Best National Parks in India

Nature lover, love jungle safaris and to travel? Here are some of the best national parks in India that you must absolutely visit-

1. Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand

Established in 1936, this is India’s first national park. It takes its name from Jim Corbett, the legendary tiger hunter who put Kumaon on the map with his famous book The Maneaters of Kumaon. The park is more than 1300 sq km in area and home to nearly 200 majestic tigers and about 300 moody wild elephants, sloth bears, langur monkeys, peacocks, otters, gharials, several species of animals amongst others. The best time to go would be from November to May.

2. Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan

1334 sq km of the jungle around the 10th century Ranthambore Fort, the national park has only 32 wild tigers but around 300 species of birds. One must plan at least a few safaris in the exciting open-top canters and Gypsys to be able to get a glimpse of the tigers. The park is open from October to June but the best time to go would be between November and March.

3. Sunderbans National Park, West Bengal

The home of the famous Royal Bengal tiger, Sunderbans is the attraction of coastal West Bengal. A boat cruise on the muddy rivulets, through the dense mangrove forests, may not guarantee a sight of the tigers but is a visit that you are going to be extremely thrilled by. It is the largest concentration of Royal Bengal tigers on the planet and the water channels and semi-submerged mangrove forests make the largest river delta in the world. This place is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and whether you see a spotted deer, a kingfisher or one of the shy tigers, November-May would be an ideal time to visit.

4. Kaziranga National Park, Assam

Kaziranga has the largest population of the rhinos in India (1800 of them!). These savannahs are another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The rhinos add up to around two-thirds of the world’s entire rhino population. Apart from the one-horned beasts, Kaziranga has the highest density of tigers, elephants, exotic swamp deer, water buffaloes, leopards and several resident migratory birds. November-May is the time to go.

5. Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh

It is India’s youngest national park in Kullu with nearly 750 sq km area that covers forests, glaciers, snowy peaks and streams. The Tirthan River originates deep within this park. Rare plant species like the nag chattri are found here along with about 180 species of birds and rare mammals like the Himalayan black bear, musk deer and snow leopard. One can also see a goral here, which is an antelope, and a tahr, which is a gravity defying, cliff-hanging mountain goat. Rarely sighted pheasants like the blue-horned western tragopan are also found here. One must get their permits from the Interpretation Centre in Sairopa Village and visit either between March-June or September-November.