Is it Safe to Drive From Bangalore to Coorg by Bike?

Renu on January 22, 2021

When people know that we went road trip from Bangalore to Coorg by bike – first question we face is ‘is it safe to drive from Bangalore to Coorg by bike?”.

When you already know that riding bike from Bangalore to Mysore is absolutely no issues since both are metro cities. You might ask, “then is it safe to drive from Mysore to Coorg by bike or car?”.

Going to a hill station like Coorg or Wayanad arises this common question, especially when you have to drive through the roads connecting to wildlife forests.

Lets see How is the road from Bangalore to Coorg – the facts you need to know to be safe:

From Bangalore to Mysore, you would be enjoying non stop NH 75 highways with partition in the middle for that seamless driving.
Many people like us prefer taking Kanakapura road to reach Mysore, because eventhough it is not broad roads like Mysore highways, it is peaceful road with less traffic. But there are not many pit stops like in Mysore highways.
This is the most popular route to drive from Bangalore to Coorg: Bangalore – Mysore – Hunsur – Kaushal Nagar – Madikeri
From Mysore to Madikeri, it is one straight route with undiveded roads. You will be driving in NH275 , with both State and National highways, smooth roads with wildlife crossing signs wherever necessary.
Traffic from Mysore to Hunsur and Kaushal Nagar is nothing less than traffic from Bangalore to Mysore (via Mysore Highways). So careful with the unbelievable traffic even in the early morning hours.
Traffic is less from Kaushal Nagar to Madikeri, you can absolutely enjoy the peaceful ride.
Since Nagerhole Wildlife roads would be closed (for both safari and drive-through) after 8am, it is better to reach Madikeri Via Kaushal Nagar. You need to be there at gate by 5.45 am to buy tickets for safari.
Throughout the journey you will experience seamless drive on well paved roads until Madikeri. (Even beyond till Wayanad as well).
In our bike trip journey, we did not encounter any wildlife on both ways.
Only in our car trip to Wayanad, we saw raindeers and monkeys couple of times. Anyhow, it is always safe not to stop the vehicles until you reach the destination.
Most important thing to note – If you are driving via Nagerhole National park – you are absolutely not allowed to drive too slow or stop the vehicle. You will interrogated based on your delay in the exit gate. If you have found guilty breaking the rule by the patroling guards, you would be levied heavy fine. Since we always prefer to drive through Bavali – Nagarhole national park – kabini river route (read about the routes here) for the return journey, we have seen many tourists being held at the security gate for breaking the law. So need to be extreme careful for your own safety.
In year 2020 post covid-19 lockdown we went 3 days road trip from Bangalore to Madikeri via Mysore route – which we absolutely loved it. In fact we went deep inside Madikeri, drove in the steep hill S-bends to reach Cliff resorts, where we stayed to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Since we have done it many times, It is total safe to drive from Bangalore to Coorg by bike or car.