Over a hundred metres of water split into three cascades, and a 4 km walk before you reach the foot of the first one.
Duchess Falls is among the most beautiful cascades at Pachmarhi, crashing over a hundred metres and making a roar you hear before you see anything. It is also the least casual of the plateau's waterfalls to visit.
The water bifurcates into three separate cascades on the way down. Reaching the base of even the first cataract involves a walk of about 4 km, which filters out most of the crowd and is the reason the fall still feels remote. Anyone who wants the full sequence of three should treat the day as a trek rather than a sightseeing stop.
The nearest of the three cascades is about 4 km in on foot, and the base of it is where most visitors stop. The noise in the hollow is considerable when the fall is in flow.
The route to the falls descends through the Satpura hill forest and is the larger part of the experience. It is steep in places and poorly shaded in others, so the walk out needs to be planned, not improvised.
This is a trek, not a roadside viewpoint. Allow most of a day and treat the descent and return seriously.
The weeks just after the monsoon, in October and November, give the best combination of strong flow and manageable footing. The height of the rains makes the descent dangerous. By late in the dry season the water reduces, though the walk remains worthwhile.
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