Chembra Peak Trek Guide: The Heart-Shaped Lake, Not the Summit

# Chembra Peak Trek Guide: The Heart-Shaped Lake, Not the Summit

SEO Title: Chembra Peak Trek 2026: Heart Lake, Permits, Summit Closed

Meta Description: The Chembra summit is closed — the legal trek ends at the heart-shaped lake, 1.5 km short. Verified Wayanad Forest Dept fees, daily caps, timings and how to reach from Mumbai and Pune.

URL Slug: chembra-peak-trek-guide

Primary Keyword: Chembra Peak trek

Secondary Keywords: heart shaped lake Wayanad, Hridayathadakam Chembra, Meppadi forest office permit, Chembra Peak VSS, Wayanad trekking permit

Long-tail Keywords: is Chembra Peak summit open for trekking, Chembra Peak trek ticket price 2026, how to reach Chembra Peak from Mumbai, Chembra Peak trek daily limit and timings, Chembra Peak trek after Wayanad landslides

Search Intent: A reader who has seen the heart-shaped lake photograph and assumes it is a summit trek. The single most useful thing this article can do is correct that, then give them the current fee, cap and timing, all of which have changed twice since 2024.

The Thing Every Other Article Gets Wrong

Chembra Peak's summit is closed. The trek legally ends at the heart-shaped lake, roughly 1.5 km short of the top.

This is not a rumour and it is not a temporary weather thing. The District Tourism Promotion Council, Wayanad — the official tourism body for the district — says it in its own description: "The trek consists of two sections, from the drop-off point in the jeep to the lake and onward to the peak. The latter half of the trek has now been restricted due to wildlife activities."

Trekking to the actual highest point was possible until around March 2019. Since then the upper trail has been closed. Every operator selling you a "Chembra summit trek" is selling you a walk to the lake with a misleading label on it.

Say it plainly when you plan: you are trekking to Hridayathadakam, the heart-shaped lake, on the flank of Chembra Peak. It is a good trek. It is about three to three and a half kilometres of real climbing through tea and grassland, with a view across most of Wayanad. It is not a summit.

Second correction, while we are here: "Strawberry Hills" is not a Wayanad place name. It does not appear on DTPC Wayanad's destination list, on Kerala Tourism's Wayanad or Chembra pages, or on any Kerala Forest Department page. It is a hospitality brand name that has attached itself to Wayanad content through hotel listings and aggregator SEO. If an itinerary offers you "trekking at Strawberry Hills, Wayanad", the itinerary was written by someone who has never been.

Table of Contents

1. Quick Overview
2. Where Chembra Is
3. What the Trek Actually Is
4. Permits & Booking
5. Fees: The Three Numbers and Which to Believe
6. The Daily Cap and Entry Window
7. Closures: Fire, Wildlife and the 2024 Landslides
8. How to Reach from Mumbai
9. How to Reach from Pune
10. Itinerary Options
11. Monsoon, Leeches and the Rain Season
12. Accommodation
13. Food
14. Nearby Attractions
15. Budget Breakdown
16. Practical Tips
17. Safety Tips
18. Common Mistakes
19. Best Time to Visit
20. FAQ
21. Conclusion
22. Sources

Quick Overview

Item	Detail
Altitude	2,100 m (6,890 ft)
Status	Highest peak in the Wayanad hills
District	Wayanad, extending into Malappuram district
Nearest town	Meppadi, about 13 km
Nearest big town	Kalpetta
Managed by	Chembra Peak VSS, under the South Wayanad Forest Development Agency / South Wayanad Forest Division
Trek length	3 to 3.5 km from the jeep drop-off, per DTPC Wayanad; about 3 km from base camp per Kerala Tourism
Time to lake	DTPC says about 45 minutes; Kerala Tourism says about an hour; realistically two to two and a half hours for most people
Summit	Closed — restricted due to wildlife activity
Distance from Kozhikode	76 to 90 km depending on source
Nearest airport	Calicut / Karipur International, 92 to 99 km
Best season	Kerala Tourism gives August to May

Note the timing discrepancy in that table. DTPC says the trek takes about 45 minutes and Kerala Tourism says about an hour. Both are measuring from the jeep drop-off and both assume a fit walker moving continuously. In practice, unfit groups with photo stops take two to two and a half hours to the lake. Plan for that, because the entry window is enforced.

