Why Mussoorie?
Nestled at the foothills of Garhwal range of Himalayas, Mussoorie is a catch-all when it comes to hill stations offering both natural charm (scenic points, hiking, panoramic overlooks) and touristy activities (shopping at Mall Road, drivable overlooks, adventure sports). No wonder it is affectionately known as the ‘Queen of Hills’ and visited by throngs of people.
How to Plan your road trip?
• You could either fly to the nearest airport at Dehradun or drive. If you do choose to drive, please plan around the crazy traffic; it gets unbelievably messed up time during peak summer vacation time.
We drove from Dehradun and received a ton of rush while entering Mussoorie
• There are a bazillion resorts in or near Mussoorie, we chose to live at a villa in Saiva because of it’s pristine views, great personalized service and great food spread.
Ethereal sunrise amidst the Himalayas, taken right from our villa front porch at Saiva Resort
• Plan your activities – being nature and hiking enthusiast, I did the following in a 3-day Mussoorie trip:
George Everest Peak, Cloud’s End, Laal Tibba (highest point in Mussoorie), Mussoorie Wildlife Preserve, Gun Hill Scenic Point, Jabarkhet Nature Preserve and lastly, some shopping at Mall Road and the Landour Market.
Sneaking a Mussoorie view from a thick tree cover, as seen from the Tikka Terrace at Gun Hill
• Other notable spots – Kempty Falls and Jharipani Falls. I could not try them but would recommend Jharipani over Kempty since the former has lesser crowds. I would also recommend the haunted Lambi Dehar mines for those looking to add some thrill to their hiking.
• Mussoorie area also boasts of a ton of adventure activities, please find the details here.
Jabarkhet Nature Preserve
Maintained by a private group, Jabarkhet Preserve offers a great way to enjoy local flora, fauna and avifauna. I would highly recommend Jabarkhet if you enjoy nature and want a group activity away from the bustling Mussoorie touristy spots.
Great views from the Flag Top Hill (highest point of the preserve)
Note that there is an entrance fee but I feel it’s totally worth it considering how well maintained the preserve is.
Check out my detailed blog here for more info.
Preserve offers several marked trails
Preserve could get dense and ominous at places
George Everest Peak
A 500m steep hike from George Everest house gets you to the George Everest Peak, offering sweeping views of the meadows, lush green hills and the valleys.
#FunFact – Mt. Everest is named after George Everest himself.
The hike starts off with an easy ascend on a path laced with natural stones.
Doesn’t take long before it turns pretty steep with a few hundred stairs.
The views, both from the top and on the way are mesmerizing though.
The flock of Deodhar (Cedar) trees on a natural ridge stood out.
And the scenery below turned into a birds-eye view.
George Everest House and the helipad, as seen from a vantage point on the hike
And with just a little bit of huffing and puffing, we reached the top.
A host greeted us there.
After a few soul searching minutes, we started our descend.
Being bored from the regular route, we took a shortcut on the way down and reached base in about 30 minutes.
One last look at the ravishing hill
We had 2 younglings (around 10-year olds) and they throughly enjoyed the hike.
Tip: You could pay a fee to park your car directly at George Everest house, otherwise this becomes a bit strenuous ~ 3 km hike.
Cloud’s End Resort
Cloud’s End has a rich history around a Britisher who married a local and received the hill as part of the marriage. I would recommend Cloud’s End as a one-time visit due to the scenic overlook, rich old Mussoorie exhibits and a decently maintained resort which has some amenities for kids.
Tip: Don’t miss the picturesque view of the lush green vales on your left as you reach Cloud’s End entrance.
Note that the road to the privately maintained reserve is quite narrow and highly *not* recommended for inexperienced drivers.
We paid per person fee to enter the resort, which was on the higher side, considering similar/better Mussoorie views are out there for free.
Much of the walk is under a covered trail.
There is a small restaurant and some swings for the kids.
I loved the old Mussoorie exhibits in the room near the scenic point – paints a great picture of the olden times for the hill station. It started to rain cats and dogs, so we took shelter and waited for the rain to cease in the exhibit museum.
The rain budged only a little but I ventured out for the scenic point considering it was getting late.
The entry to the scenic point trail (about 200m long) was sprinkled with daisies.
It was extremely windy so had to walk carefully around the narrow path.
There is an Echo Point as well but considering the harsh winds, there wasn’t much reverberation.
Gotta say it, the view was kind-of worth it, despite the whistling winds.
Here’s the video showing the vibes.
I wandered around and found some more scenic spots near the hillock, until I hit below warning sign, warning me to RETURN.
Would be great if the owners open up some trails near-by for hiking.
Laal Tibba and Landour Bazaar
Laal Tibba is the highest point of Mussoorie and a must-visit destination for nature lovers.
Again, the roads are extremely steep and narrow!
Once you reach Laal Tibba, you go straight for a view point, rather terrace of a small restaurant with telescopes, which you need to pay a small fee to access.
Deodhar (Cedar) trees form a picture perfect foreground for the misty mountains behind.
Tip: For nature lovers, Laal Tibba offers a lovely 3 km hike in the shape of “8”, which I would highly recommend. It is truly a great way soak in the ambience of Landour area.
The “8” shaped hike was not too steep and a senior citizen in our group was able to do it as well.
These trees looked ominous among otherwise lush green landscape.
Went in to Cafe De Landour and found eye-popping all glass view while sipping a coffee.
#MildlyInteresting – A great pollution awareness sign at the Laal Tibba entrance.
We had a quick lunch at the highly rated Chaar Dukaan shop at Landour on our way back and loved the food and a dash of history behind the shop.
Saiva Resort
This blog would be incomplete without a special mention on Saiva. It might not be the most luxurious or branded resorts, but when it comes to the stellar views and hospitality, it is one of the best options.
These snaps were taken right from my villa front porch at Saiva, at different times of the day.
Mussoorie Wildlife Preserve
Mussoorie Wildlife Preserve is located on the way to Cloud’s End. It has a you-blink-you-miss-it sign board to the right, about a km away from Cloud’s End. Finding the right entrance is always painful, would be great if the UT Govt. would do a better job on the signage.
A km of needless walk is required to reach the entrance of the preserve, something I haven’t seen in most other places.
Unfortunately, I had to turn back from here since bunch of very aggressive monkeys nearly attacked. It was extremely disappointing not to see even a single sanctuary office around to even ask basic questions.
I would still recommend it to others based on other reviews here.
Gun Hill View Point
Gun Hill is located right at the heart of Mall Road and is accessible by a trolley-based system or a moderate hike. Even if you don’t like crowds, you should still visit Gun Hill for its surrounding views (don’t miss renting the telescopes at the top to gaze at Mussoorie’s landmarks), local shops and possibly grab a bite or a drink at Tikka Terrace.
That’s it!
So Long, Mussoorie
Mussoorie has so much more to offer that it warrants several repeat visits as well.
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