Introduction of Rajaji National Park
The Rajaji National Park is an Indian Tiger reserve and a tiger reserve, which is siutauted in Uttarakhand. Rajaji Tiger reserve encompasses the mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about 2400 km from the Indus River.
The Rajaji National Park is famously known for their Elephants. The population of elephants on this particular region is higher than the other animal’s population. Its estimated that there are more than 350 Asian elephants in this Rajaji National Park and the park is located at the foothills of the Himalayan ranges, near Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh with song and Ganga river, flowing through it.
The park is also known for it rich biodiversity, scenic beauty and the perfect bird watching destination.
Quick short history of Rajaji National Park
Let’s talk about history of Rajaji National Park. So in 1983, the Rajaji National Park were named after Chakravati Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) also known as Mootharignar Rajaji, who was a prominent leader and an independence activists. C. Rajagopalachari “Rajaji” was the second and last governor general of Independent India and also the one of the first recipients of India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1954.
In 1983, three sanctuaries in state of Uttarakhand i.e., Chilla, Motichur and Rajaji were fusion into a large protected area and named Rajaji National Park, in the honour of our governor general and freedom fighter late C. Rajagopalachari “rajaji”
Information about Rajaji National Park (Ticket price & opening time)
The Rajaji National Park is home for more than 400 species of birds including 11 species of woodpeckers, 5 species od barbets and 3 species of hornbill including the near threatened great pied hornbill thats the reason why the tourists and wildlife lovers attracted to this place.
The second main reason is endangered asian elephants population, more than 350 Asian elephants are here in this park.
The safari entry timing is from morning 6 am to 9 am & afternoon 3 pm to 4:30 pm, and the cost of a jeep for 6 persons is Rs 4500. Asian Elephants safari are also available at the price of Rs 1500, distance 1 km, outside the chilla zone. Always prefer afternoon jungle safari than morning one, chances of wild animals visibility will be greater in afternoon.
The Rajaji park has mainly 4 zones i.e., Chilla, Jhilmil, Ranipur and Motichur. All the zones are dense and carries varied flora and fauna and you can easily spot animals like Asian Elephants, Goral, Indian Hare, Barking Deer, Sambhar, Wild boar and many more.
Three main cities that are connected to the Rajaji National Park i.e., Haridwar, Dehradun and Rishikesh. The distance between these cities from Rajaji Park depends on your zone, but from Haridwar railway station its approx 24km and from Dehradun its approx 56 km and from Rishikesh its approx 18 km.
Best time to visit & timing of Rajaji National Park
The Rajaji National Park is a treasure trove of wildlife and scenic beauty of nature, but its not open 12 months of the year for visitors and tourists. The Rajaji National Park only opens from mid November to mid June, only for 7 months. The park closed during the rainy season for about 5 months due to flooding of streams there by making it inaccessible for all the tourists and visitors and also for maintenance of the park. The month of opening and closing of the park also varries from zone to zone.
The best time to visit this park is also between mid November to June and if you’re going for the first time in Rajaji National Park then the Motichur Safari Zone would be a perfect zone for some venturesome experiences, because of there sal forest.
The forest of Motichur zone looks very dense and tourists do safari of about 25km in this safari zone.
Best way to visit Rajaji National Park?
You can visit here by 3 ways of transportation ( Air, Train & by Road) and we will discuss the best routes by all three transports.
How to reach Rajaji National Park by Air?
You can take a flight from your respective cities to Dehradun,Uttarakhand, the nearest airport is “Jolly Grant Airports”, Dehradun. The jolly grant airport is just 37 km away from the entry gate of chilla zone and from airport the northern boundary of the Rajaji National Park is just few km away.
The journey from jolly grant airport to the chilla zone approximately takes 1 hour and you can book a cab online from the airport.
How to reach Rajaji National Park by Train
The nearest railhead is at Haridwar 24km and Rishikesh 18km to the Rajaji National Park , which takes approximately the same time. There are also availability of buses and cabs. You can travel by local transport like bus or hire a cab or even in share as well.
Many trains are running between Delhi and Dehradun like Nanda Devi AC express or Shatabdi. Check the details of the trains and Choose accordingly to your convenience.
How to reach Rajaji National Park by Cab & Personal Transport
Now, if you want to travel from Delhi to Rajaji park by road, you can book a personal cab from Delhi or you can take local Uttarakhand parivahan buses for travelling to Dehradun. If you’re travelling by your own vehicle then the best route to drive from Delhi to Rajaji National Park is Delhi -> Meerut -> Khatauli -> Muzzafarnagar -> Roorkee -> Haridwar -> chilla zone.
The journey will take approximately 4-5 hours of driving time to reach at the chilla zone which is located only 8 km away from the haridwar.
How we reached to Rajaji National Park
We all decided to take a private bus from Kashmere Gate, Delhi to Haridwar. The bus was decent and sleeper cabins were also available. At 12, we take our bus and at sharp 4am we were in the haridwar.
The fare of bus was also reasonable 400 per head for sleepers cabin (by the way we travelled in off seasons, fare can be varies by seasons to seasons). We booked online tickets by redbus and traveled from Laxmi holiday bus.
Conclusion
I have already share most of the important details with you guys, that will surely going to help you whenever you plan a 1 day or 2 day trip to Rajaji National Park.
This blog can lead you throughout your planning and your journey to the park, just make sure that you visit any jungle safari as a responsible traveler because its already affected by the visitors who are careless toward natures and natural habitats.
This blog has some basic quick history about the place and the species who lives there in the park. So pack your bags and explore the nature and the scenic beauty of the park to the fullest.
Ghumakkars Community
We tried to sum up all the things that are related to that place but if incase you have any questions or queries regarding the blog or place. You can freely comment and ask your queries in the comment box, and if you want to see vlogs regarding this place that I talked about in this blog.
You can also watch the Rajaji National Park, Rishikesh Vlog on our Youtube Channel (Ghumakkars).
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