Where Chembra Is

Wayanad district, northern Kerala, near Kalpetta, adjoining the Nilgiri hills and Vellarimala. The peak straddles into Malappuram district and Nilambur taluk. The trailhead is reached from Meppadi, about 13 km away.

Wayanad sits on the plateau above the Western Ghats escarpment, which is why the drive up from Kozhikode is a proper ghat climb through nine hairpins and why the temperature drops noticeably as you arrive.

Access to the trailhead is not a straight drive. DTPC describes it accurately: you drive up to a parking spot near a watchtower, and from there jeeps run to the actual starting point. Then you walk.

What the Trek Actually Is

The walk starts in tea plantation. Estate roads, bright green, wide, and steeper than they look. Then the tea stops and the grassland starts, and the gradient sharpens.

Kerala Tourism's description is honest about the shape of it: the climb begins modestly along tea plantations, then "gathers momentum and gravity", and you feel it in the calves. There is no shade after the tea, which matters more than the altitude does.

After roughly three kilometres you reach the lake. Hridayathadakam, the heart-shaped pond, sitting on a bed of grass in a fold of the hillside. DTPC notes that local legend has it that Sita bathed here, and that no summer dries the lake out. Whether or not that last claim is literally true every year, the lake has been photographed full through some genuinely dry Februaries.

The lake is where the trek ends. From there the ridge continues up towards the summit, another 1.5 km or so, and that section is closed.

The view from the lake is the payoff. Wayanad's plateau spread out below, tea estates in geometric blocks, and on a clear day the Nilgiris and the escarpment dropping away towards Kozhikode.

Take the guide. The Chembra Peak VSS, under the South Wayanad Forest Development Agency, provides both the permission and the guide. This is a Vana Samrakshana Samithi arrangement, which means local forest-fringe communities run the trek and take the revenue. That is a good system and worth supporting properly rather than routing around.

Permits & Booking

Where the permission comes from. The Chembra Peak VSS, under the control of the South Wayanad Forest Development Agency. There is a forest office on the way to the starting point where you take permission and pick up your guide.

The two routes to a ticket:

1. In person at the Meppadi Forest Office / Chembra ticket counter on the day. This is the traditional route and, per DTPC Wayanad's own page, "Only offline booking is available." It is first-come-first-served and it is subject to the daily cap, which is the whole problem on a Saturday.

1. Kerala Forest Ecotourism online portal. The Kerala Forest Department runs a statewide booking portal at ecotourism.forest.kerala.gov.in, with a mirror at keralaforestecotourism.com and an Android app. The Forest Department's own ecotourism page directs users there. Whether Chembra specifically is bookable online at any given time varies — DTPC's page said offline only at the time of writing, while the portal exists and lists trekking centres statewide. Check the portal, and have the offline plan ready as a fallback.

Numbers to call before you drive up:

• DFO, South Wayanad: +91 4936-203428 and +91 4936-282001 (Kerala Tourism Ecotourism)
• Range Forest Officer: +91 8547602680 (Kerala Tourism Ecotourism)
• Chembra Trekking contact: +91 493 628 2001 (DTPC Wayanad)

One call the day before saves a wasted 90 km drive from Kozhikode.

What you need to carry: photo ID, cash, and a plastic-free bag. Wayanad's forest ecotourism centres run strict no-plastic rules and you will be checked at the counter.

Fees: The Three Numbers and Which to Believe

This is where you need to be careful, because three official or quasi-official sources give three different figures from three different periods.

