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Pykara Falls & Lake

#6sur 6 lieux à visiter à OotyOoty, Tamil Nadu

Aussi appelé Pykara Lake · Pykara Boat House

L'essentiel

Horaires d'ouverture : 08:30–17:00. L'entrée est gratuite. Comptez 2 hrs. Meilleure période : 09:00 – 11:00.

Mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026 · Rédigé par Traveliac, avec assistance IA · 4 min de lecture

ItinéraireSite officiel

Photo: Shanmugamp7 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Horaires d'ouverture: 08:30–17:00; Falls hours. Boating on Pykara Lake runs 10:00–17:30.
Prix d'entrée: Gratuit
Durée nécessaire: 2 hrs
Meilleur moment de la journée: 09:00 – 11:00
Meilleurs mois: Oct – Mar
Adresse: Pykara, Udhagamandalam Taluk, Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu 643202

À propos de Pykara Falls & Lake

Pykara Falls and Pykara Lake sit roughly 2.5 kilometres apart on the Pykara river about 19 kilometres northwest of Udhagamandalam, and despite sharing a name and a road they are managed separately with distinct entry arrangements. The river itself originates in the Mukurthi hills inside the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and was dammed in stages from the 1930s to feed the Pykara hydroelectric scheme, one of the earliest hydropower projects in the Madras Presidency; the falls are formed where the river drops in twin cascades over a rocky escarpment below the dam. Pykara Lake, upstream of the falls, is bordered by pine and eucalyptus plantations and is the more developed of the two sites, with a Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation boat house offering motorboat and speedboat rides across the reservoir's calm water.

Meilleur moment de la journée : 09:00 – 11:00. Before tour buses arrive, and for the falls, soon after a rain spell when flow is highest.

Horaires de Pykara Falls & Lake

Pykara Falls & Lake ouvre à 08:30 et ferme à 17:00. Ces horaires valent aussi le samedi et le dimanche.

Horaires d'ouverture: 08:30–17:00; Mon–Sun 08:30–17:00; Falls hours. Boating on Pykara Lake runs 10:00–17:30.
Fermé le: Ouvert tous les jours

Mon–Sun	08:30–17:00

Horaires d'ouverture établis à partir de tamilnadutourism.tn.gov.in et de sources publiques, mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides

Prix d'entrée de Pykara Falls & Lake

Entry fees for Pykara Falls & Lake
Billet	Prix
Visiteurs indiens	Gratuit
Visiteurs étrangers	Gratuit
Enfants	Gratuit
Caméra	Gratuit

Pykara Falls entry is free; a nominal parking fee and a small battery-car charge apply for the short ride to the viewing platform. Pykara Lake, a separate site 2.5 km away, charges no entry but only boating fees: motorboats (8–15 seats) run approximately ₹770–₹1,240 plus tax for a 20-minute circuit, and 2-seater speedboats about ₹800 plus tax for 10 minutes, charged per boat. As of 2026, verify current boating rates at the TNTDC counter, since these are revised periodically.

Tarifs établis à partir de tamilnadutourism.tn.gov.in et de sources publiques, mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides

Meilleure période pour visiter Pykara Falls & Lake

Quiet
Moderate
Very busy

08:30 – 10:00
Early OpeningBest time to go
Falls viewpoint and lake boat counter are both quiet. Best light for photographs at the falls.
Quiet
10:00 – 13:00
Tour Convoy Peak
Ooty–Pykara–Mudumalai combination tour convoys arrive in volume, filling the falls car park and the lake's boating queue.
Very busy
13:00 – 15:30
Midday Lull
Some tour groups move on toward Mudumalai. Boating queue shortens but remains steady with independent visitors.
Moderate
15:30 – 17:00
Late Afternoon
Crowds thin ahead of closing time. Falls flow and lighting are less favourable than the morning window.
Quiet

Histoire de Pykara Falls & Lake

The Pykara hydroelectric project, commissioned in stages beginning in the 1930s, was among the first hydropower schemes built in the Madras Presidency and remains in operation as part of Tamil Nadu's grid today, drawing on the same dammed water that now also serves the tourist boat house. The falls themselves predate the dam by geological ages, cut into the escarpment by the Pykara river's natural descent from the Mukurthi plateau, but their present flow volume is now regulated indirectly by upstream dam releases rather than purely by monsoon rainfall, which means the falls can look markedly different, sometimes a thin trickle, sometimes a full cascade, depending on reservoir levels at the time of a visit. The lake and falls both fall within the wider Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, designated under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere programme in 1986 in recognition of the shola-grassland ecosystem's ecological significance, which is why parts of the wider Pykara catchment beyond the two tourist sites require forest department permits to enter.

