Gilbert Hill

Gilbert Hill is a sheer-sided monolith of black basalt rising roughly 61 metres from the streets of Andheri West, a rare geological survivor of the Deccan Trap eruptions that covered western India in lava around 66 million years ago. Comparable formations exist only at Devils Tower and Devils Postpile in the United States, which makes this column of columnar basalt one of the most unusual natural features inside any major city. A narrow flight of stone steps cut into the rock leads to a flat summit of about 20,000 square metres, where the small Gaodevi and Durgamata temples stand among a scatter of trees and a modest garden. The summit offers an unexpected panorama across the low-rise sprawl of Andheri, Jogeshwari and, on clear days, towards the Western Express Highway and the hills of Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Declared a national park grade heritage structure by the state in the 1950s and later listed as a Grade II heritage site, the hill has nonetheless been squeezed by quarrying and construction on all sides, and conservation groups continue to campaign for its protection. Almost no international visitors make the trip, so the atmosphere is entirely local, with residents climbing at dawn for temple prayers and neighbourhood children playing on the summit. The climb takes only ten minutes but the stairs are steep and without handrails in places, and the site is best combined with a wider exploration of the western suburbs.