Ooty Trip - Part 2 : Coonoor, Kotagiri, Kodanad View point

We first wanted to cover tourist places near Coonoor and Kotagiri (they are the other 2 popular hill stations after Ooty) before exploring Ooty, as it was crowded. Coonoor is 17 km away from Ooty and the first major attraction we covered here was Dolphin's nose.

View from Dolphin's Nose

Dolphin's nose : It is a view point 10km from Coonoor, which we covered on May 2nd in the morning. Though we did not find anything resembling its name, it is a great place with one half of the place offering a panoramic view of the surrounding hills and the other half filled with greenary of tea estates. Also, we could spot Catherine falls among the hills, which we were about to visit in later part of the day(though human accessible portion of the falls is different from what you see here).

Tea Estates, Dolphin's Nose

Lamb's Rock : On our way back to Coonoor from Dolphin's nose, we visited Lamb's rock, which is yet another view point. It is just 2 km from Dolphin's nose. It provides view of the Coimbatore plains. We could spot a river from the telescope kept there. Now, don't ask me which river it is! After a brief interval there we were heading back to Coonoor.

View from Lamb's rock

Sim's Park : At the heart of the Coonoor town is the Sim's park, which is believed to be home to many flowering plants, pines, ferns and shrubs. Gigantic trees here, will catch your attention. Boating in the lake inside the park is a hit with the tourists. Otherwise, it is a place to just lay down in the grass and relax. After spending some time here and finishing our lunch in Coonoor, our next destination was Kotagiri.

Sim's Park in Coonoor [Photo courtesy : Shrinidhi]

Catherine Falls : Kotagiri which is 23 km from Coonoor is a small town. We needed to go past it to reach Catherine falls. After parking your vehicle in one of the tea estates, you need walk about 1-2 kms to reach the falls. This walk is one of the best as you will be walking along the area covered with greenary, hills and trees on one side and tea estates on the other. We travelled further to reach Kodanad viewpoint in the evening.

Catherine Falls, Kotagiri

Kodanad Viewpoint : This place is a must visit for tourists. You can almost see the details of the geographical map of the region come to life. You can see the huge valley which dips down below and rises again. Also, one can see the Moyar river flowing, Karnataka Tamil Nadu state border and they say, you can also witness the point where Western and Eastern ghats meet.

Kodanad View Point, Can you spot Moyar river?

One can also enjoy the view of Rangaswamy peak which is conical shaped peak and is also considered sacred according Hindu legends. As we had gone in the evening, plateaus below looked misty in sight. So, to get the clear picture I would recommend to go when there is bright sun. That was end of day 2 on our Ooty trip.

Part 1 of Ooty trip is here.
Part 3 of Ooty trip is here.

Raveesh

Rangaswamy Peak

Another view from Dolphin's nose

Beautiful landscapes, on way to Kotagiri

Amidst greenery, on way to Catherine falls