Dudhsagar Waterfalls

Type: Waterfall
Area: Inside Mahavir Sanctuary Goa-Karnataka Border
Base Village: Dudhsagar
Best time to visit: Monsoom
Time visited: July 2012
About: Dudhsagar falls lie high up in the Mandovi River's watershed and
during the monsoon season the falls are
transformed into one of the most powerful falls in India. The water plummets
hundreds of feet in large volumes during
the monsoon season, forming one of the most spectacular natural
phenomena in Goa. It is a major part of the Goa
ecosystem. This is a four tiered waterfall with a total height of 310 metres
(1017 feet) and an average width of 30
metres (100 feet) and is 5th tallest waterfall in India.
Way to reach from Pune:
The waterfall is located between Castlerock and Kulem railway stations.
Option1- Kulem: Travel to Kulem Railway Station by Goa Express which stops
at Kulem at around 5AM in the morning.
Its 12 KM- hike from Kulem to Doodhsagar. This is most exciting walk as you
get a view of complete waterfalls and
famous snapshot of railway chunking down across the waterfall. Travel back
to Kulem and board return Goa Express to
Pune at 4PM. Travelling back is pain and but you can request and board some
freight trains and travel back to Kulem.
Option 2- Castlerock: Travel by Goa Express and alight at Castlerock station
at around 3 am in the morning. It 17-18
kms walk from Castle Rock to Doodhsagar. I did see lot of them coming this
way but unfortunately this missed the
wonderful full view of the waterfall.
Option 3- Dudhsagar: Alternatively get down a Dudhsagar Station. Note this
is not a passenger Railway all trains
might not stop here. But I did see Goa Express and Poorna Express taking a
halt for a minute. Poorna Express comes
at around 11.30 AM. Walk back 3-4 kms to get a full view of the waterfalls.
You can board Goa Express at 4PM.
Important tips
1. Theres heavy rush in the monsoons. So travelling without a confirmed
ticket is bad idea. You would not get
even standing space in general bogeys.
2. Most preferred way for picnickers is probably travelling by Poorna and
boarding back goa express both at
Doodhsagar. We could see hundreds of people alighting from Poorna Express
at 11.30 who boarded Goa

express back at 4pm. Then again a lot of the board from Castlerock . Lot of
people change trains at Belgaum.
So till Belgaum the trains are packed and theres hardly an inch to move.
Ideally boarding a train from kulem
would be safest option.
3. There are chances of leech if you are walking. Apply Tobacco water of
Diesel to keep leeches away.
4. There is hardly any space to get in the waterfall to bathing and is very
very risky and this should really be
avoided. There are couple of waterfalls on the way too if bathing does
matter:)
5. There is only one vendor who sells some food items including hot tea near
the waterfall. So it would be good
idea to carry own food and water.
6. At some places there is small pathway beside the tracks but where the
path doesnt exist it is slightly difficult to
walk on the tracks. The stone do hurt and it would be good idea that you
shoes have thick and strong soles
Ideally avoid walking on tracks!
7. It you get a ride in freight train on return journey believe me its highly
bumpy and jerky. You would thankfully
realize what shock absorbers means for a normal train.
8. There are 6 tunnels on the way. Carry a torch. Avoid a tunnel when train is
passing through it. Its extremely
deafening!
Kulem station is pretty small and the only vendor had Bhopla-Puri
and hot tea. After the snacks we had introduction and warm-up
session. Note the 50/700 milestone. The Dudhsagar milestone is
at about 38.