Kottigehara
The junction town where the plateau ends and Charmadi begins — coffee, cardamom and the last fuel pump.
Kottigehara is a small town on the Chikmagalur–Mangaluru road, at the top of Charmadi Ghat. It is not a sight, it is a hinge: the coffee and cardamom country of Mudigere taluk stops here and the descent to the coast starts. Estates surround it, the roadside sells honey and cardamom, and for anyone driving the ghat it is the practical place to fuel, eat and check whether the road below is open.
What to do here
- Buy estate cardamom, pepper and honey at the roadside
- Fuel up before the ghat descent
- Eat a Malnad breakfast before an early trek start
The staging post for the Charmadi drive and for the ridge treks that start off it.
History
The town grew with the plantation economy of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as the collection point for estates on the upper ghat.
Travel tips
About 60 km from Chikmagalur town. This is the last reliable fuel before the ghat. Ask here about landslide closures — the local shops know before the news does.
Please note
Do: buy spices from the estate stalls rather than the highway resellers. Don't: expect ATMs to be working; carry cash for the ghat side.
Combine your trip
Places near Kottigehara
Jenukallu Gudda
Honey-rock hill — named for the wild hives on its cliffs, and they are still there.
ViewpointCharmadi Ghat
Twenty-five kilometres of hairpins off the plateau to the coast, through the wettest forest in the district.
Amedikallu
The hard one on the Charmadi ridge — steeper than Ettina Bhuja, rockier at the top, and far quieter.
Ballalarayana Durga
A Hoysala hill fort on the Charmadi ridge, reached on foot through shola grassland.