I always used to wonder how fearful it must be to be in the deep forest on seeing any forest scenes in the movies. Yes, I used to fear from being into a JUNGLE. But my trip to Polo Forest helped me overcome my fear from the deep forests and actually made me Love the experience of being so close to the nature. A Big thanks to the Invincible NGO team for always being so motivating. The best thing about Polo Forest is it separates you from the rest of the World because it has no network coverage. Recently we have been to a few places which allow us to be away from the hustles and bustles of Life.

Polo Forest has a long list of surprises to let the tourist get away with its charm and collect a lot of cheerful memories. Polo Forest had been a shelter to many Royalties including Maharana Pratap. You can visit Polo Forest by your own private vehicle, with Invincible NGO team, with some trip organizers, or by using the public transports. Whatever way you opt to reach Polo Forest, but after reaching there, it is highly recommended to hire a guide to take you for this wonderful tour to Polo Forest. You will definitely miss out a lot of important things in the trip without a Guide. We had been guided by Mr. Vipul throughout the Polo forest and we are happy we had him with us.

Polo Forest Trek

Maango Hill, Bhim Hill and Charakalo Hill are the three hills which can be trekked upon, Maango Hill being the most preferred one by most of the guides. If time is not a constraint in your trip, you can trek all the three Hills in the Polo Forest, but if only one of the Hill can be climbed, then Maango Hill is the best choice as it has an Echo Point on the topmost part of the hill, which is really worth experiencing. Polo Forest has four Gates and it is a Gateway between Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Polo Forest – Land of  Ruined Temples

We started our trek from the Shiv Shakti Temple in the Polo Forest. The place also had one of the gates of the Polo Forest. We had stopped at various points during the trek to know about various flora and fauna. Going through the rocky woods and a very narrow path we reached to the topmost point of the Maango Hill. The topmost point of the Hill had a surprise for us. Mr. Vipul was successful in making us fresh again by making us experience the echoes at this Echo point.

Then we started coming down the Hill from the other side. We passed by a stream of water twice during our down trek and the water of the stream made it so significant to mention here. The water of the stream was naturally sweet and crystal clear to add a spice to the view captured in our eyes. Our Guide informed us that the water from this stream is drinkable so many of us filled the water bottles. The path down the Hill led us to the ancient temples which had been built in the 15^th Century.

All the temples have been ruined. They had been reined by the Mughals and after that nobody refurbished them. The first one that we encountered there was a Shiva Temple and the Last one was the Jain Temple. The minute carvings, the intricate designs and the inscriptions on the walls of the Temples are really breath-taking. For some time we just kept watching the work on the walls of the Temples and kept wondering how would have the people in the 15^th Century thought of making these wonderful Structures a Reality.

Then came a big surprise cum shock, when our guide informed us about the logics behind each structure in the Jain Temple. He explained the logic behind each structure – from the entrance of the temple to the pillars in the temple and the overall structure of the temple. Then we again started walking to come to the end of our trek and came to know that we had exited from the entrance of the Polo trek campsite. Here you will some food and tea stalls to refill your body.

Vanaj Dam

A wonderful picturesque location of the Polo Forest region. Vanaj Dam is the name of the Harnav Reservoir Project for preserving the water of the Harnav River. This Dam is very useful in the irrigation purpose as well as in the Flood times. We again found a beautiful location to click lots of pictures. And the surroundings are at its best with a mild rainfall. We were lucky to have that experience. We even found a group of students there who were busy finishing their drawing projects there. It was a wise decision to choose that place for sketching. You can easily spend a peaceful hour at the Dam to enjoy the feel of the Nature. We had been there for approximately 40 minutes.

Polo Interpretation Center

Polo Forest also has an Interpretation Center which provides the information about the Forest, the wildlife there, the flora and fauna, the Vanaj Dam and what all should you expect from Polo Forest when you start exploring the Forest. Of course, if you are hiring a guide, which is a better option, you won’t need to go there for getting this information. And this is the only place in the complete region, where you can find a washroom and the drinking water. It is very near from all the above mentioned locations, so you can easily reach there to freshen up. There is a small shop that provides at least the basic requirements like water bottles and havmor ice creams as an additional benefit to the tourists.

We were at the Polo Forest for two days. On the First Day we were at Idar – a small town in the State of Gujarat. We had an adventurous climb on the Idariyo Gadh.

Read about Idariyo Gadh here. You can also read a complete Itinerary of our 2 days Adventurous trip to Polo Forest along with the Rappelling experience here.

Stay options

We had stayed in a hall belonging to a temple’s authorities, because it was our adventurous trip to the Polo Forest with Invincible NGO. The hall did not have basic amenities. There are a few more better options to stay at Polo Forest. Government Polo camp site is a nice option with its location in the heart of the Polo Forest.

Important Notes :

Best time to visit : Preferably after the monsoon season.

Entry Fees : No entry fees

Photography : Allowed

Food Availability : A few snacks and tea stall outside the Polo Camping Site and a shop near the Interception Center.