SRT Range

From Ghisar, cross a small stream and come up on the left bank; the trail heads mostly south from here, flat to begin with, nothing dramatic. The first settlement is Hirvewasti — open scrub country, not the most exciting section, but a good warm-up. From Hirvewasti the trail enters a beautiful forest, then another ridgeline, reaching Gelgani. From Ghisar to Gelgani is around 3 km with roughly 250 m of gain — gradual, manageable, the kind of start that lets you settle into pace.

From Gelgani, the trail contours roughly 4 km to Bhatti — the base village for Torna Fort.

Most people take the lower road here, at around the 900 m contour. About 100 m above it, at roughly 1000 m, there's a contouring trail the Dhangars still use — a mix of open forest and open scrub that keeps you off the road entirely and brings you all the way to Bhatti. Finding the exit toward Bhatti can be a little tricky, but it's worth trying.

From Bhatti, the real climbing begins. The trail crosses a temple at the start, then climbs a gully from around the 800 m contour up to 1250 m — 450 m of gain in less than 2 km. That's steep, no way around it, and it's a less-hiked route so it may take longer than expected. Don't rush it, don't fight it, just keep moving.

At the main ridge, the trail turns left, heading northeast toward Torna Fort. Up here are the Tornjai Devi Mandir, the Mangjai Devi Temple, and the Torneshwar Mahadev Mandir. Torna isn't a fort to summit and leave — there's a lot of history here. Spend some time if you can.

The descent from Torna follows the northern ridgeline down to Velhe — a completely different experience from the ascent. This is a well-trodden route, and every exposed section has iron railings installed. It's steep, and the lower section has some rolling stones and scree where you might slip a little, but nothing dangerous — where there's exposure, there's a railing. Just watch your footing on the loose rock at the base.

Once at Velhe, the plan is to head north and switch to the next ridgeline. Before that, there's a 10 km road section with about 300 m of gain, all the way to Pabe Khind.

During the mapping expedition, locals stopped us from physically validating the route and informed us that the trails are no longer used, and grass and karvi have completely taken over. So the trail currently runs on the road from Velhe to Pabe Khind. This is a known gap in the route that requires improvement.

From Pabe Khind, this stage's real character begins: three consecutive ridgeline sections, each roughly 11 km, with almost no water between them.

The first ridge section starts gently — a small shrine early on — then settles into terrain where the trail isn't always obvious. Expect bushwhacking through tall grass, 6–7 feet high, well above your head. It's not dangerous, but it's slow, exhausting, and hard on your clothes — wear a full-sleeve shirt and trekking pants.

The ridge itself is rolling rather than a hard sustained climb — about 380 m of gain overall — but it's a "Nepali flat": you're not gaining or losing much net elevation, but a long string of small hills means the cumulative effort adds up. Stay patient.

At the junction where the trail from the Sinhagad ridge meets you, that's your signal to leave the main ridge and descend east to Bhilwadi.

From Bhilwadi, a short walk south leads to Dhangarwadi, a settlement with water. From Dhangarwadi, the trail climbs again up to Mengzai Mata Mandir, then onto the south side of the ridge for a long contouring section — no water here either. This connects to a road pass, then another ridgeline trail section that finally reaches Kus Khind.

Dhangarwadi to Kus Khind is about 12 km with roughly 500 m of gain and 500 m of loss. Combined with the first ridge section from Pabe Khind, that's roughly 22 km with one water stop in the middle. Trail-finding through these two sections is the most challenging part of the entire stage — stay on the GPS track, don't try to shortcut anything, and just keep moving.

The moment you cross Kus Khind, the trail changes completely — no more bushwhacking, no tall grass, no karvi. A clean, open ridgeline with good views in every direction and a trail you can actually see. After the previous two sections, this feels like — and is — a reward.

This third ridge segment is about 11 km with roughly 350 m of gain and 550 m of loss, carrying you down to Nasrapur. It's also part of a trail-running event route, so ribbons are placed along the centre line as markers each year — follow them if you see them.