1. Kerala Tourism's ecotourism portal (older schedule):

• Trekking: Rs 750 for a group of 10 Indian nationals, Rs 75 per extra person
• Trekking, foreigners: Rs 1,500 for a group of 5, Rs 300 per extra person
• Entrance: Rs 20 adult Indian, Rs 30 foreigner, Rs 15 student
• Camera: Rs 40 Indian, Rs 80 foreigner

2. DTPC Wayanad's current destination page:

• Visit: Rs 50; foreigners Rs 80
• Trekking: Rs 4,000 for 5 pax, Rs 800 per additional person
• Students: Rs 1,000 for 5 pax, Rs 200 per additional person
• Foreigners: Rs 8,000 for 5 pax, Rs 1,600 per additional person
• Still camera Rs 53; video camera Rs 301

3. Onmanorama's reporting on the October 2024 reopening:

• Rs 5,000 for a group of 5 adults
• Rs 1,600 for children
• Rs 8,000 for foreigners

How to read this. The Kerala Tourism ecotourism page rate of Rs 750 for ten people is clearly a legacy schedule that has not been updated. The DTPC and Onmanorama figures are the same order of magnitude and reflect the post-2024 revision, when Wayanad's forest ecotourism fees were increased across the board as the centres reopened.

Budget on the basis of roughly Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 for a group of five Indian adults, which is about Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per head. Take cash for more than you expect. Ask at the counter and take the receipt.

Anyone quoting you Rs 750 for the Chembra trek in 2026 is reading a page that has not been touched in years.

The Daily Cap and Entry Window

The cap has moved twice and the sources do not agree.

• Pre-2024 reporting consistently describes a 200 trekkers per day limit, first-come-first-served, with the trek starting at 7 am.
• Onmanorama reported in October 2024 that as part of the post-landslide reopening, the daily visitor limit for the Chembra Peak trekking trail was reduced to 75 from 200.
• DTPC Wayanad's page currently lists trekking as "Up to 88 pax".

Three numbers: 200, 75, 88. The honest position is that the cap is somewhere between 75 and 88 and it is well below the old 200. Which means: on a weekend, in season, you can and will be turned away if you arrive late.

The entry window. DTPC lists timings as 07:00 to 15:00 for entry, with trekking from 07:00 (the page's second timing line reads "07:00 AM to 12:00 AM Trekking", which is almost certainly a typo for noon). Kerala Tourism's page gives visiting time as 7 am to 5 pm, with anyone wanting to trek required to reach before 2 pm.

Practical rule: be at the counter at 7 am. Not 9. Not 11. Seven. That is how you get inside a 75-to-88 person cap on a Saturday in December, and it is also how you avoid climbing an unshaded grassland slope at noon.

Closures: Fire, Wildlife and the 2024 Landslides

Chembra closes more often than most Indian treks. Three separate reasons, and you should understand all three.

1. The summit closure (permanent, or at least indefinite). The upper 1.5 km from the lake to the peak has been restricted since around March 2019 due to wildlife activity on the trail. DTPC states the restriction on its own page. This is not seasonal.

2. Fire season closures (recurrent, January to April). Wayanad's grassland slopes burn in the dry season and Chembra has been closed for fire alerts in past years, sometimes for months at a stretch. I could not find an official Kerala Forest Department notification archive documenting the specific closure dates, and the accounts of exactly when it shut and reopened come from visitor reports rather than a government source, so treat any specific dates you read elsewhere with caution. What is not in doubt is that fire-alert closures at Chembra are a real and recurring feature of February and March. Call before you drive.

3. The 2024 Wayanad landslides. On 30 July 2024, a series of landslides struck Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Vellarimala in Meppadi panchayat, Vythiri taluk — the same panchayat Chembra's trailhead is reached from. It was one of the deadliest landslide events in Indian history, with reported fatalities in the hundreds. Mundakkai recorded 572 mm of rain in 48 hours.

All Wayanad ecotourism centres were shut. They reopened in stages from August 2024 onwards, and Chembra reopened later than most. The Kerala High Court gave the nod to lift the ban on tourism activities at Wayanad's ecotourism centres, after which the forest department reopened them. Onmanorama reported Chembra Peak's reopening scheduled for 21 October 2024, with the reduced daily cap and increased fees described above.

