Kodanad’s 220 degree view of the Nilgiri Mountains

This is one of the most spectacular places in the Nilgiri Mountains. A 220 degree view is just the icing on the cake.


Kodanad view point is situated about 18 kilometres from Kotagiri, the oldest hill station in the Nilgiris. It should be about 40 kilometres from Ooty.


The locals of the Nilgiris suggest that Kodanad offers much superior views when compared to the one from Dodda Betta near Ooty or any of the view points at Ooty, Coonoor or Kotagiri. And once you reach Kodanad, you will tend to agree with them.


One has to cross waves of tea estates and pine trees to reach the Kodanad view point. In fact, there are 3 different view points at Kodanad and decent infrastructure has been provided to reach all the three of them.


And all three of them provide un-paralleled views of the lower Bhavani Sagar Reservoir, the waves of the Nilgiri ranges, the flat villages below, the Moyar river and the surrounding forest cover.


Unfortunately, for me, I don’t have a wide-angle or a fisheye lens and couldn’t capture the entire panorama, but I did try my level best to capture the misty view in my 17-40 lens.

 
The best time to admire the view here is during sunrise and up to 3 pm in the evening. After 3 pm, the view tends to get misty as it has in the pictures above.


Apart from admiring the view at the three view points here, one can also trek down the hills to the flat below. If you start at sunrise, you can reach the flat below by noon and return by sunset. The return climb can be slightly taxing though.


In fact, one of the more adventurous treks begins here and follows the course of the Moyar river and ends in at the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary. This trek is supposed to take about 3-4 days and is on my ‘TO DO Treks in the Western Ghats’ list.

 
Overall, this is a spectacular place and is a must visit place. So, if you are headed to the Nilgiris, do remember to add this place to your list.