By road
~260 km from Delhi, ~62 km from Nainital
North India · Uttarakhand
Jim Corbett, Uttarakhand
India's first national park · ~260 km from Delhi, ~62 km from Nainital
Getting there
By rail
Ramnagar (RMR), ~12-15 km
By air
Pantnagar Airport, ~50-83 km, with limited flights; Delhi (~250-260 km) is the more practical, better-connected option
Best time to visit
November to June; Dhikala zone is the classic (book early)
Don't miss
Dhikala grasslands
Corbett Falls
Garjiya Devi Temple
Corbett Museum
Things to do
Jeep safaris
Elephant-grass birding
Kosi riverside evenings
Where to eat
Sources: wikimedia, Photo: wribs (Flickr) · CC BY 2.0
What to pack
Neutral colours, binoculars, warm dawn layers, zone permits sorted ahead
A quieter corner
An overnight inside Dhikala forest lodge — dawn grasslands to yourself
About Jim Corbett
- Forest
Where it is
Jim Corbett National Park lies in the Shivalik foothills of the Himalaya in Uttarakhand, where the Ramganga river winds through sal forest and grassland; Ramnagar, in the Nainital district, is its gateway town.
History
Established in 1936 as Hailey National Park, it was India's first national park, and in the 1970s it was chosen as the launch site of Project Tiger. It was later renamed after Jim Corbett, the hunter turned conservationist and writer who knew these forests well and helped to establish the park.
People
The villages around the park are home to Kumaoni and Garhwali communities, and Hindi, Kumaoni and Garhwali are spoken. Tourism around Ramnagar now employs many local families as guides, drivers and naturalists.
Known for
- Bengal tigers and wild elephants
- The Dhikala grasslands
- The Ramganga river and reservoir
- Birdwatching
- The Corbett Museum at Kaladhungi
Did you know?
Jim Corbett's book Man-Eaters of Kumaon, about the big cats he tracked in these hills, became an international bestseller in the 1940s.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.