Hill Stations

Escaping the heat at Gujarat hill stations

Gujarat hill stations are a short list with one clear star. Saputara, perched around 1,000 metres in the Dang district near the Maharashtra border, is the state's only formal hill station, and it carries that title with a certain pride. The name means "abode of serpents", and the small town wraps around a boat-lake ringed by viewpoints, terraced gardens and a ropeway climbing to Sunset Point. After the flat, hot plains of central Gujarat, the cool air and rolling green ridges feel like a different country entirely, which is exactly why families from Surat and Ahmedabad have driven up here for generations to catch their breath.

The appeal shifts with the calendar. Monsoon, from July to September, turns the whole plateau emerald, with mist pouring over the ghats and waterfalls appearing on every slope, though heavy rain can close viewpoints for hours at a stretch. Winter brings crisp, clear mornings ideal for the lake, the tribal museum and the honey and bamboo craft nearby. Saputara stays comfortable even in the pre-monsoon weeks when the cities swelter past forty degrees, so it works as a genuine bolt-hole from the heat. Weekends fill quickly, so midweek visits reward you with quieter roads and easier rooms.

Saputara, Wilson Hills and the cool green corners of the Dangs.

Beyond Saputara: Wilson Hills and the Dangs

For travellers who want quiet over facilities, Wilson Hills near Dharampur in Valsad district is the alternative. Named after a former Bombay governor, this less-visited plateau overlooks the coastal plain and, on clear evenings, the distant shimmer of the Arabian Sea. There is little commercial development, which is precisely the point; you come for the Pangarbari viewpoint, the old stone bungalow and the empty roads winding through teak forest, not for cafes and toy trains. Bring your own food and fuel, because services thin out fast once you leave the main highway and climb into the hills proper.

The wider Dangs district is really the hill country itself, a belt of forested ridges, tribal villages and seasonal streams that reward slow exploration by car rather than a fixed itinerary. Around Saputara you can string together the Gira and Girmal waterfalls, honey and bamboo craft villages, and the Purna and Vansda sanctuaries where leopard, hornbill and giant squirrel still hold on. Come soon after good rains and the whole region runs green and loud with water, every culvert a small cascade; come in winter and it settles into cool, clear days made for walking, birdwatching and long, unhurried views across the ranges.