Here’s a curated list of cycling routes in Mumbai for you to enjoy on the weekends! This list has both road and MTB routes…
For all you cyclists of Mumbai who are looking to explore ourside the city on the weekends, here’s a bunch of cool places to ride to.
These routes will help not just cyclists from the city, but also cyclists visiting Mumbai…
We are extremely grateful to Shrey Sunil and Kunal Pawar for putting together these routes and sharing them with us.
Weekend Cycling Routes in Mumbai
First up are these mountain biking routes contributed by Shrey.
Mountain Biking in Mumbai
We start this section with a disclaimer! Many of these areas come under the forest department and you can be stopped by them. Proceed on these routes at your own risk.
As with any form of mountain biking. It is safer to venture out to such places with friends, in case of a crash, you will have some sort of help at hand.
Kalamboli
Kalamboli is in Navi Mumbai and practically the end of the metropolis. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway starts at Kalamboli. If you live at a different end of the city, you need to drive down to Kalamboli before you start the bike ride.
The McDonalds at Kalamboli is an ideal parking spot for your vehicle before heading out to the trails. At 21 km, you will spend 2-3 hours riding. The length of the trail is around 7 km, the rest is the road to and fro the trail. Starting early in the morning, will make sure you’re back chomping on a burger, before the day gets too hot.
Type of Trail – Jeeptrack Downhill + Flowy single track
Ride Starting Point – Kalamboli McDonalds (Spot to park your cars)
Distance – ~21km round trip
Elevation Profile – ~250m
Difficulty Level – Medium
Best Time – Anytime of the year apart from rains
Things to check out – Good Sun Rise View
Strava Route/ Video
Rajmachi (Lonavala)
Rajmachi Fort is one of the famous landmarks in the Sahyadri hills and that is where you will be headed on your mountain bike! The fort sits atop a hill overlooking an expansive plateau. Typical Western Ghats views.
When riding to this historical fort, make sure you carry sufficient water and nutrition. It is a long and tiring ride, and you will enjoy it most when you are properly hydrated.
Type of Trail – Jeep track Cross Country
Ride Starting Point – Della Adventure
Distance – ~25-30km round trip
Elevation Profile – 480m
Difficulty Level – Moderate (Not for beginners, the trail is long and tiring although not technical)
Best Time – Just Post Monsoons and Winters
Things to Check Out – Rajmachi Fort, Shirota Lake
Strava Route/ Video
Tungarli
Tungarli Lake is a small lake sitting atop a hill formed by the construction of a dam near Lonavala. You ride the trail alongside Valvan Lake and reach the top! Once you return to the Lonavala highway, you can indulge yourself in masaledar maggi or bhurji pav.
The descent is also fun…
Type of Trail – Jeep track Downhill and Single track XC
Ride Starting Point – Google Maps Link
Distance – ~15 km round trip
Elevation Profile – 364m
Difficulty Level – Medium Difficult
Best Time – All Year
Things to Check out – Valvan Lake
Strava Route
Tungarli to Rajmachi
Type of Trail – Technical Rock Garden Downhill
Ride Start Point – Google Maps Link
Distance – 1.2 km
Elevation Profile – ~100m Descent
Difficulty – Difficult (Technical rock garden terrain with medium size rocks both fixed and loose) Good for DH lovers
Best Time – All Year
Things to Check out – None (Keep your eyes on the trail, else you’re going OTB!)
Strava Route/ Video
Bhivpuri
Bhivpuri is a village in Karjat near Mumbai. The trail is a nice dusty easy one. Because it is so muddy, you wouldn’t want to ride it in the monsoons. Though the monsoons also make this place green and you can see tons of small waterfalls cascading down the Ghats.
Type of Trail – Jeep track Downhill
Ride Start Point – Google Maps Link
Distance – 3.2km (One way)
Elevation Profile – 200m
Difficulty Level – Easy
Best Time – All Year except Monsoons
Things to Check Out – Dhom Lake
Tungareshwar
Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary is home to this trail system which tops out at the Tungareshwar Temple. This is located in Vasai, north of Mumbai.
