The Satpura National Park is the least known and least visited park in Central India and takes its name from the Satpura hill ranges of Madhya Pradesh.
Created in 1981 the park covers an area of 524 km² and along with the adjoining Bori and Pachmarhi Sanctuaries, provides 1427 km² of unique Central Indian Highland ecosystem.
Landscape
The terrain of the national park is extremely rugged and consists of sandstone peaks, narrow gorges and ravines. The scenery is beautiful, with the densely forested hills reflected in the vast sparkling water of the Tawa reservoir.
Wildlife
Satpura National Park supports an array of mammals that include the tiger, leopard, sambar, chital, nilgai, four-horned antelope, chinkara, bison, wild boar and wild dog etc. It's a great place to see the sloth bear and good number of sightings have been recorded recently. There are a variety of birds, hornbills and peafowl being the most common ones.
Flora
The flora of the national park consists of mainly sal, teak, mahua, bamboo, and a variety of grasses and medicinal plants.
Exploring Satpura
Though it's one of the most exciting tiger habitats, Satpura is not the best place to see tigers, but as it's virtually free of tourists, you have the privilege of exploring the reserve in a way unknown in any other tiger reserve - on foot, by canoe or kayak, by elephant, jeep and from carefully sited hides.
The nearest town to the national park is Pachmarhi and the nearest railhead is Piparia, 55 km away. The state capital Bhopal is situated at a distance of 210 km.
Sunset as seen along the Tawa reservoir, Satpura
A view from the Jhin Jhin hills at Satpura
Dense vegetation in the Satpura National park