Unchalli Falls (Lushington Falls) near murdeshwar

Unchalli Falls (Lushington Falls)

Unchalli Falls (also called Lushington Falls) is perhaps one of India's most spectacular waterfalls. We were certainly impressed with this falls given its practically unchecked flow, its rather unusual shape (almost Vidfoss-like), and its dramatic scenery amongst the lush and remote forested hills of the Uttara Kannada District. I guess depending on your mood and your experience, it can be argued that this waterfall is even more impressive than a compromised Jog Falls, and this thought may be reflected by the fact that sometimes this falls is referred to as Keppa Jog. We happened to come to this 116m falls at around midday, which seemed to be a perfect time for seeing a rainbow appearing in the waterfall's rising mist.
We almost nixed the idea of coming to Unchalli Falls because we had originally thought that accessing it required a hot and sweaty 5km or 3.1-mile (each way) trek through mostly thick jungle from the village of Heggarne (some 30km south-southwest of Sirsi). In fact, we still saw some misleading signage at a turnoff just north of the town of Siddapur saying the fall's access was barely 5km from that spot (probably in reference to the old access).
Fortunately for us, there was a longer more involved road access on what were apparently newly-built roads winding through the Western Ghats past some local villages to a humble car park (more like a pulloff with a gazeebo and shack nearby) by a sharp turn. This reduced the walk to a mere 0.5km each way or 1km round trip on a fairly steep and muddy foot-traffic-only 4wd track. A lot of the infrastructure here appeared to be either new or in the process of being built so by the time you end up visiting the falls, perhaps access will be even easier and more convenient.
Near the end of the 0.5km steeply sloping muddy road, there was a flat area with benches and some latrine toilets (which were very disgusting when I was there as the rooms were caked in fecal matter on the floor). From this little rest area, it was just a few paces to an elevated sheltered lookout platform providing awesome views of the falls.
There were stairs leading down to a second sheltered platform (under construction when we were there, but the workers were kind enough to let me take photos from within the work zone) as well as an open-air third viewing spot at the end of the steps. The second platform was my personal favorite of the viewing spots due to the nicely framed foliage below the falls as well as a glimpse of its bottom. However, the last viewpoint (be careful here as there's an open side without a railing and the ground can be muddy with spray from the falls) got us even closer to eye level with Unchalli Falls. Beyond this viewpoint, it didn't seem possible to safely make it further to the bottom.
As of our visit, they didn't yet collect any fees (especially camera fees or two-tiered fees for foreigners) as the area was still not quite on the tourist radar. It seemed that pretty much the only people that knew about Unchalli Falls were locals as well as specific tour groups (we happened to meet a Yoga Group from Shimoga town somewhere near Bangalore some 300km or more away from this falls).
I'm sure this will change as this falls ought to get more attention along with the improving infrastructure (and associated cost for those things). There's also the potential to help boost the economy for the neighboring rural region, which is why I think it's only a matter of time before fees are collected for convenient access to the falls.
The British name of the falls was in honor of J.D. Lushington who was a District Collector for the British Government during their colonial rule of India and just happened to "discover" the falls in 1845.
Directions: I believe we could've gotten to Unchalli Falls directly after leaving Sirsi as I recalled seeing some signed turnoff on the way. But to be honest, Julie and I were a little disoriented as we had been driven around this part of the Western Ghats. So all we could offer up were the driving durations based on the notes we had taken.We reached this waterfall after visiting Jog Falls. It took us about 80 minutes to get from there to the trailhead for Unchalli Falls via the new road to get here.
When we left the falls, we drove a little over 2.5 hours to the beach town of Murudeshwar to the far south of Karnataka State.

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At the trailhead

The first platform

Descending to lower platforms

The second platform

View of the falls from the second platform

Heading back up to the trailhead on the muddy 4wd road

Surreal sunset at Murudeshwar with lots of fully clothed Indians in saris, lungis, or even more modern clothing enjoying the water