Walking safari in the core zone

Canoe in the backwaters

Indian giant squirrel

Hero photograph by BSSKrishnaS (CC BY-SA 4.0) · source. Remaining gallery slots await licensed imagery.

Tier 3 · Lesser knownEco-sensitive

Satpura National Park (Madhai)

Narmadapuram district, Madhya Pradesh

Wildlife Nature Adventure

Directions

Recommended: 24 hrs; min 5 hrs
Difficulty: Moderate
Best season: Winter; +1 more
Typical spend: ₹4,500; per person
Check-in worth: 75 pts; Lesser known
Crowds: Rarely crowded

Why go

Satpura does what no other Indian tiger reserve does: walking safaris, canoe safaris, and night drives in the buffer. You will see fewer tigers than at Bandhavgarh and have a far better time.

Satpura was notified in 1981 and forms the core of the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve along with Bori, India's oldest wildlife reserve, notified in 1865. The terrain is genuinely rough — deep gorges, sandstone ridges, dense sal and teak — which kept the shooting parties out and the tiger density comparatively low, and which is exactly why walking is permitted here. You reach the park by crossing the Denwa reservoir by boat, which is itself a good way to start a safari. Satpura holds the largest population of Indian giant squirrels in central India, and the leopard and sloth bear sightings are better than anywhere else in the state.

Things to do here

6 things · 18 hrs to do all of them

Walking safari in the core zoneThe reason to come. Four to six kilometres at dawn with an armed forest guard. Book ahead — daily numbers are capped.4 hrs
Canoe the Denwa backwatersPaddle among the drowned trees at first light. Otters, marsh crocodiles and extraordinary birdlife.2 hr 30 min
Night drive in the buffer zonePermitted here and almost nowhere else. Civets, nightjars, flying squirrels, occasionally leopard.3 hrs
Jeep safari to ChurnaThe deepest accessible point in the park, 40 km in. A full-day permit.7 hrs
Boat crossing to Madhai gateThe Denwa crossing at sunrise is a safari in its own right.30 min
Indian giant squirrel spottingCentral India's largest population. Look up, in the tall teak along the Denwa.1 hr

Two nights at Satpura

3 days · 24 hrs of planned activity

Day 1

15:30
Boat crossing and afternoon jeep safari
3 hr 30 min
20:00
Night drive in the buffer zone
3 hrs

Day 2

06:00
Walking safari in the core zone
4 hrs
11:00
Rest through the middle of the day
4 hrs
16:00
Canoe safari on the Denwa backwaters
2 hr 30 min

Day 3

06:00
Full-day jeep safari to Churna
7 hrs

Location & geofence

The shaded ring is the check-in geofence — 5000 m around the site. Your GPS has to fall inside it for a check-in to count.

22.5333, 78.0167 · Open turn-by-turn in Google Maps

Visitor information

Before you go

Walking safaris are in an active tiger and sloth bear habitat. Sloth bears cause more injuries here than tigers.
Eco-sensitive core zone. Silence, no plastic, no straying from the guard.

Morning safariSunrise to 11:00 am

Afternoon safari3:00 pm to sunset

Park closed1 July – 15 October

Best time of dayDawn, for the walking safari. November to February for comfort.

Pipariya railway station is 55 km from Madhai, about 90 minutes. Bhopal airport is 190 km, roughly 4 hours. Most lodges arrange transfers.

Last mile: The park is across the Denwa reservoir — you park at Madhai and cross by boat. Vehicles cannot cross.

Accessibility

WheelchairNo
Senior friendlyNo
Child friendlyYes

Boat crossing, then jeep. Walking safaris cover 4–6 km on rough ground.

Reviews

4.9from 410 explorers

Only explorers with a verified check-in here can leave a review.

Arjun Kale
@denwa_diaries · 20 May 2026
Came for the check-in points and stayed because it turned out to be the best thing I saw all week. That is presumably the idea.
Tip: Do not treat it as a quick tick. It deserves the afternoon.
0 found this helpful
Rajesh Markam
@gondwana_trails · 16 Mar 2026
Arrived expecting fifteen minutes and stayed two hours. The detail rewards slowing down, which is not something you can tell from photographs.
Tip: Budget more time than you think.
39 found this helpful

Nearby, within 100 km

Ordered by tier before distance — the least-visited neighbours come first. This list is the redistribution engine.

Patalkot

150 pts

Chhindwara · 69 km

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.

Ginnorgarh Fort

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Sehore · 93 km

A Gond hill fort on a sandstone outcrop inside the Ratapani reserve, reached by a two-hour trek, with the plateau of Bhopal laid out below.

Bhojeshwar Temple, Bhojpur

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Raisen · 75 km

An eleventh-century temple abandoned mid-construction around the largest single-stone Shiva lingam in India — with the architects' setting-out drawings still on the rock outside.

Pachmarhi

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Narmadapuram · 43 km

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

Bhimbetka Rock Shelters