Delhi-to-Mussoorie – but not the ‘usual’ way There is the ‘usual’ way to go to Mussoorie. Leave Delhi by any of the bridges, head for Ghaziabad, Meerut, Muzzafarnagar, Roorkee, essentially on NH-58, with choked bypasses at some places giving variable experiences ranging from great-to-terrible. Then, at Roorkee, turn left on to NH73, also known as the ‘Dehradoon Road.’ At Chuttmalpur, get on to NH72A, which takes you straight through Dehradoon into Mussoorie, which is very well sign-posted all along the way. That’s a total of about 280-290 kilometres, and can take anything between 6 and 10 hours, depending on traffic – the last 35 kilometres or so being heavily deforested and using mountain road, shared aggressively between regulars and visitors. Most driving is maniacal at the best of times. And gridlock during the tourist rush gets especially heavy.

However, there is another issue with this ‘regular’ route. There are huge traffic jams en route for a variety of reasons – sugarcane trucks and trailers, walking pilgrims, bottle-necks at state borders, and heavy industrial traffic. Add unpredictable defence movements as well, and you can have a chancy experience.

So what’s the option? Actually, there are a few.

One option is to take the parallel ‘canal route’ in the plains, instead of the NH-58 - but everybody else has already discovered it, the road is narrow, berms have vanished, road quality has deteriorated, there are hardly any barriers between the road and the canal, and side-swiped cars going into the canal are not an unknown phenomenon.

But if you like rural scenery while driving in the plains, clipping along at a fair rate, and most of all - you want to get on to a relatively unknown and almost totally unused mountain road for the last section from Dehradun to Mussoorie, then at an increased driving distance of about 10 kilometres, going slower at some places but moving steadily, there is another optional route.

Briefly: Delhi - Baghpat - Shamli - Saharanpur - Dehradoon, and then the alternate mountain route - Dehradoon Cantt - Bijapur Canal Bridge - Gal Jwari Forest - LKD Marg - Haathi Paon turn - Mussoorie. The last parts, between Dehradun and Mussoorie, which are also known as ‘Cart Mckenzie Road, Cantonment Route and LKD Road/Marg,’ will require better than average mountain driving skills, and are not suggested at night unless you know the road. Mobile phone connectivity can also get patchy on this mountain segment. Most of the year, 2WD vehicles work very well, but if you want to go further into the mountains from some of the many quiet turn-offs here, then 4WD is a good idea – especially since it rains a lot more in this part of the country lately than it did before.



Directions – leave Delhi, cross the Yamuna by the Wazirabad Bridge near Majnu ka Tila (after ISBT Kashmere Gate if coming from South/New Delhi). Set trip meter to zero here. Turn left along the river onto the Marginal Bund Road (‘Pushta’). At some point, about 4 kilometres after the turn, you will cross a sleepy Delhi-UP Border check post. Please note – yellow plate, as well as commercial vehicles, might get into trouble here if road taxes for UP are not paid in advance elsewhere. Go through, and then turn left after ‘Tronica City’ onto SH57, also known as ‘Baghpat Road.’ This will take you through Baghpat. Next, at Shamli, there is a right turn at the main crossroads in town to stay on SH57 towards Saharanpur. There are 4 little used railway crossings along this route, and one busy railway crossing in Saharanpur. Go through Saharanpur, join NH73 towards Chutmalpur, and then straight on NH72A to Dehradoon.

Just before you actually enter the city of Dehradoon, after the tunnel, look for the Forest Research Institute or Balupur Chowk (note: most of the car companies have their dealerships and service centres in this area, so any pending or pre-mountain work should be done here).

The tricky part comes now – head left through Dehradun Cantt for ‘Supply.’ Turn left at ‘Supply’ to cross the Bijapur Canal Bridge, and then turn sharp left again, to enter the road going through the ‘Gal Jwari forest,’ where you’ll experience switchbacks, winding turns, sharp gradients, and the best views of the Shivaliks, the plains, as well as the Himalayas, all the way to the ‘Haathi Paon’ crossing, just short of Mussoorie. Incidentally, LKD stands for Lambadi, Kimari and Dehradoon, and are your waypoints, in case you need to ask.

There is not much by way of facilities on this route from Dehradun to Mussoorie. Please also note - this route is not on too many maps for a variety of reasons, but is being developed as an alternate route to Mussoorie, so there is much road enhancement work going on. Not difficult, but also not for the faint-hearted, and since there are no buses on this route - be prepared to help villagers who may ask for a lift. At some points you may spot fresh rock-falls - as a good citizen, stop and clear the road as best you can. Expect to reach heights of 6000-7000 feet above sea-level here, and be extremely careful of the edges.