Plan by interest
Sport & golf
Fairways, the races & the wild
Tee off on hill golf courses laid out over a century ago, catch the summer races, cast for trout on the high lakes, or track big game on a Sigur safari.
Best season
April – June (races) · golf year-round
Suggested length
2–3 days
Golf is in the Nilgiris' blood — the Ootacamund and Wellington gymkhana courses are among the finest hill layouts in the country, and the high reservoirs still hold trout for the patient angler.
In summer the Ooty races draw a crowd, and the forests at Sigur on the Mudumalai edge offer some of South India's best big-game watching.
Things to do
Droog Fort
A ruined hill-fort once held by Tipu Sultan, reached by a forest trek through tea and shola to a 6,000-foot lookout.
Hidden Valley Trek
A steep, lightly used trail dropping off the Dolphin's Nose ridge into a wooded valley below the tea line.
Rangaswamy Peak & Pillar
A sacred conical peak and a detached rock pillar above Kotagiri, ringed by Badaga and Irula legend and a demanding day-trek.
Kukal Caves
A cluster of rock shelters near Kil Kotagiri linked to the hills' indigenous past, reached by a walk through tea and grassland.
Sigur Plateau & Mudumalai Safari
Below the Kalhatti ghat the hills fall away into the Sigur plateau — one of South India's great elephant corridors and the gateway to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, where dawn and dusk jeep safaris run through dry-deciduous forest.
Clubs, sport & leisure
Wenlock Downs · Ooty
Ootacamund Gymkhana Golf Club
An 18-hole course laid out from 1889 across the rolling Wenlock Downs at around 7,000 ft — among the finest natural golf settings in the country.
See the planWellington · Coonoor
Wellington Gymkhana Club
One of India's oldest clubs (1873), set in a valley between Wellington and Coonoor, with a celebrated 18-hole hill golf course and a long army heritage.
See the planOoty
The Ooty Races
Summer horse racing at the high-altitude Ooty Race Course, run by the Madras Race Club — morning meetings from April to June, a Nilgiris tradition since the 1890s.
See the planOoty
Trout Fishing — Avalanche, Emerald & Parsons Valley
Permit-based trout angling on the high shola lakes — Avalanche, Emerald and Parsons Valley — stocked with trout since colonial days and set amid some of the Nilgiris' wildest country.
See the planWhere to stay
Planning tips
- Golf and club access usually need a member's introduction or an affiliated-club letter — check ahead.
- Trout fishing is permit-based through the Department of Fisheries.
- The Ooty race season runs roughly April to June, with morning meetings.