Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand, India

Located in Ramganga valley in himalayan foothills C.N.P is honoured as first National Park of the country in 1936. Corbett is a Primitive Jungle and truely a Tiger country. It is a reservoir of wildlife having more than 50 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles and more than 550 species of Birds. Covering an area of 1318.54sq km it lies in hilly districts of Nainital, Pauri PGarhwal & Almora. Sonanadi WS & Kalagarh forest are part of this park.Project Tiger was inaugurated here on April 1, 1973. The center of tourist activity in the park always continues to be Dhikala, at the heart of the core area. Here, substantial residential accommodation has been built along one end of a large grassy plateau perched on the edge of the cliff bordering the Ramganga reservoir.The main feature of this ridged valley is the Ramganga River, running broadly west by south west, the catchment streams of which vivisect the land into numerous little ridges and ravines.The river teems with mahseer, gharial, mugger and flocks of cormorants.

Apart from tigers (90 in number in 1984), leopards as well as lesser cats such as the leopard cat, jungle cat, and fishing cat are also found here. The sloth bear, Himalayan black bear, dhole, jackal, yellow throated marten, Himalayan palm civet, Indian grey mongoose, common otter, porcupine, black naped hare,barking deer, para, kakkar, and the well known spotted deer chital are the other attractions of this area. It is possible to see elephants all over the park.There is a lot for the bird watching opportunities in this park as it has over 580 species of birds. Most of the water birds are the migrant variety, and arrive in winters. Some of these are the graylag, bareheaded goose, duck, grepe, snipe, sandpiper, gull and wagtail. The residents include darters, cormorants, egrets, heron.The reptiles, which are residents of this area, are the rare fish eating, long-nosed crocodile gharial, and a few species of turtles and tortoises. The Indian python, viper, cobra, krait and king cobra also inhabit the Corbett National Park.In the vicinity of the Corbett National Park are the wildlife sanctuaries like Rajaji National Park and Dudhwa National Park. Lucknow is the capital of Uttar Pradesh and one of the major tourist destinations in the country.

Come and explore this land. This place is intoxicating & virgin in true sense.

Getting there: Nearest airport is Pantnagar (110 kms) & railhead is Ramnagar (19 kms). It is 280 kms from Delhi. Places of Stay: Government guest houses:- Dhikala, Sarpduli, Khinanauli, Gairal, Sultan, Bijrani, Kanda etc.

CONTACT KGVM in Delhi – 011 – 3712246, 3350481, or Director, C. Tiger Reserve, Ramnagar, Ph: 05947-53977, 51489. Dhikala FRH-05947-251489,Bijrani FRH-251489.

Director, CNP, PO Ramnagar District Nainital, Uttarakhandl, Ph. 05947-244715,251489.