Location of Kanha National Park: - The Kanha national park is nestled in the satpura hills of central India. Madhya Pradesh the heart of India is where Kanha National park is located in the districts of Mandala and Kalaghat.
How to Reach Kanha National Park
By Road -The Kanha national park can be approached via Jabalpur (NH-30), the nearest town to Kanha driving through mandila. You can also approach the Kanha National Park through Raipur. There are three gates leading to the national park, while coming from Jabalpur side you can access the Kanha/ Kisli the other gates are Mukki and Sarhi.
By Rail- The Jabalpur railway station is the major railways station near the Kanha national park, Jabalpur railway station has connections and trains from all major stations of India namely Bhopal, Delhi, Ahmadabad and Mumbai.
By Air- The Jabalpur airport is the nearest airport (175 kms) from Kanha national park the Jabalpur airport is very well connected with all the major airports of India.
Features of Kanha National park
Kanha is the largest national park of India encompassing an impressive area of around 1000 sq kilometers. This is the national park which lead and inspired Rudyard Kipling to his dreamland. The famous work “The Jungle book is based on the Kanha National Park. This is one of the oldest national park of India which was a wildlife sanctuary during the English times. The satpura ranges of the maikal area of Madhya Pradesh which are famous for their picturesque locations are the heartland where the Kanha National park is based.
Flora and Fauna at Kanha National Park
The central India specially the Kanha national park are the home to numerous endangered wild life species specially the Royal Bengal Tiger, the Barah Singha. The long list of fauna at Kanha national park has wild dogs, sloth bear, foxes, jackals, leopard, gaur, many varieties of deer including the endangered black buck. The park has more than 300 species of birds. The jungle is a Sal forest (Shorea Robusta) interspersed with many other varieties of trees. The area is a dry deciduous forest with ample of fodder for the antelope varieties to graze. These species in fact support the large carnivores this park is famous for.
Zones at Kanha National Park - The Kanha national park is divided in to two major regions the Hallon & Banjar region, while there are four zones in the Kanha national park.
1. Kisli Zone
2. Kanha Zone
3. Mukki Zone
4. Sarhi Zone
There are both jeep safari and Elephant safari conducted at the Kanha national park. The safari are conducted in two respective shifts one at the morning time and the other in the afternoon.
Timings---------------------------------Morning Shift---------------------------Afternoon Shift
Winter (October-March)-----------------7 am to 10:30 am---------------------------2 pm to 5:30 pm
Summer (April-June)--------------------6:30 am to 10:30 am------------------------2:30 pm to 6 pm
The jeep safari is the best way to explore the jungle of Kanha, the morning safari is a bit expensive then the afternoon safari. The elephant safari are conducted only in the morning time and the rates for elephant safari are on per person basis.
Accommodation at Kanha National Park
All sorts of resorts suiting all kind of budget are available at Kanha while you can choose a high end resort like shergarh tented camp, Singinawa jungle lodge, Banjaar tola, Tuli tiger corridor.
Luxury resort like - Kanha jungle lodge, Kanha earth lodge, the bagh resorts.
Standard Budget Resorts - Kanha meadows retreat, Grand tigers resort Kanha, Satya Ashoka resort, MK resort Kanha.
The reservation is done on full board basis including the breakfast, lunch and the dinner as the jungle has no restaurants/ eateries.
Best Time to Visit Kanha National Park - The Kanha national park falls in the central India with very moderate winters and no fog (Except few days of December/January) so the best time to visit Kanha is during October –march as the temperature stays very comfortable around 25 degree Celsius, night is also not very cold around 15 degree Celsius. The summers here are very hot as the temperature goes up to 40 Degree Celsius while the park is closed during the monsoon time in July, August, and September.
