Why this ride
On the way it passes Rajgad, Raigad, Lohagad and back through Raigad. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pratapgad and Lohagad
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 835 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 14 h 25
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pratapgad
Pratapgad stands on a spur of the Sahyadri, the Western Ghats, about twenty kilometres from the hill station of Mahabaleshwar, guarding the old route between the Deccan plateau and the Konkan coast. Shivaji, founder of the Maratha state, had the fort built in the 1650s, and in 1659 it was the scene of the most famous episode of his life. Afzal Khan, a general of the Bijapur Sultanate, came with a large army to crush him, and the two met for a parley below the fort. Accounts differ on who struck first, but Shivaji, wearing armour under his clothes and the wagh nakh, a claw-shaped weapon, on his hand, killed Afzal Khan, and his troops hidden in the forest routed the Bijapuri army. The story is told across Maharashtra with immense pride, and Afzal Khan's tomb lies below the fort.
Read the complete Pratapgad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pratapgad is where the day begins. Next is Rajgad.
2. Rajgad
In the folded hills of the Sahyadri, south-west of Pune, a great flat-topped mountain rises above the valleys with sheer cliffs on all sides and walls running along its crest. This is Rajgad, the king's fort, and for about twenty-five years in the seventeenth century it was the capital of Shivaji, the Maratha warrior king who carved out an independent kingdom against the Mughal Empire and the sultanates of the Deccan. It is one of the most revered places in Maharashtra, and climbing it is something of a pilgrimage.
Read the complete Rajgad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rajgad comes up about 133 km into the recorded legs. Next is Raigad.
3. Raigad
Raigad is a flat-topped mountain in the Sahyadri, the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, with cliffs falling away on almost every side, and it was chosen by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as the capital of the Maratha kingdom. In 1674 he was crowned here, a ceremony that announced the Marathas as a sovereign power in the face of the Mughal empire, and the fort became the political heart of the young state. Today the summit holds the ruins of the palace, the market street with its rows of stone shop plinths, water tanks cut into the rock, and Shivaji's samadhi, which draws a steady stream of visitors who come as pilgrims rather than tourists.
Read the complete Raigad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 225 km into the recorded legs you reach Raigad. Next is Lohagad.
4. Lohagad
In the monsoon, Lohagad disappears into the clouds and reappears, drenched and green, with waterfalls pouring off every ledge. This hill fort stands on a ridge of the Western Ghats a short distance from Lonavla, between Mumbai and Pune, and its walls and gateways crown a basalt plateau a few hundred metres above the surrounding valleys. Its name means iron fort, and it is one of the forts associated with the Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji, which in 2025 were grouped together on the UNESCO list as the Maratha Military Landscapes.
Read the complete Lohagad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lohagad, about halfway. Next is back through Raigad.
5. back through Raigad
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Raigad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Raigad sits at 556 km, about halfway. Next is back through Rajgad.
6. back through Rajgad
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rajgad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Rajgad comes up about 702 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pratapgad.
7. Pratapgad
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pratapgad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pratapgad closes the day.
Leg by leg
Pratapgad to Rajgad
Pratapgad → Rajgad is 133 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rajgad to Raigad
Rajgad → Raigad is 92 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Raigad to Lohagad
Raigad → Lohagad is 192 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Lohagad to back through Raigad
Lohagad → back through Raigad is 192 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Raigad to back through Rajgad
back through Raigad → back through Rajgad is 92 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Rajgad to Pratapgad
back through Rajgad → Pratapgad is 133 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Raigad and Pratapgad · 166 km
- Rajgad and Pratapgad · 166 km