Kanheri Caves Forest Trail from Gaimukh

The Kanheri Caves Forest Trail runs about 11 km point to point across the northern hills of Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai, starting at the Gaimukh entry point on Ghodbunder Road on the Thane side and finishing at the ancient Kanheri Caves near the park's Borivali gate. Hikers typically reach the Gaimukh trailhead by train to Thane followed by a bus or auto-rickshaw, and exit either on foot or by the park's internal shuttle bus from the caves to the Borivali gate. The route climbs gradually across a series of rolling forest ridges to around 300 m before reaching the plateau on which the rock-cut Kanheri Caves stand, with a moderate but sustained elevation gain rather than any single steep pitch, and no technical scrambling or exposure. Underfoot is a mix of packed earth, loose stone, and occasional rock slabs, largely shaded by dense forest canopy for the first several kilometres before opening onto scrubbier ground near the caves. There are no food or water stalls along the forest section, so the 5-6 hour crossing calls for hikers to be self-sufficient; the caves themselves, carved into a basalt outcrop between the second century BCE and ninth century CE, are the main landmark and a natural turn-around or rest point roughly two-thirds of the way through the route. Shorter options exist for hikers who want to sample only part of the trail, entering from either end and turning back partway, since the full point-to-point crossing requires arranging transport at both ends. Mobile signal is patchy in the deeper forest sections, so an offline map or GPS track is useful for staying on the correct ridge line, particularly where side paths made by wildlife or local villagers cross the main route.