Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
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To sum up everything about the place, Corbett is a great place for wildlife viewing, of great variety including tigers as well as birds! It has great landscapes to offer too.
Tiger sightings are common, especially in summers. Other mammals include four type of deer(chitals, barking deer, hog deer and sambar), otters, wild boars, elephants, etc. When it comes to birds, Corbett is a heaven for seeing raptors(birds of prey) and has sightings of more than 40 species! The common ones include Crested Serpent Eagle, Changeable hawk eagle, and Pallas fishing eagle. I sighted several vultures too. Overall, more than 400 species have been sighted in Corbett. You also get to see Gharials and crocodiles in Ramaganga River.
Deer crossing! The waterbody see behind is the Ramaganga river
With Ramaganga River and several small streams flowing in the park surrounded by Himalayan foothills, Corbett has great landscapes to offer. It is especially beautiful during winter mornings.
HOW TO REACH
Corbett is just 6-8 hour drive from Delhi via Moradabad, Kashipur and Ramnagar. Ramnagar is the nearest town head to Corbett. If you are taking a bus from Delhi, there are several buses plying directly to Ramnagar, or you can change buses at Moradabad to Ramnagar. You can also take a train to Ramnagar.
ACCOMMODATION
There are a couple of budget hotels in Ramnagar on Ranikhet road, which also hosts the CTR(Corbett Tiger Reserve) office.
There are many resorts spread all along the Nainital highway outside Ramnagar and on the way to the reserve. The forest department runs a tourist complex in the heart of the park at Dhikala. Dhikala is a great place to stay as well as for wildlife viewing. It is located on a large grassland, with Ramaganga to one edge of the complex and thick forest on another side. Tigers are often spotted walking on the riverbed close to the tourist complex. There are many other guest houses in the park at places like Sarapdhauli, Khinnanauli, Gairal and a few more. Except for Dhikala, other places do not have food and other conveniences and you need to make your own arrangements. All these places have to be booked at CTR office at Ramnagar.
SIGHTSEEING AND SAFARI
As I mentioned earlier, Dhikala is a good base for roaming around the forest. Access to Dhikala is restricted to those who are staying in the forest department guesthouses. For those who do not stay in these guest houses, only way to go to Dhikala is to take the CTR group safari van, which leaves everyday early in the morning(approx 8 hours, 100kms). But there are other places like Bijrani area where you can take your own vehicle with a guide along. Permission can be taken at CTR office for this. If you opt to stay in Dhikala, you may have to hire a jeep to travel into Dhikala and for roaming around the forest once you are there. No other transport is available to reach Dhikala. When you are on the way to Dhikala, don’t miss giving a visit to the museum at Dhangadi gate. You can also opt for elephant safaris(twice a day, morning and evening) at Dhikala.
Tourist at Elephant Safari
Best time to see animals in Corbett is summer. But keep in mind that it will be very hot there in the summer. Winter mornings are a great time to see beautiful landscape of Corbett. The reserve is closed for visitors during the rainy season between June and November.
More on Corbett National Park at paintedstork.com
* Images from Corbett
* Arriving at Corbett
* First day at Corbett: safari day trip to Dhikala
* Corbett: In the nature - A struggle between fear and love
* The desperate tourist’s tiger hunt
* Photo Essay: Landscapes of Corbett
* My Days in Corbett
* Encounter with Pachyderms
* Information about Corbett National Park
* Moving on from Corbett
Hi Arun,
I am visiting Corbett early December 1-4th this year and was wondering about the accomodations in Dhikala - I know it’s the best place to stay for good wildlife viewing but most people report that the resthouses are pretty basic (almost bad). I have roughed it before in camps but don’t want to this time since it’m my honeymoon — so are there better accomodations within Dhikala? Are the cabins good? Thanks…I will check your blog again but you can also write me at nits_nyc@yahoo.com if you have time.
Hi Nithya:
I was surfing the net and saw your enquiry blog. I am a person who visits corbett tiger reserve almost everymonth and i can throw some light on your trip. To start with the present director of the corbett tiger reserve has done wonders in terms of promoting tourism which was only possible by improving the overall standard of accomodation in dhikala and the other forest rest houses. in my opinion the best acco is the old forest rest house followed by annexie. you are not going to need an ac in december because let me tell you, corbett is biting cold in december but it is fun at the same time.
I would have preferred a secluded forest rest house like gairal, sarpduli etc. had i been in your place for the simple reason being that it is going to be your honeymoon and i would have loved to have some privacy. you can get pretty comprehensive information on all the forest rest houses on http://www.reachingwild.com/generalinfofrh.html
All the best and have a nice trip
Bye