Sindola Fort Trek, Malshej Ghat - Timings, History, Best Time to Visit

At a distance of 13 km from Malshej Ghat, Sindola or Shindola Fort is a small hill fort situated on top of Malshej Ghat Plateau. It is one of the wonderful places of trekking near Pune and among the famous places to visit in Malshej Ghat.

Situated at an altitude of 1128 feet, Sindola mountain is distinct by its pinnacle structure visible from anywhere. Sindola is more of a sort of military base as it offers a whole view of Malshej and the Pargaon region and all of its neighboring forts. Sindola dates back very old at similar times of Nimgiri and Hadsar. Sindola fort is a small fort. Ruins of bastions & only a couple of water cisterns and idols of Ganesh are present on the top.

Sindola is one of the popular trekking places in Malshej Ghat and is a one day trek. There are 3 base villages from where one can start the trek to Sindola Fort. The trek that starts from Karanjale village, is one of the best and popular routes. Bagadwadi at Pargaon is the other starting point of Sindola Fort trek. Karanjale is situated on Kaylan-Malshej-Alephata Highway in between Khubi phata & Velkhind. It is about 2 km from Malshej Ghat Bus Stop at Khubi Phata. The route starts from the fields opposite the signboard of Karanjale village. The 2.5 km trek route is pretty straight forward and easy to moderate climb (monsoon). The route is not marked but is quite distinct as one has to go up and reach Sindola plateau, the start point of the ridge. Climb to the ridge can be started from any side but one will have to go through dense bushes. After climbing the ridge one will reach the spot of Sindola pinnacle. After this, the route traverses towards the left side and reaches a narrow path from where one has to climb up through rock-cut steps at certain intervals. It took nearly 4 hours to go to the fort, explore and then come back.

The Bagadwadi route is recommended if you are going on your vehicle. Reach Bagadwadi via 'Pargaon' village which is around 4-5 km from the base village. From 'Bagadwadi' you can see Sindola fort & its spur. Head towards spur. The ascent from Bagadwadi village is fairly simple compared to Karanjale. One can see the 360-degree view of Malshej, Pimpalgaon Jog Dam and the surrounding plains from the fort.

Timings: 6 AM - 6 PM