One of the top paragliding sites in India, Panchgani (पंचगणि) is a famous hill station and municipal council in Satara district in Maharashtra province. Panchgani is nestled at middle of five hills in the Sahyādri mountain ranges, also there are five villages around the Panchgani are Dandeghar, Khingar, Godwali, Amral and Taighat. The Krishnā River flows nearby which made the lake of Dhom Dam on the Krishna 9 km from Wai.

To the east of the Panchgani there are Wai, Bavdhan and Nagewadi dam, to the west there is Gureghar, to the south are Khingar and; Rajpuri,& to the north is Dhom Dam.

The temperature in Panchgani is around 12 degrees C during the winter, and sometimes reaches 34 C during the summer; however the humidity level is very low. The Monsoon rains are heavy and the rainy season lasts from June till February, allowing the region three months of relatively dry and sunny spring.

The five hills surrounding Panchgani are topped by a volcanic plateau, which is the second highest in Asia after the Tibetan plateau. These plateaus, alternatively known as “table land”, are a part of the Deccan Plateau and they were raised by pressure between the earth plates.

The site has East West and South facing takeoffs

Harisson’s Folly (Panchgani East) : 17°56’36” (17.9435)N; 73°49’53” (73.8316)E
Elevation : 1100 m. Motorable access. Nearly 1000 ft high.
Lots of flat ground for top landing even for student pilots.

Landing:
Bottom of hill, Fields cultivated and uncultivated 10 min walkable to a village called ‘Pasarni’ where public transport and sharable taxi is available for returning to take off point.

Panchgani west: : N 17° 55′ 51.6″ (17.931) E 73° 47′ 59.6″ ( 73.7999) or N 17° 55.86000′ , E 73° 47.99400′
Landing: Bottom of Hill: Uncultivated field, If you have enough height you could make it to the banks of lake which could also be a safe place for landing

Khingar (Panchgani South)take off : 17°53’49” (17.897)N; 73°49’5″ (73.8183)E
Elevation : 1174 m. Wide sandy and grassy slope.

Plane
The nearest international airports – Mumbai (4 hrs drive).

Panchgani is located at about 255 km from Mumbai.

You have various options to book your Taxis from Pune or Mumbai Airport:-
1.Ola Outstation (Download OLA App) or use  https://www.olacabs.com/outstation
2. Cab Booking – Outstation cabs, Car Rental, Taxi & Cars Booking (goibibo.com)
3. Uber intercity –  Download Uber App
4. Book Outstation Cabs Online for Oneway & Round Trip (ahataxis.com)

Bus
There are both private and public bus transport to Panchgani or Mahabaleshwar from Bombay and Pune.
Website: http://www.redbus.in

Train
Take a train to the nearest big city – Pune. It takes about 3,5 hours.
Web: http://www.indianrail.gov.in/know_Station_Code.html
From Pune take a bus. Panchgani is 120 km from Pune.