Satpura Wild Circuit

Seven days across three reserves in the Satpura range, including the only park in India where you can walk in the core zone and the country's first Dark Sky Park. Built for people who would rather see the forest than tick off a tiger.

Duration: 7 days
Distance: 580 km
Check-in points: 330 pts

The route

Stops, in order

1PachmarhiNarmadapuram · Madhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh's only hill station — a Satpura plateau of waterfalls, ravines and rock-shelter paintings, at the centre of a biosphere reserve.30 pts
2Satpura National Park (Madhai)Narmadapuram · Madhya PradeshThe only tiger reserve in India where you can legally walk in the core zone — on foot, with an armed guard, at dawn.75 pts
3Pench National ParkSeoni · Madhya PradeshThe Seoni forest of Kipling's Jungle Book, with the highest prey density of any central Indian reserve and none of Kanha's crowds.75 pts
4PatalkotChhindwara · Madhya PradeshA horseshoe valley sunk 350 m into the Satpura plateau, home to Bharia and Gond villages that had almost no outside contact until the 1990s.150 pts

Each stop in detail

30 pts

Pachmarhi

Narmadapuram, Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh's only hill station — a Satpura plateau of waterfalls, ravines and rock-shelter paintings, at the centre of a biosphere reserve.

48 hrs4.5(3120)Moderate

75 pts

Satpura National Park (Madhai)

Narmadapuram, Madhya Pradesh

The only tiger reserve in India where you can legally walk in the core zone — on foot, with an armed guard, at dawn.

24 hrs4.9(410)Moderate

75 pts

Pench National Park

Seoni, Madhya Pradesh

The Seoni forest of Kipling's Jungle Book, with the highest prey density of any central Indian reserve and none of Kanha's crowds.

18 hrs4.6(520)Easy

150 pts

Patalkot

Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh

A horseshoe valley sunk 350 m into the Satpura plateau, home to Bharia and Gond villages that had almost no outside contact until the 1990s.

10 hrs4.6(130)Challenging