Pench National Park Holidays

Sky reaching teak, mazes of grass and white ‘ghost trees’ starkly contrasting the various hues of green, Pench National Park is best known for the scenery that inspired Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book. Among the bamboo and rocky outcrops live childhood memories of Mowgli and the extraordinary animals he meets, from a fearsome Bengal tiger to a shaggy-haired sloth bear, relatives of the immortalised characters, Shere Khan and Baloo. Or perhaps even the silhouette of Bagheera, the sober black panther that has become the Holy Grail of wildlife sightings. The chance of you spotting these creatures is never a given but always a thrill in this lesser-visited park.

An adventurous game drive will cross you through streams and over wild lands home to Indian wolves and four-horned antelopes that you can track with expert rangers. Kickstart the day with breakfast on the bonnet of a jeep and slip into the evening with lakeside sundowners. No two days are ever the same.

In a place that’s as wild as it is remote, chat to our experts who can help you make your stay the most comfortable whether your base is a safari-style jungle camp or an immersive tree-top lodge.

Read more

Game drives from Pench Jungle Camp

Being just a five-minute drive to Pench National Park’s Turia Gate is very convenient for game drives. The morning safari starts at dawn and lasts for around five hours while the afternoon drive is shorter at around three-and-a-half hours. You can also do a night-time safari in the park’s periphery buffer zone, also known as the ‘wolf safari,’ due to the amount of wolf sightings.

There’s abundant wildlife in Pench National Park. Of course, being a tiger reserve, Bengal tigers are the star attractions, but there are other incredible animals such as leopard, jackal and wild dog. Moving down the food chain there’s chital (spotted deer), sambar and muntjac deer. Gaur is another fascinating creature in the area, the largest species of wild cattle.

Driving through the meadows in an open-top 4x4, the animals you see might be completely different to the ones you encounter when you cross into bamboo terrain. That’s how diverse the landscape is. During the summer you can see a multitude of creatures congregating around the water sources. If you go to the backwaters during this time, you’ll see hundreds of deer at the edges of the riverbanks.

Read more