Jim Corbett National Park

Jim Corbett National Park lies in the Nainital and Pauri Garhwal districts of Uttarakhand in northern India, at the foot of the Himalaya. The gateway town is Ramnagar, about 250 kilometres northeast of Delhi. The park covers about 520 square kilometres and forms the core of the larger Corbett Tiger Reserve.

It was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park, the first national park in India, and was renamed in 1957 after Jim Corbett, the hunter turned naturalist and author who helped set it up. In 1973 it became the first reserve under Project Tiger.

Habitats include sal forest, riverine belts along the Ramganga River, hills and open grasslands called chaurs. The park holds one of the densest tiger populations in India, plus Asian elephants, leopards, sloth bears, several deer species and gharials and mugger crocodiles in the river. More than 500 bird species have been recorded.

The park is divided into tourist zones such as Dhikala, Bijrani, Jhirna, Dhela and Durga Devi, each with its own gate. Jeep and canter safaris must be booked through the official Corbett booking site, and most zones close in the monsoon. Dhikala, with its forest lodge, is usually open from mid-November to mid-June.

260 tigers counted in the 2022 census

The 2022 tiger census counted 260 tigers in Corbett, one of the highest numbers in any Indian reserve. The wider Corbett Tiger Reserve now covers about 1,288 square kilometres, with a core zone of 822 square kilometres and 466 square kilometres of buffer. Sightings are never guaranteed, but the open grasslands of Dhikala give the best chance.

From the Patli Dun valley to the Shivalik ridges

The park lies between about 400 and 1,040 metres above sea level, rising from the plains of the Patli Dun valley to the Shivalik ridges. Dhikala's forest rest house stands at the edge of that valley with Kanda ridge behind it. A dam on the Ramganga at Kalagarh created a reservoir in the south-west of the park that draws wintering birds and crocodiles, though it flooded about 80 square kilometres of riverside land.

Most rain falls from July to September, when the rivers rise and safari roads wash out, which is why the core zones close. Winter mornings from December to February are cold in an open jeep, often near freezing, so bring warm layers and a hat.