If you want to visit the beautiful Abbey Falls, you must come to Karnataka’s Kodagu district. Located at about 268km from Bangalore and 8km from Madikeri, Abbey Falls is nicely nestled within the Western Ghats.

Atop the mountains of Western Ghats, many streams accumulate and fall down with great speed creating beautiful crevices and ravines as they flow through. The speed is fiercer during the monsoon season, when water gushes down the peaks. The brown shades of the mountain, milky white color of water and the mist-covered blue clouds make for a pretty scene indeed. The water eventually flows in the Kaveri River. During summers, the flow of water is very minimal. Tourists must be careful of dangerous leeches that are found inside the water.

Situated in the midst of aromatic coffee and spice plantations, huge canopy of green trees and pepper vines, Abbey Falls, is one of the most sought after tourist destinations by people who come to the state. Tourists can make use of the hanging bridge that has been constructed just opposite to the falls. The two sides of the bridge are covered by a Kali Mata temple and plantations of coffee and pepper.

Specialty

Abbey Falls flows down from a height of 70 feet and is easily accessible as it just about 8km from Madikeri. Located within the comfortable confines of lush coffee plantations, this place can be reached through a footpath located at 300m from the coffee estate. The hanging bridge located right opposite the waterfalls, is a perfect place to get awesome pictures of the Abbey Falls. If you stand on the bridge, you will experience frequent spraying of water across your face. While monsoon seasons witness dense flow of water, the dry seasons witness either very thin or no flow at all. Once you go on top of the mountain, you will see that apart from the main Abbey Falls, there are other small falls too, which you cannot see from the ground.

Even during dry seasons, the place has a unique charm of its own. The water at the base of the falls is quite dangerous to enter into. Officials advise tourists to refrain from jumping into the water, even when the water flow is light. The current of water here is quite high which has resulted in many fatal accidents in the last few years. Tourists coming by own vehicles can make use of the paid parking area service near the main entrance gate.

Best Time to Visit

If you want to visit this place when the flow of water is at its full form, the months between July and October, are the best time. During the other months, the flow is not so dense and during summer, one can hardly witness any flow here. The Abbey Falls is open from 9 in the morning to 4.30 in the evening.

Entry Tickets

People need to pay an entry fee of 15 INR for coming to this place.

The parking fee varies between 10 and 50 INR, based on the vehicle type.

How to Reach

The nearest town of Madikeri (8km from Abbey Falls) is about 250km far from the Bangalore International Airport and 130km from the nearest airport of Mangalore.

A narrow road along the coffee estate takes you from Madikeri to the Abbey Falls. You can witness, coffee and spice plantations in large numbers as you go up the hills. You can hear the water gushing through as you walk on the road.