Udaipur sits in the foothills of Aravali Mountain Range that goes all the way from South Rajasthan to Gurgaon in North. Also called the city of lakes, it offers some great escapes not too far from the city. I’ve been cycling in Udaipur for about two years and exploring new routes always keeps me hooked on mountain biking in this region.
This article is an attempt to collate some great cycle routes around the city that I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying. I usually try to stay off highways and the city traffic. All of these destinations have an embedded Strava activity that you can browse for route and geographic location. The activities usually also have some pictures from the route to give you some estimate of maybe the ambience. I would suggest riding early in the mornings and beginning your rides right before sunrise for the best weather. All of these routes are best suited for a mountain bike.
Nandeshwar and Chokadiya
~40 km
Nandeshwar is a Shiv Temple with a lake nearby. There’s a calm paved road that goes around the Nandeshwar Lake to the neighbouring village of Chokadiya that makes for a great ride.
Dhar and Madar Lakes
70 km
The route offers 5 lakes (Pichola, Fateh Sagar, Badi, Chota Madar and Bada Madar). There’s a sizable portion of the route that isn’t paved, particularly the portion near Dhar and around Bada Madar lake. This is one of my favorite routes around the city. It also includes a descent on National Highway which might take you to speeds upto 70 kmph on your way back
Dei Mata
55 km
A short clip from our exploratory ride through the Aravali Forests in Udaipur pic.twitter.com/3RR4t6swEB
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South of Udaipur has a dense forest cover in the form of Kevra Forest. The route begins from the State Highway from Udaipur to Salumbar/Jaisamand and with a 150m descent and then a sharp turn from Oda to Babarmala Pink Marble Mines. This isn’t a paved path and required us to walk a little in the forest to reach the village of Dei Mata. Dei Mata village is named after a temple of the same name with a hot spring(!) pond. The village is connected to a National Highway which will take you back to Udaipur
Barwasan and Madarda Lakes
70 km
Barwasan and Madarda lakes are situated north of the National Highway connecting Udaipur to Gogunda. Dr Iyengar called this ride aptly called this ride “Four lakes: drying, dried, almost gone…” as we did this route with close to 22 cyclists all part of Udaipur Cycling Club
Jarga Temple
85 km (started from Iswal)
We started in the from our homes around 4 AM on a cold winter night. We parked our car and started the ride from Iswal towards Kumbhalgarh. Lots of cycling tour companies include cycling tours to Kumbhalgarh however we turned towards Jarga Temple somewhere in the route. Most of my cycling is approximately knowing what might lay ahead and then making wrong turns. Jarga Temple is one of the highest points in Rajasthan at close to 1100m, I think there are two temples located on the either side of the summit that are at an altitude of 900m themselves.
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