Vetal Hill

Vetal Hill, or Vetal Tekdi, rises to about 800 metres and is the highest point inside Pune's city limits. It is named after the temple of Vetala on the summit, near which the forest department keeps an observation deck. The hill belongs to Bhamburda Van Vihar on the city's western side, runs north to south over roughly 10.5 square kilometres and throws out two spurs, Fergusson College Hill and Chaturshringi Hill. A single road climbs from the south past a public car park, open from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm.

The cover is dry deciduous woodland of medium-sized trees and shrubs, dominated by Boswellia serrata and Anogeissus latifolia, with 416 flowering plant species recorded and endemics such as Jatropha nana and Cissus woodrowii. Around 240 bird species live in the woods, among them peafowl, flycatchers, rufous treepies and spotted doves. Sunrise and sunset draw photographers, though the summit is hard going in the monsoon and often wrapped in fog.