Kaas Pathar , magnifying spread of the flowers ,a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site.
The spread is so wide at Kaas plateau that it’s looks like a colorful carpet on the valley of Satara.The heights of the flower are hardly 2 feet.Due to the climatic conditions you can even see some small insectivorous plants ,but very hard to notice, so you can get help of any guide available there.
When to visit: It’s based on the rainy season,Once the monsoon ends it stays further 2 weeks. You can plan just after the rainy season is over ,around mid of August till September end. The unique part is that in the same place you can find different flower plants that stays around 2 weeks.Then new plants appears and that cycles continues.
The journey:
Satara is a beautiful hilly district in Maharashtra in the Sahyadri range .The region is fully covered by lush greenery and waterfalls in the monsoon .So,let’s plan to witness the unique biodiversity of this region at Kaas Pathar .
At a distance of 27 KMs from the heart of town Satara , you can plan by public buses travelling to and fro from Satara city bus stand at an interval of time which takes an hour to reach the valley of flower, KaasPathar. Leave earliest by 5.30 from the Satara bus stand to capture some scenic clicks of the hills.
The climbs of the mountains while leaving from the town itself will mesmerize you with the greenery and the smoothly flowing waterfalls through your way.The rocks by the road and the water streams flowing through it will make your journey more memorable.
Feel the glance of a bit of town while going upwards through the gradual inclined road.
Take a breath and enjoy the beauty of the lakes that comes along the way surrounding the Satara hills.
Appearance of color of the hills also get changes on the reflection of the sun light.
On the way you can find few hill side resorts as well .
Arrival to Satara:
If you are planning to travel from Mumbai or Pune,my recommendation is to travel by train as you can experience some of the beautiful train routes in India through the Sahyadri mountain region where you will cross many tunnels.See the countryside of Maharashtra with the farmland of sugarcane.Ultimately travelling by train through the curvy rails surrounded by hills and the water streams is fun and unique.
How to plan for the trip:
Block your time of minimum of 5-6 hours to cover the broad valley of Kaas. Carry some food and water bottle as you have to walk few kms to cover the valley of flower .And also keep a buffer of 1-2 hours to observe the hill side views and the lakes on your way back from Kaas.
At Kaas pathar:
It’s a long walk trail through different entrances to different zones of Kaas Pathar based on the variety of flowers.Try avoiding slippers as some of the part where the terrain is on flat stones and the most of the roads are of gravels and might be sleepary during rainy days.
The grounded flowers are so widely spread at Kaas pathar that you will be lost by looking at its beauty.
Kaas lake is at one side of Kaas Pather that you can view from the plateau .
If you have some buffer time and left with some energy, go few distance ahead on the other of the pathar and get a glance of the huge windmills and the wall like rocky hills .
I was pleased to talk with few local guys explaining how blissful they are residing such an environmentally fresh and pure bio-diversified area .They also talked about the availability of wild animals those generally come out at night at that region of valley.
Being an unique place for research and botanical adventurist at Kaas , you can also meet lots of enthusiastic researchers and volunteers there .
Being an responsible visitor:
Keep this incredible Kaas with its virgin form without disturbing it’s natural habitat by littering of plastics ,or any kind of chemical usages around this region.
Last pic where you printed design on hands is awesome.
Thanks Yogendra!!