TADA FALLS TREKKING - pakkarent.com

TADA FALLS TREKKING

Tada falls or Ubbalamdugu Falls is in Varadaiah Palem mandal of Chittoor district in India. It is situated on the border of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. It is situated around 95 km from Chennai.

Understand

Tata falls Origin

Get in

Tada is well connected to Chennai via local trains and mofussil buses that head to Chennai from Tirupathi and Nellore.
City Taxi (+918297282979) is another reliable taxi service at Tada.

By bus

Buses are available from Chennai(starting at Koyembedu bustand) SETC bus no.114 drops you till Varadayya palem(the last human sttelement on the way to TADA falls). Varadyya palem is approximately 8 km from the forest dept. check post. Autos are available for travel from Varadayya palem to the check post.

By Train

Trains from Chennai heading to Sullurpeta from Chennai Central pass via Tada. There is a train every two hours and the last train from Tada to Chennai leaves at 8:30 pm.

By Car Or Bike

To reach Tada, Cross the Padi junction in Chennai and take the redhills route and join NH-5. Drive for about 60Kms and you will reach Tada town. Before you reach Tada you will cross the AP checkpost. If you are taking taxis, then you will have to shell out permit tax here (Rs.250 for Indica and Ambassador) and it is pretty high for a Tata Sumo or Tempo Traveller. It might be cost effective to take 2 Indica's compared to a Tata Sumo.
Once you reach Tada, take the left which is right next to the bridge and you will reach Varadiah Palem. Ask the people for directions from here. You have to take a left turn to reach Tada falls and there are absolutely no indications at this point. You can reach this place from Kalahasti too.

Get Around

It was exactly 20 Kms from the Tada to reach the base camp of the Tada falls. Where you can park your vehicles and start trekking. The only way to get around from here is on foot.

Tada forest map

Camping and Trekking

Once you have reached Basecamp the trek begins. The total trek distance would be about 10kms to and from with nearly 4kms in real rocky conditions. From here the mud road begins and if you are on SUV or two wheelers, you can go for another 1km.
Just after 150mts or so, we reached the place where we had to cross a water body. It was just a small stream.
A small word of caution: Don't get excited on seeing the water and get into it with your shoes on. It will become really tough to trek with wet soles.
Once you cross this small stream the walk continues till you reach a mud-path. Just follow this mud-path and you will first go up the hill and then down the hill. It is quite tricky to follow the path as in some places only rocks are seen and there is absolutely nothing to indicate a path.
Keep walking along the mud-path and you will cross another stream. Continue walking on the mud-path and around 30mins later you will reach a Siva Temple. This is the last place where you can sit comfortably and have food, if you haven't had any so far. You can call this BaseCamp 3, if you want to. If you don't reach the Siva temple within an hour and half of starting the trek, then you have lost your way. Use the time tested method of following the stream and proceed.
After this point there is no proper path and you have to rely on the direction shown people who are around the Siva Temple. You have to cross the stream and then look for a path. You will find a small clearing and this might help you on the way forward. From here on, the trek starts to become difficult. You encounter rocks and millipedes on those rocks on the way forward. (Remember to listen for the stream from this point on. This would be very helpful.)
Some of the rocks are pretty big and it would help if someone who is a good trekker is around. You have to climb nearly 10ft at times and some of the formations are also difficult. There should be two falls, but only one is found during peak summer before the rains have started.
The Day is incomplete without a Camera to click the Crystal clear Waters.
The ideal time to visit Tada is between August-December when the sun is a little less intense. The worst time is March-June.

Eat

Commercialization of this place hasn't begun as on date. So, it is still a nice spot for trekking without the usual buzz of people and shops surrounding you. There are small cantees and grocery stores at Tada, where you can buy snacks or water. Locally the falls is called "Ubbalamadugu falls". On the national highway their is Swathi restaurant(A/C) oppsite to SBI ATM and next to TADA police station, were you can find south, north Indian and Chinese dishes.

Drink

You can buy water at Tada and do not forget to fill you bottles from the Stream before making the return journey.

Sleep

Tada is a rapidly growing centre with good hotels and restaurants. Outdoor enthusiasts can stay at Sricity which offers tented camp with outdoor activities like kayaking, cycling etc.

Get Out

Keep around 2:30hrs for the journey back. It will be tiring, so give yourself ample time and also take rest wherever needed. Drinking water becomes a luxury and so you can fill the bottles from the streams. This trek isn't for someone who doesn't enjoy walking on the rocks.
You can take the same way back to reach Tada village from the Tada Falls. There on you can either take a bus, train or cab back to Chennai or Tirupati.

Stay safe