Corbett National Park

Corbett National Park has a spectacular and varied terrain, with 900 square kilometres of forest, hills and grassland plunging down to the wide Ramganga River. Located in the foothills of Kumaon Himalaya in the southern part of Uttaranchal, it was established in 1936 as India’s first national park, originally named Hailey National Park.

It was renamed in honour of one of its founder, hunter-turned-conservationist Jim Corbett, and it later became the first ‘Project Tiger Reserve’ in 1973. Jim Corbett also wrote his book Man-Eaters of Kumaon about his experiences tracking and shooting the Bengal tigers in this area in the early 20th Century. Corbett National Park has a strong association with tigers because of this and today it is home to a reasonable number of tigers. It also has a healthy population of wild elephants, chital, sambar, langur monkeys, leopard, spotted deer and sloth bear.

However, Corbett is most famous for its birdlife and it is a favourite park for bird-lovers. It is said that the rich birdlife in this region is due to the transition zone between high altitudes and the flat plains. The hill state of Uttaranchal as a whole offers an astounding diversity of birdlife, comprising close to 680 species of birds – this is roughly 50% of the bird species found in India. Birds spotted at Corbett include pied kingfishers, crested serpent eagles, Himalayan grey-headed fish eagle and the rare ibisbill.  

At Ampersand we have a deep understanding and love for Corbett and the surrounding region, and can design exceptional hand-crafted trips. Corbett combines nicely with a journey into the Himalayas, such as a Shakti kumaon Village Walk or a stay in Shimla.

Travel is the only thing that you buy that makes you richer.
Proverb