Lohagad: The iron fort
The Lohagad Safarnama is a 1.8 km round trip across 7 stops, from Lohagadwadi up to Lohagad summit and back, part of the Sahyadri Forts Trail. See the whole trail.
Lohagadwadi
Lohagadwadi sits right under the fort, about 52 km northwest of Pune near Lonavala. Lohagad's first walls are thought to date back to around the 10th century.
Ganesh Darwaza
Lohagad's approach climbs through a stack of gates, one above another, up a steep stairway. The Ganesh Darwaza is the first of them.
Narayan Darwaza
The Narayan Darwaza is the next gate up. Shivaji Maharaj captured Lohagad in 1648, gave it up to the Mughals under the Treaty of Purandar in 1665, and won it back in 1670.
Hanuman Darwaza
The Hanuman Darwaza is the next gate on the stairway. In the Peshwa period Nana Phadnavis built a tank and a step-well on the fort.
Maha Darwaza
The Maha Darwaza opens onto the top. After 1670 the fort was used to keep the treasury, including the wealth taken at Surat.
Lohagad summit
The top of Lohagad is 1,033 metres high. Its long north-western spur is called Vinchu Kata, the scorpion's tail, for its shape. Lohagad is part of the Maratha Military Landscapes UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in July 2025.
Back at Lohagadwadi
Back under the walls, the four gates stacked above you look even steeper from below.