Some travel sites still carry pages saying Chembra "remains closed following the landslides". That is out of date. DTPC Wayanad currently publishes live timings and a fare schedule, which is the clearest signal that the trek is operating.

What this means for you: Wayanad closes attractions quickly and reopens them on court and district administration timelines. Call DTPC or the South Wayanad DFO before you book flights, not after.

How to Reach from Mumbai

Fly to Kozhikode. Calicut International Airport at Karipur (CCJ) is the closest airport — Kerala Tourism puts Chembra at 92 km from it, DTPC says 99 km. Mumbai to Kozhikode direct flights run daily and take roughly one hour forty-five minutes.

From Karipur it is a two-and-a-half to three-hour drive up the ghat to Meppadi. Pre-book a taxi. KSRTC buses run Kozhikode to Kalpetta and Meppadi frequently.

Fly to Kochi as an alternative. Cochin International (COK) has more Mumbai flights and often better fares, but it is roughly 280 km from Wayanad, five to six hours by road. Only worth it if you are combining Wayanad with Munnar or the backwaters.

By train. Kozhikode railway station is the nearest useful railhead — Kerala Tourism says 79 km, DTPC says about 90 km. Mumbai to Kozhikode by train runs down the Konkan Railway and through Mangaluru, typically 22 to 26 hours. The Konkan section is a fine ride if you have the time.

The sequence that works: Friday night flight to Kozhikode, night in Kozhikode or drive up to Meppadi. Saturday at the Chembra counter by 7 am. Sunday for the rest of Wayanad. Monday morning flight home.

How to Reach from Pune

Fly to Kozhikode. Pune to Kozhikode direct flights operate on most days, roughly two hours. Same onward drive.

Fly to Bengaluru, drive across. Pune to Bengaluru has the best flight frequency of any of these routes, and Bengaluru to Wayanad is about 270 to 290 km via Mysuru and either the Bandipur–Muthanga road or the Nagarhole side. Five to six hours. Note that the Bandipur night traffic ban is in force between 9 pm and 6 am, so plan the crossing for daylight. This route is often cheaper and it gives you Mysuru as an optional stop.

By train. Pune to Kozhikode via the Konkan Railway or via Bengaluru. Twenty-four hours plus.

By road. Pune to Wayanad is roughly 1,000 km. Two driving days. Only as part of a longer trip.

Itinerary Options

Option A — One day, Chembra only. At the counter by 7 am. Jeep to the drop-off. Trek to the lake and back, out by early afternoon. Rest of the day in Meppadi or Kalpetta.

Option B — Two days in Wayanad (recommended). Day 1: Chembra at 7 am, back by lunch. Afternoon at Soochipara Falls or the Edakkal Caves. Day 2: Kuruva Island, Banasura Sagar Dam, or Muthanga / Tholpetti if you want a safari. Fly out in the evening.

Option C — Three days, Wayanad plus the Nilgiris. Add Ooty or Gudalur via the Muthanga road. Longer drives, more variety, and it makes the flights worth it.

Option D — Wayanad plus Munnar. Fly into Kozhikode, out of Kochi. Wayanad first, then the long drive south to Munnar for the Meesapulimala trek. Five days minimum. This is the proper Kerala highlands trip.

Monsoon, Leeches and the Rain Season

Kerala Tourism gives the best time as August to May, which is a broad window and worth interrogating.

The South-West monsoon hits Wayanad hard from June to August, and the North-East monsoon brings a second, shorter wet spell around October and November. Chembra's grassland is at its greenest then, and its most slippery.

After July 2024, nobody in Wayanad treats heavy rain casually. The district administration and forest department shut ecotourism centres quickly on alert days now, and they are right to. If IMD has an orange or red alert out for Wayanad, assume Chembra is closed and check.

Leeches on the Chembra trail, specifically. The tea plantation section is where they are, not the open grassland above. Tea estates hold moisture in the undergrowth and the drainage channels beside the estate roads are permanently damp. You collect them in the first twenty minutes and you find them at the lake.

