Sathanur Dam-ideal biking as well as family destination!

As I was scanning for places worth visiting around Tiruvannamalai, Sathanur Dam came to my attention. We rode there in the afternoon time, with very minimum expectation as it was summer. As I reached the Sathanur dam area, I was expecting to be told to park somewhere nearby and go by walk to the dam. But to my surprise there were no such restrictions and we could ride all the way into the dam area and beyond. Rode as far as I could go- crossed the main dam and rode on top of two other dams. There was still a dirt track further but at some point decided to stop and turn around. Will add a video soon on my channel, do subscribe.

 Crest gates

After riding as far as we felt like, returned to main dam area. Parked the bike, walked around a small park and then entered main dam. Being March, water level was low-but it was there nonetheless. The garden on the other side was well maintained- was colourful had trees and covered sitting areas- ideal for picnic crowd.

We walked as far as allowed and took stairs down. Besides the dam, Sathanur dam area has few other attractions:

A public swimming pool with dive facility

A crocodile bank-bit further, needs some walking- we skipped it as we’d seen crocodiles in the crocodile bank located in ECR.

A castle wall- gives some ok view

A small bird captivity area and several parks for people to relax and kids to play. Parks seem to be colourful and well maintained. Couple of restaurants and shops exist for refreshments. There’re many well maintained statues-dinosaur, tiger etc to get photos clicked.

Will definitely revisit Sathanur Dam one more time post monsoon. It is some 30 kms from Tiruvannamalai town. Convenient if you have a vehicle but we did see some private buses operating- so you can try public transportation if you wish to. No entry fee/parking fee was collected from us.  

Sathanur Dam is about 190 kms from Bengaluru and 210 kms from Chennai. Same day return trip is possible but will be hectic. Best option would be to stay overnight at Tiruvannamalai and include few more destinations enroute (Javadhu Hills/Yelagiri or Hogenakkal if coming from Bengaluru side, or Vedanthangal, Gingee fort, Tiruvannamalai town if coming from Chennai side) and make it a 2 day trip. Vellore and Salem are other two major towns (100-150 kms range)