From Nasrapur, a long road section — about 20 km on the highway heading north to Katraj Ghat, with roughly 330 m of gain. It's a highway, not an enjoyable walk, but it has plenty of hotels, dhabas, and fast food along the way. Use this section with intention: eat well, resupply snacks, refill electrolytes. Think of it as a logistics leg — the section after Katraj demands a lot.

At Katraj Ghat is the Waghjai Mata Mandir, and from here begins one of the region's best-known trails: K2S, Katraj to Sinhagad. 12 km, 800 m of gain, about 700 m of descent. The first peak on this climb out of Katraj Ghat is Zorali Shikhar; six or seven more hills follow after it before Sinhagad. Both endpoints sit at roughly 1000 m altitude, but the cumulative climbing across those hills comes to over 800 m — another Nepali flat, at much higher intensity than the earlier one.

What sets K2S apart is the trail itself: because it's so popular and heavily used by hikers from Pune, it's crystal clear — no navigation stress. This is the one trail on the entire EST where a night hike is worth recommending — but only for experienced hikers with good navigation skills and experience moving through dark terrain.

From the Sinhagad road head, it's 3 km on the road with 300 m of gain to the main gate of Sinhagad Fort (1300 m). Exit through the Konkan Darwaza onto a long ridgeline trail heading mostly south. About 4 km from the fort, you'll hit the same junction passed earlier — the one where the route diverted toward Bhilwadi — and it reconnects here.

Continue south to Winjhar. Fort to Winjhar is 10 km, 800 m of descent, 200 m of gain. Fill up at Sinhagad fort — there's nothing between there and Winjhar.

From Winjhar there are two ways to Gunjavane: a 6 km trail, or a 9 km road. The trail crosses a stream, and whether that crossing is possible depends entirely on that year's monsoon and ground conditions — ask locals at Winjhar what the stream is like before deciding. Unless you have clear confirmation the crossing is safe, lean toward the road. These "roads" are really unpaved tracks with almost no traffic — closer to wide trails than anything resembling a highway.

From Gunjavane, the ascent to Rajgad via the Gunjavane Darwaza route is one of the most beautiful forest sections on the entire trail — open scrub transitioning quickly into dense, lush, tall forest, gaining 500 m in under 3 km. Steep, with rock-cut steps carved into the rock near the top.

The more standard ascent, via Chor Darwaza, was under repair at the time of physical validation of the route and hasn't been reconfirmed since. So Gunjavane Darwaza is the documented EST main line.

Rajgad rewards time: the Brahmeshwar Temple on Balle Kila, the Padmavati Machi, the Suvela Machi, and a needle hole at the far edge of Suvela Machi worth a short detour if you have the energy. Explore what you can.

Heading west through Sanjeevani Machi, exit through an old stone doorway and follow a forest trail west to Bhutonde Khind. From the fort (or Gunjavane Darwaza) to Bhutonde Khind is 3.5 km, losing around 350 m and gaining less than 100. Very well-trodden, clear, open forest throughout — a genuinely pleasant section after all the climbing.

About 10 minutes past Bhutonde Khind is a shepherd camp with water — this is the only water source on the next ridge section. Fill your bottles here; don't assume you'll find anything ahead.

You're now on the Rajgad–Torna ridgeline, a well-known standalone range trek in its own right, moving east to west. From Bhutonde Khind the trail follows the ridge about 4.8 km through open scrub, gaining around 200 m. A huge rock face ahead is the Budhala Machi, part of Torna Fort — since Torna's already been covered, the trail drops southwest along a flat ridge and contours to Barsiwadi. From there it contours at around 850 m to Kanand Khind, a road pass.

Kanand Khind sits less than 2 km south of Bhatti — the same village that was the Torna base at the start of this stage. The route has come almost full circle.

From Kanand Khind, 1 km on the road, then an old contouring trail cuts through dense, beautiful forest back to Gelgani. From Gelgani, the trail follows the ridge top, moves through open scrub, and reaches a small saddle: Baman Khind. There's a water well here — safe to drink — and a small Dhangar settlement connected to nearby Harpur village.

Stay on the main ridge from Baman Khind and continue to Mohari — the end of the stage.