Srinivasa83 (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia CommonsKemmangundi — also called K.R. Hills, after the Mysore Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar who developed it as a summer retreat — sits at around 1,434 m and functions as the natural base for a whole cluster of Chikmagalur sights: Hebbe Falls (10 km), Kalhatti Falls (10 km) and Z Point (5 km) all radiate from here, along with the old Raj Bhavan gardens.
There's no entry fee to the hill station itself, and it's open 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily — worth planning as a full day if you want to genuinely cover the falls and viewpoints around it, rather than a quick stop.
Distance from Chikmagalur
~60–67 km
Entry fee
None
Timings
6:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Nearby
Hebbe Falls, Kalhatti Falls, Z Point
No permit required
Open 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily. Give yourself a full day if you want to genuinely see Hebbe Falls, Kalhatti Falls and Z Point from here — each is its own short trip out and back.
Required documents
Roughly 60–67 km, depending on the exact route, and around a 2-hour drive.
Hebbe Falls, Kalhatti Falls and Z Point are all within about 10 km of Kemmangundi — a full day covers all three comfortably, with Hebbe's earlier 3:00 PM closing worth planning around first.
No, the hill station itself is free to visit, open 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Ridge country outside Chikmagalur, Chikmagalur
Tents on a ridge, with the Ghats for a horizon
A ridge-top campsite with proper tents, a nightly bonfire and a horizon made entirely of Western Ghats — closer to camping than to a resort, and priced like it.
2 guests1 bedrooms1 bathsHomestay
₹1,600 / night
Camp Alpha Chikmagalur suits an early-start day built around the Kemmangundi cluster.
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A 14 km round trip through shola forest and open grassland inside Kudremukh National Park, ending on a ridge with views across the Western Ghats.
September to May — trails turn slippery and leech-heavy during the June–August monsoon
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An 18 km round trip through shola forest to a medieval hilltop fort and a waterfall in the Charmadi Ghats.
Monsoon and post-monsoon, July to December, when the falls are at their fullest
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An 18 km round trip to Karnataka’s second-highest peak, through Shola forest and rolling grassland from the hamlet of Mullodi.
September to May — the Forest Department restricts access during the heaviest monsoon months
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