What works:

• Knee-length leech socks over your trousers, tied off. This is the item that actually stops them. Buy before you leave Mumbai or Pune. Meppadi does not stock them.
• Tape the ankle join. Trousers tucked into socks, then masking or duct tape around the join.
• Tobacco and lime paste on the outside of shoes and lower socks. Standard Kerala estate-worker practice and it works. Reapply if you cross wet ground.
• Do not stand in the estate undergrowth for photographs. That is the single commonest way people pick up ten at once.
• Check behind the knees and at the waistband at every halt. They climb faster than you think.
• Flick them off at the narrow end, or use salt. Do not pull. A torn bite becomes an infected one.
• Expect an hour of bleeding after. Anticoagulant, not a wound. Clean, antiseptic, plaster.

Also carry a spare pair of dry socks in a plastic bag. Wet feet for four hours in the estate section is how you get blisters, and blisters are the most common Chembra injury by a distance.

Our monsoon trekking safety in the Sahyadri guide covers the wider habits, and safe river and stream crossings in monsoon matters for the drive up, where the ghat roads flood.

Accommodation

Meppadi. Closest to the trailhead, about 13 km. Small hotels and homestays. This is where you stay if you want to be at the counter at 7 am without a pre-dawn drive.

Kalpetta. The district's main town. Full range of hotels, restaurants, ATMs, and a KSRTC stand. About 20 km from Meppadi.

Vythiri. Plantation resorts and mid-to-high-end properties in the rainforest belt on the Kozhikode side. Better setting than Kalpetta, higher prices.

Sultan Bathery. East side of the district, closer to Muthanga and the Karnataka border. Convenient if you are combining with a safari or heading on to Bandipur.

Homestays generally. Wayanad's homestay network is excellent and often better value than the resorts. Many hosts will organise your Chembra transport and can tell you whether the trail is open that week, which is worth more than a pool.

Be aware that parts of Meppadi panchayat are still rebuilding after 2024. Choose accommodation with some sensitivity to that.

Food

Nothing on the trail. No stalls, no water point. Carry two litres per person and food.

Meppadi and Kalpetta. Kerala breakfast is the whole reason to be up at 5:30 am anyway. Puttu and kadala, appam and stew, idiyappam, and Malabar parotta with beef fry if that is your thing. Wayanad also does very good filter coffee, being a coffee-growing district.

Wayanad specialities worth seeking out. Bamboo rice payasam, Wayanadan chicken curry, and the local Gandhakasala and Jeerakasala rice varieties.

No plastic. Wayanad's ecotourism centres enforce it and you will be checked. Carry a steel or reusable bottle.

Carry everything you take up, back down.

Nearby Attractions

• Soochipara Falls (Sentinel Rock) — the closest big waterfall to Meppadi, reopened after the 2024 shutdown.
• Edakkal Caves — Neolithic petroglyphs near Ambalavayal. Genuinely important archaeology, not just a viewpoint.
• Banasura Sagar Dam — the largest earth dam in India, with the reservoir islands.
• Kuruva Island — a river-island evergreen forest on the Kabini, reopened in October 2024.
• Pookode Lake — small, easy, good with children.
• Muthanga and Tholpetti Wildlife Sanctuaries — the Wayanad end of the Nilgiri Biosphere, contiguous with Bandipur and Nagarhole.
• Banasura Hill and Brahmagiri — DTPC's other listed trekking hills if Chembra is capped out.
• Lakkidi viewpoint — top of the nine hairpins, on the way up from Kozhikode.

For a wider Kerala plan, see our Kerala tour guide with places, packages and season.

Budget Breakdown

Two people, three nights, from Mumbai. Indicative.

