About 17 kms into the majestic forest drive towards Pulpally, lies a small off road deviation towards Chethalayam Falls. You need to get a mandatory pass / permission from the Forest Range Office at Chethalayam (is on the roadside & you will not miss it). Try to plan the trip on a Saturday, just to make sure that the office is open and a guide will accompany you. This inconspicuous waterfall is about 4 kilometers by trek into the woodlands. Mainly of teak, the dense forest looks neatly planned with occasional thorny shrubs. You can drive an off-roader way into the jungle, should you have less time / energy for a trek.
Into the forest, the guide will ask you to park the vehicle on an open area, quite adjacent to a bush land. Less than 10 meters into the bush you will be amazed to see a powerful stream of muddy, red & violent (depends whether there is heavy rainfall inside the jumngle.. which carries silt from the river bed) chunk of water dropping to a deep rocky gorge. The beauty of the falls lie in the absolute camouflage that it renders to the surroundings. A small trickling sound of water would pretty much mean a small rivulet passing through the plains. Once you get near and transcend to the thick undergrowth, one gets amazed by the rich fauna & a balanced ecosystem of untouched natural splendor. The beauty is not without a fair share of risks. The rocks can get extremely slippery and take extreme care to latch onto some hard outgrowth as you descend deeper into the forest floor.Leeches are a million per square inch! You can literally see thousands of minute ones clogging onto your legs. Either have salt rubbed to your feet, or be extremely quick to manoeuver. Another plan is to use an old footwear and discard it after the experience. Our local guide told us that leech bites are good, it helps you with immune system & purifies the blood. God knows how!Warm summer months would mean that you would be able to spot the occasional elephant en-route. Guides are generally well aware & can direct you out of danger.
Getting There
By Air : The nearest airport is Calicut. From Calicut Airport, KTDC buses and taxis are available to move to Wayanad. Private taxis and buses are also an option to the tourists.
By Rail : The district is not connected by a railway network.
By Road : Wayanad’s Headquarters, Kalpetta is linked by road to other towns in Kerala and there are frequent buses to Calicut. SOme major city distances from Wayanad are: Calicut- 98 km, Kasargod- 216 Km, Trivandrum- 502 Km and Cochin- 286 Km.