Since this is in a forest reserve, there are always chances that you might get stopped by forest officials.
Type of Trail – Jeep track Uphill/ Downhill
Ride Start Point – Google Maps Link
Distance – 7 km One Way
Elevation Profile – 750m
Difficulty – Difficult
Best Time – All Year
Things to Check Out – Tungareshwar Temple, View Point
Strava Route/ Video
Road Biking in Mumbai
After you’ve enjoyed a stomach full of dirt on the routes mentioned above, here’s some road riding as well. These cycling routes in Mumbai take you to destinations near the city. Places you can enjoy visiting over the weekend.
While your friends party hard on the weekend, you can spend that time riding hard!
As with all Western Ghat climbs, it is best enjoyed immediately after the monsoons. The region is verdant green at that time. The downside is that road conditions after the rains is always questionable!
Thanks to Kunal for sharing these road routes…
Lonavala
A perfect place to do a 100 miler from Mumbai. You ride a flat road all the way till the base of the hill and then climb 400 metres in 8.5 km, before taking a U-turn and returning home. If the distance feels a lot, you can also do an easy ride, breaking the to and fro into two days. The night can be spent in Lonavala or many of the scenic areas near the hill station.
Lonavala is famous for its Chikki, a sweet which you will relish even more after the hard climb to the top!
Type of Road – Flat’ish’ till you get the proper climb at the end.
Ride Start Point – Chembur
Distance – 160 km
Elevation Profile – 1100 metres gain
Difficulty – Difficult
Best Time – July to September
Things to Check Out – Sunil’s Wax museum, Tiger Point
Strava Route
Malshej
Malshej Ghat is a picturesque ghat on the Kalyan-Ahmednagar highway. Depending on where in the city you live, the distance can vary drastically. But we recommend starting from Kalyan, so that you needn’t be stuck in messy urban traffic.
The route is great for a roundtrip century, which is both challenging and pretty.
Type of Road – Rolling with a climb to the U-Turn.
Ride Start Point – Murbad (Kalyan)
Distance – 110 km
Elevation Profile – 950 metres gain
Difficulty – Difficult
Best Time – July to September
Things to Check Out – The ghat itself!
Strava Route
Alibag
Alibag is a nice easy ride to enjoy on the weekend. It even has a big break from the saddle. You ride to Gateway of India, catch a ferry to Mandwa Jetty and ride around Alibag before returning by ferry to the Mumbai shore.
Since the route is all along the coast, it is flat and rideable by people of any riding capability.
The ferries are not operated in the monsoons, when the sea is rough, so this route is best enjoyed in winter.
You can also meet up with the Alibag Cycling Club while in town!
Type of Road – Flat
Ride Start Point – Chembur
Distance – 100 km riding and some chill time in the boat!
Elevation Profile – 200 metres gain
Difficulty – Easy
Best Time – October to January
Things to Check Out – Revdanda Bridge, Revdanda Fort, Nagaon Beach.
Strava Route
Nere
Nere Village is located in the Mulshi area. It is a picturesque village to ride a century from Mumbai.
Type of Road – Mostly Flat
Ride Start Point – Chembur
Distance – 110 km
Elevation Profile – 350 metres gain
Difficulty – Easy
Best Time – July to September
Things to Check Out – Nere Village
Strava Route
Aamby Valley
Aamby Valley is a lovely modern township built in the Western Ghats, which was founded in 2006.
It’s just 25 km from Lonavala, making it perfect for a short day ride from the chikki hill station!
Type of Road – Undulating
Ride Start Point – Lonavala
Distance – 45 km
Elevation Profile – 600 metres gain
Difficulty – Moderate
Best Time – July to September
Things to Check Out – Aamby Valley. The township itself.
Strava Route
If you know of any routes around Mumbai, which are perfect for a weekend of cycling and should be on this list. Let us know in the comments below!
Check out our Goa to Mumbai along the coastal route video… A favourite for most cyclists of Mumbai!