Item	Budget (₹)	Mid-range (₹)
Mumbai–Kozhikode return flight, per person	6,000	10,000
Kozhikode–Meppadi return taxi (whole car)	5,000	8,000
Meppadi / Kalpetta stay, 2 nights (per room)	3,000	8,000
Chembra trek ticket, group of 5 adults	4,000	5,000
Chembra visit / entrance fee, per person	50	50
Jeep from parking to trek start point	500	1,000
Still camera fee	53	53
Food, 3 days, per person	1,200	2,500
Buffer	2,000	3,000

The trek and entrance figures are from DTPC Wayanad's published fare list and Onmanorama's reporting on the October 2024 revision. Everything else is a travel estimate.

Practical Tips

Seven a.m. at the counter. Everything else in this section is secondary to that.

Call ahead. DTPC on +91 493 628 2001, or the South Wayanad DFO on +91 4936-203428. Chembra closes for fire alerts, weather alerts and administrative reasons more than most Indian treks.

Cash. DTPC's page says only offline booking is available, and forest counters run on cash.

Photo ID for everyone in the group.

No plastic. Enforced.

Sun protection. Above the tea there is no shade at all, and 2,100 m sun on open grassland burns fast. Cap, sunglasses, sunscreen, and long sleeves are more comfortable than they sound.

Grip over ankle support. The grassland section is steep with loose soil and dry grass, and the descent is where people slide. Our trekking footwear guide for Sahyadri terrain applies almost exactly; this is the same steep-grass-on-laterite problem.

Two litres of water per person, minimum. There is nothing on the trail.

Do not swim in or wash in the lake. It is the reason everyone is here and it is not a bathing pool.

Do not try to continue past the lake. There are guides and forest staff, the restriction is enforced, and you will be turned round at best.

Safety Tips

The closed section. People try. Do not. The restriction exists because of wildlife activity on that stretch and the terrain above the lake is steeper and more exposed than what you have just walked.

Heat and sun. The commonest Chembra problem is not a fall, it is a group starting at 11 am and running out of water on an unshaded slope. Start at seven.

Descent slips. Dry grass on a steep slope has almost no friction. Come down slowly, sideways on the steepest bits, and do not run it.

Fire. In February and March the grass is tinder. Smoking on the trail is banned and it should be obvious why.

Wildlife. Wayanad has elephants, gaur and leopard, and the summit restriction is specifically about wildlife activity. Stay with your guide, stay on the trail, do not go off looking for a better photograph. Read wildlife safety on Sahyadri treks for the principles, which carry over directly, and why you should not feed wildlife for the macaques near the parking area.

Landslide-prone terrain. After July 2024 this needs saying explicitly. The slopes around Meppadi are geologically stressed and heavy rain triggers movement. If there is an IMD alert, do not go, and do not argue with a forest officer who says the same.

Water. The heart-shaped lake looks shallow and inviting. Do not enter it.

Group discipline. Stay together. The trail is single-file in places and groups string out badly on the descent. When to cancel or turn back from a trek is the right reading before you set out with a mixed-fitness group.

First aid. Blisters, leech bites, sunburn, dehydration, twisted ankles. Our first aid kit for Sahyadri treks list covers all of it.

Emergency numbers. Police 112. DFO South Wayanad +91 4936-203428. Range Forest Officer +91 8547602680.

Common Mistakes

Booking a "Chembra summit trek". There is no such thing. The summit is closed and has been since around March 2019.

Believing "Strawberry Hills" is a Wayanad destination. It is a hotel brand, not a place.

Arriving at 10 am on a Saturday. The cap is somewhere between 75 and 88 people a day. You will be turned away.

Quoting the Rs 750 fee. That is Kerala Tourism's legacy ecotourism page. The current schedule is Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 for a group of five.

Assuming you can Enquire. DTPC's page says offline only. The state ecotourism portal exists and may or may not list Chembra on your date. Have both plans.

Assuming it is still closed after the landslides. It reopened, reportedly from 21 October 2024, after the High Court cleared Wayanad's ecotourism centres. Old articles say otherwise.

Bringing plastic bottles. Checked at the counter.

Underestimating the sun. Three and a half kilometres does not sound like much until you do it on open grass at midday.

