Yeoor Hills - our forest next door
Where you may sight leopards but can also see much more of nature
The mass of clouds over green-topped hills at a distance that you see on the south during monsoon at entrance to the Acura, Atelier and Azziano ABC wings is of Yeoor Hills. These forested hills are an amazing part of Thane not too far from Rustomjee Urbania as the distance to them by road is about 8 kilometres. In 2018, we went there for the first time since moving to Thane in 2016 and it was an amazing experience on a rainy day seeing greenery all around including on boundary walls which were covered by ferns growing on them. The place does give feeling of being at a hill station in monsoon. Amazing, isn't it and we haven't even been there in our time at Urbania?
Ferns on a wall of a building at Yeoor Hills (June 2018)
Yeoor Hills are northern part of Sanjay Gandhi or Borivali National Park and thus part of a forest which is protected against any human activity inside. Yes, there are leopards in there if you are curious to know (and like you would be regulalry reading about in papers when some leopards do stray into Thane). But there is more to these forests than just stray leopards.
Yeoor Hills can be approached from Thane and Mulund. At its boundaries there are hamlets called padas with people living in them and passing the forest each day to get to Thane and Mumbai. These padas also have numerous restaurants, pet training schools and sports training academies. The forest part is one you access by going through a Maharashtra Forest Department check post adjacent to Yeoor Lake. Four wheelers are charged a hefty fee for entry and so too each passenger inside. Walkers, cyclists and bikers go in free.
Once inside Yeoor Hills from the road near Upvan Lake (where the check post is) you through a steep gradient and are surrounded by thick forest. You will also pass an Air Force Station inside on your left as you progress. Fitness enthusiasts have been provided an open air gym near the Air Force Station. Anyone is allowed to use the gym. After driving about 5 kilometres you will find habitation. And thereafter you can keep driving though some of the roads inside end in dead ends. The forest part is quiet and peaceful with just trees. Seasonal wild flowers of the forest are also seen. Yeoor is also famous for numerous bird species. In rains Yeoor Hills is more like coastal Maharashtra and Karnataka than Mumbai. Unbelievable but true that we have a real and thick forest literally right next door. Some of the chill we experience during winter emanates from there. One can also park one's vehicle on the road near Upvan Lake and walk into Yeoor Hills without paying any entrance fee.
View of Yeoor Hills from Upvan Lake (January 2019)
By foot the Yeoor Hills can also be accessed from a gate near Tikoo Ji Ni Wadi where there is an entrance fee. That entry lets you into an area having small hill which you can climb. Lot of fitness enthusiasts go inside Yeoor Hills through that entrance daily. There is also a TMTU bus which goes to Yeoor Hills till the padas and is an inexpensive way to get there.
Yeoor Hills are a good place for long walks or runs (many people practicing for marathons use it to test them selves running up a gradient). They are a convenient place for picnics too or just dining out as the place has numerous restaurants. One can witness the life on farms (paddy fields atleas) as some crops are cultivated in small plots by the residents of padas inside Yeoor Hills. Due to the rush greenery in monsoon they make a great place for photography. The road upto the pada is generally dark and quiet. Do remember that the residents of the padas live with leopards and other wildlife literally in their backyard. As per my friend Kedar Bhide, a Thane resident and ace wildlife photographer, both humans and leopards at Yeoor Hills have learnt to live with each other peacefully (one reason you don't hear of human-leopard conflict from the padas). Wild life NGO's have played a big role in minimising leopard-human encounters through education of Yeoor Hill residents - the Forest Department too has played a proactive role in safety of Yeoor Hill residents from leopards.
North of Urbania is Parsik Hills (to your right when you drive towards Nashik). Those are no less pretty in the rains. Parsik Hills have been quarried for stone chips and thus spoilt by us humans. Right now no quarrying is allowed and so you can see greenery and during heavy rains water falls too. Residents of apartments on North and East of Urbania can see Parsik Hills from their apartments.
In monsoon one can see seasonal waterfalls at both Yeoor Hills and Parsik Hills. Also the entire open surface seems carpeted with green due to vegetation and this is actually a sight one can see by driving out of Mumbai in the western Ghats. Yeoor Hills are a free perk for Thaneitea and you have to use it and also help in its conservation. NGO's at Thane have been active in preventing garbage accumulation inside Yeoor Hills and also in preventing forest fires there during summer. Some NGO's are helping re-vegetate the patches that have been deforested.