Règles et étiquette à Pykara Falls & Lake

Pykara Falls charges no entry fee as of 2026, though a small parking charge applies and a battery-operated car ferries visitors the short distance from the car park to the falls viewpoint for a modest additional fee. Pykara Lake, by contrast, charges for boating rather than entry: a motorboat ride runs to roughly ₹770–₹1,240 plus tax depending on boat capacity (8 to 15 seats) for a 20-minute circuit, and a two-person speedboat ride costs about ₹800 plus tax for 10 minutes, both charged per boat rather than per passenger. Life jackets are mandatory on all lake boats and staff enforce this before departure. The falls viewpoint has metal railings along the main viewing platform, and crossing beyond them onto the wet rock ledges, a common temptation for photographs, is both prohibited and genuinely dangerous given the smooth, algae-covered stone. Swimming is not permitted at either site.

Conseils pour visiter Pykara Falls & Lake

1
Visiting Pykara Falls before mid-morning avoids the coach-tour rush that builds through the middle of the day, particularly on weekends when tour operators run Ooty–Pykara–Mudumalai combination day trips. Because the falls' flow depends partly on upstream dam releases, checking recent rainfall or asking locally about reservoir levels before making the 19-kilometre trip out from town can save a disappointing visit during a dry spell. Pairing the falls with the lake in a single outing is straightforward since they sit 2.5 kilometres apart on the same road, but budget at least two to three hours total given the separate ticketing and the queues that build at the lake's boat counter. The road out to Pykara passes through some of the more scenic rolling grassland in the wider Nilgiris, similar in character to Wenlock Downs, so the drive itself is worth allocating time for rather than treating as a formality between stops.

Comment se rendre à Pykara Falls & Lake

L'étoile rouge indique Pykara Falls & Lake ; les repères numérotés sont les 3 lieux les plus proches de nos guides, chacun avec son classement dans sa ville. Touchez un repère pour plus de détails.

Pykara, Udhagamandalam Taluk, Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu 643202Itinéraire sur Google Maps

Depuis Coimbatore International Airport (CJB)
₹2,200–₹3,000
105 km · 4–4.5 hours
Prepaid taxi).
Depuis Udhagamandalam Railway Station
₹500–₹700
19 km · 35–45 minutes
Auto or taxi, one way, negotiated).
Depuis Ooty Central Bus Stand
19 km · 40 minutes
TNSTC local bus approximately ₹25–₹40; taxi ₹500–₹700.

Aéroport le plus proche

Depuis Coimbatore International Airport (CJB)

approximately 100 km, about 4–4.5 hours by road via Ooty town.

Gare la plus proche

Depuis Udhagamandalam Railway Station

approximately 19 km, 35–45 minutes by road.

FAQ — Pykara Falls & Lake

Are Pykara Falls and Pykara Lake the same place?

No. They are two separate sites about 2.5 km apart on the same road, run by different authorities with separate entry and ticketing arrangements.

Is there an entry fee for Pykara Falls?

No, entry is free as of 2026. Only a small parking charge and a battery-car fee to reach the viewing platform apply.

How much does boating cost at Pykara Lake?

Motorboats cost roughly ₹770–₹1,240 plus tax for a 20-minute ride depending on capacity, and speedboats about ₹800 plus tax for a 10-minute ride, both charged per boat.

Why does the water flow at Pykara Falls vary so much between visits?

Because the river is dammed upstream for the Pykara hydroelectric scheme, so the falls' flow depends on dam release schedules as much as on recent rainfall.

Rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA à partir de sources officielles et de registres publics, et publié seulement après les vérifications décrites dans Comment nous rédigeons ces guides. Personne chez Traveliac ne s'est rendu sur place. Mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Comment nous classons et vérifions les lieux