Best Time to Visit

October to February — the best window. Post-monsoon, the grass is still green into December, the air is clear, and the temperature is comfortable for a morning climb. December and January are the peak, which also means the daily cap bites hardest on weekends. Go on a weekday if you can.

February to April — go early, and check for fire closures. The grass browns off, the heat builds, and this is the fire-alert season when Chembra has historically been shut for extended periods. Beautiful light, real risk of a wasted trip.

May — pre-monsoon. Hot, hazy, and thunderstorms start building in the afternoons. Morning only.

June to August — the South-West monsoon. Kerala Tourism lists August to May as the season, which technically includes August, but the reality is heavy rain, zero visibility, mud, leeches in numbers, and frequent alert-day closures. After 2024, closures in this window are quicker and more common. Skip it.

September — a quiet, underrated shoulder. The rain is easing, everything is green, and the crowds have not returned.

FAQ

Q: Is the Chembra Peak summit open for trekking? A: No. DTPC Wayanad states that the latter half of the trek, from the heart-shaped lake onward to the peak, has been restricted due to wildlife activity. Trekking to the highest point was possible until around March 2019. The trek now legally ends at the lake, about 1.5 km short of the summit.

Q: What is the heart-shaped lake called? A: Hridayathadakam, also written Hridaya Thadakam or hridayasarassu. Kerala Tourism and DTPC both use the name. It sits about 3 to 3.5 km up the trail from the jeep drop-off point.

Q: How much does the Chembra Peak trek cost in 2026? A: DTPC Wayanad's published fare list gives Rs 4,000 for 5 persons trekking, Rs 800 per additional person, Rs 1,000 for 5 students, and Rs 8,000 for 5 foreigners, plus a Rs 50 visit fee (Rs 80 foreigners), Rs 53 still camera and Rs 301 video camera. Onmanorama reported Rs 5,000 for a group of 5 adults after the October 2024 revision. Kerala Tourism's ecotourism page still shows an older Rs 750 per group of 10 rate, which is out of date. Budget Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 for a group of five.

Q: What is the daily limit for the Chembra trek? A: The sources disagree. Pre-2024 reporting describes 200 trekkers per day. Onmanorama reported the limit was cut to 75 as part of the October 2024 reopening. DTPC's page currently states "Up to 88 pax". Assume somewhere between 75 and 88, first-come-first-served, and be at the counter at 7 am.

Q: What are the Chembra Peak trek timings? A: DTPC lists entry from 07:00 to 15:00. Kerala Tourism gives visiting hours of 7 am to 5 pm, with anyone intending to trek required to reach before 2 pm. Start at 7 am.

Q: Can I book the Chembra trek online? A: DTPC Wayanad's page states that only offline booking is available. The Kerala Forest Department does run a statewide ecotourism booking portal at ecotourism.forest.kerala.gov.in, with an Android app, but whether Chembra is listed there on your date varies. Check the portal and plan for the offline counter.

Q: Is Chembra Peak still closed after the 2024 Wayanad landslides? A: No. All Wayanad ecotourism centres were shut after the 30 July 2024 landslides in Meppadi panchayat. The Kerala High Court cleared the lifting of the ban, and Onmanorama reported Chembra Peak's reopening scheduled for 21 October 2024, with a reduced daily cap and revised fees. DTPC Wayanad currently publishes live timings and fares.

Q: Is "Strawberry Hills" a place in Wayanad? A: No. It does not appear on DTPC Wayanad's destinations list, on Kerala Tourism's Wayanad pages, or in any Kerala Forest Department material. It is a hospitality brand name that circulates in aggregator content.

Q: How high is Chembra Peak? A: 2,100 m, or 6,890 ft. It is the highest peak in the Wayanad hills. Both Wikipedia and DTPC Wayanad give the same figure.

Q: How do I reach Chembra from Mumbai? A: Fly Mumbai to Kozhikode (Calicut International, Karipur), about one hour forty-five minutes, then drive two and a half to three hours up to Meppadi. Kerala Tourism puts Chembra at 92 km from the airport and 79 km from Kozhikode railway station; DTPC gives 99 km and about 90 km respectively.

