Beyond the Workshop

 

 

Yercaud: A Solo Camping and Bicycle Ride

May 1– 3, 2026

This was a solo trip from Bangalore to Yercaud — three quiet days of camping, cycling, and time to myself in the Shevaroy Hills.

Setting Up Camp

I reached the campground in the afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to find it almost empty.

 There was a small tent already pitched at one of the sites, but otherwise the place was silent. No crowds, no noise — exactly what I had hoped for.

I picked a large site, tucked a little way back from the entrance, so it wouldn’t be visible to anyone walking in. The site had enough room for the four-person family tent I’d brought from home — an old one that has been with us for years.

The ground was hard, and I was glad I had packed a heavy hammer along with a tool to start the holes for the plastic pegs. There were trees around the site, giving some shelter from the afternoon sun. The tent has a rain-fly layer that helps keep water out — something I would be grateful for the next day.

Not bad for a 30-year-old tent. I still love the colours and the shape. It has been to many campsites over the years, and it still has many more in it.

I brought over the sleeping bag and pillows from the car and got the inside of the tent ready for the night.

I really liked the rugged, quiet feel of this place. It sits a few hundred feet off the main road, with only a caretaker family living nearby. 

The campsite overlooks the Shevaroy Hills, part of the Eastern Ghats, and sits at around 4,500 feet above sea level. The highest point of these hills is around 5,000 feet.

Day Two: The Bicycle Ride Begins at 6:30 a.m.

The next morning, I started early. By 6:30 a.m., I had parked the car in front of Montfort School, fitted the front wheel of the mountain bike, and set off toward Manjakuttai via Yercaud Lake.

This route is mostly uphill, with a lot of climbing. I had to stop every now and then just to catch my breath. You need more than moderate fitness to cycle in these hills — Yercaud’s highest point sits at 5,000 feet, and the Manjakuttai road keeps climbing for most of the way.

The ride from Yercaud Lake to Manjakuttai is a beautiful one — a smoothly paved road that winds through coffee plantations on both sides, with tall trees forming a canopy overhead for most of the way. If you start early, there is almost no traffic. I saw only one other cyclist the whole way, which surprised me.

By the time I reached Manjakuttai, though, I was more tired than I had expected. The full loop from Yercaud Lake to Cauvery Peak and back via Nagalur is about 32 kilometres, and I had been planning to ride all of it — but I decided to turn back instead. I still wanted to see the rest of the route, so I made a plan to drive it the next day. 

Maybe next time I will build up more endurance, or pick up a pedal-assist bike, and come back to finish the full loop properly.

 

[Insert video: Scenic ride along the route]

 

Back at the Campsite

I rode back all the way to the car, bundled the cycle into it and drove back to the campsite. When I reached my tent, I noticed that someone had moved into the adjacent site — a solo traveller from Bangalore on a motorbike, staying just for the night. I decided to rest inside the tent for the afternoon.

Around 3 p.m., it started raining. The wind picked up quickly, and the tent began to shake. For a few minutes I wasn’t sure how it would hold up, but the aged fabric and the rain fly did their job. The winds eventually died down, and the tent stood firm.

By evening, the sky had turned dark, and a few hours later the power went off across the camp. No lights, just the sound of the wind outside. All part of the adventure.

[Insert photo: Stormy sky over the campsite]

Dinner and New Friends

The caretaker cooked dinner for us and I was hungry. Just as the guy from the adjacent tent and I were about to sit down to eat, three more guys joined in — they were staying in an upstairs room at the caretaker’s place. It turned into a good evening. We didn’t know each other, but we all had something in common: each of us had come up to Yercaud to get away from the big city for a few days. We swapped stories about work, travel, and our reasons for being there.

End of Day

That is what this trip ended up being about. A couple of quiet days away from the rush. A tent in the wilderness. A long ride into the hills. And some unexpected conversation with strangers who, by the end of the evening, didn’t feel like strangers at all.