail — broader now, and waymarked. After Valvand, follow the orange ribbons and they will bring you back to the same Dhangarwadi. This section, Valvand to Dhangarwadi, is open scrub and mixed open forest, with no water.

Before Dhangarwadi you pass a split towards Dhak Bahiri — skip it for now, the EST covers Dhak Bahiri on a later stage.

At Dhangarwadi you have a choice. You can descend the way you came to Kusur, or — better, and the reason the stage is built as a loop — take the trail down to Bendwadi instead, then road-walk about 3 km back to Kusur. The Bendwadi finish means you do not repeat any ground.

Kusur marks the end of the stage.