Conclusion

Chembra is a good trek sold badly. Three and a half kilometres from tea into open grassland, a heart-shaped lake at 2,000-odd metres that genuinely looks like the photographs, and a view across the whole Wayanad plateau. That is worth a 7 am start and a flight to Kozhikode.

What it is not is a summit trek, and the number of operators still selling it as one tells you how little most Wayanad content is checked. The top 1.5 km has been closed since 2019. Book knowing that, and you will not be disappointed at the lake.

Then treat the logistics seriously. The cap is small, somewhere between 75 and 88 people a day. The counter is offline. The fee is four to five thousand for a group of five, not the Rs 750 you will read on a stale page. And Wayanad closes things fast, for fire in February, for rain in July, and for reasons the district administration decides on a Tuesday.

Call first. Go in November. Be there at seven.

Call to Action

Pairing Wayanad with Kerala's high range? Read our Meesapulimala trek guide for the Munnar half of the trip, and the Kerala tour guide covering places, packages and season for the full itinerary. If you are trekking anywhere in the Ghats in the rains, start with monsoon trekking safety in the Sahyadri.

Image Alt Text Suggestions

1. Heart-shaped lake Hridayathadakam on Chembra Peak, Wayanad
2. Tea plantation section at the start of the Chembra Peak trek
3. Open grassland slope above the tea on the Chembra trail
4. View across the Wayanad plateau from near the heart-shaped lake
5. Forest Department ticket counter and permit office near Meppadi
6. Jeep transfer from the watchtower parking to the Chembra trek start point
7. Chembra Peak seen from the tea estates of Meppadi
8. Signboard marking the restricted section above the heart-shaped lake
9. Trekkers descending the steep grass slope on Chembra Peak
10. Misty morning on the Chembra Peak trail, Wayanad district

Sources

1. Chembra Peak Trekking and the heart-shaped lake — Kerala Tourism Ecotourism: https://www.keralatourism.org/ecotourism/trekking-programs/chembra-trek/14
2. Chembra Peak — DTPC Wayanad: https://www.dtpcwayanad.com/destination/chembra-peak-wayanad
3. Chembra Peak — Kerala Tourism: https://www.keralatourism.org/destination/chembra-peak-wayanad/508/
4. Chembra Peak — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chembra_Peak
5. "Wayanad ecotourism centres opening: Dates, new entry fees, daily visitor limits and more" — Onmanorama, 18 October 2024: https://www.onmanorama.com/travel/kerala/2024/10/18/wayanad-ecotourism-dates-new-entry-fees.html
6. "Wayanad to reopen eco-tourism centres as HC gives nod" — Onmanorama, 27 September 2024: https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2024/09/27/wayanad-eco-tourism-centres-to-reopen-soon.html
7. "Wayanad opens more tourism destinations: Where all can tourists go?" — Onmanorama, 1 September 2024: https://www.onmanorama.com/travel/kerala/2024/09/01/wayanad-landslide-tourism-centres-open-edakkal-caves-pazhassi-park-panjarakkolli.html
8. 2024 Wayanad landslides — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Wayanad_landslides
9. Ecotourism — Kerala Forest Department: https://forest.kerala.gov.in/en/ecotourism/
10. Kerala Forest Ecotourism booking portal: https://ecotourism.forest.kerala.gov.in/
11. Chembra Peak destination page — Kerala Tourism Ecotourism: https://www.keralatourism.org/ecotourism/destinations/chembra
12. "Three Tourist Places In Wayanad Reopened With Restrictions" — Outlook Traveller, 2 September 2024: https://www.outlooktraveller.com/News/three-tourist-places-in-wayanad-reopened-with-restrictions

Chembra Peak's fee schedule, daily cap and open status have all changed since 2024 and the published sources do not fully agree. Confirm with DTPC Wayanad (+91 493 628 2001) or the DFO, South Wayanad (+91 4936-203428) before you book travel.