National Parks in Nepal

Chitwan National Park covers sal forest, riverine grassland and oxbow lakes along the Rapti and Narayani rivers. It is the best place in Asia to see the greater one-horned rhinoceros: most of Nepal’s roughly 750 rhinos (2021 count) live here, and on a half-day jeep safari you will very likely see several, along with gharial and mugger crocodiles on the riverbanks. Tigers live here too, but sightings are luck.

Most visitors stay in Sauraha, a lodge village on the park’s northern boundary, a tourist bus ride of about five to six hours from Kathmandu or Pokhara, or a 25-minute flight to Bharatpur and a short taxi. Two nights is the minimum and three is better: a morning dugout canoe on the river, a jungle walk, and a jeep safari deeper into the park. Lodges inside the park were closed in 2012, so all accommodation is outside the boundary.

Bardiya National Park is Nepal’s largest lowland park and the one to choose if a tiger is the goal. Nepal’s tiger population was counted at 355 in 2022, and Bardiya and Chitwan hold most of them. Rhinos, wild elephants, gharial and Gangetic river dolphins in the Karnali River are all possible.

The base is Thakurdwara, a village at the park gate. Fly from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj and drive about two to three hours, or take an overnight bus. Days are spent on long guided walks, jeep drives and rafting or float trips on the Karnali. Plan three or four nights; tiger tracking here is patient work at waterholes and riverbanks. Banke National Park borders Bardiya to the east and forms part of the same tiger corridor.

Sagarmatha National Park is the Khumbu: the Sherpa villages, monasteries and moraine below Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Ama Dablam. It became a World Heritage site in 1979. The park is entered on foot from Lukla, and almost everyone comes on the Everest Base Camp trek or the Gokyo lakes route, with Himalayan tahr and the Himalayan monal, Nepal’s national bird, often seen above Namche Bazaar. Pay the park fee at Monjo, plus a separate local area fee at Lukla.

East of the Khumbu, Makalu Barun National Park rises from subtropical forest to the summit of Makalu. It is wild, wet and lightly visited, with some of the richest rhododendron forest in the Himalaya and red panda habitat. Treks start from Tumlingtar and need camping or very basic lodges. The details of both treks are in our Nepal trekking guide.

Langtang National Park is the mountain park nearest to the capital. The trailhead at Syabrubesi is a long day’s drive north, and the Langtang Valley trek climbs in about a week to Kyanjin Gompa below Langtang Lirung. The forests hold red panda, Himalayan black bear and langur monkeys. A second route climbs to the holy lakes of Gosaikunda at about 4,380 m, which fill with Hindu pilgrims at the August full moon.

Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park sits on the northern rim of the Kathmandu Valley. Entry is NPR 1,000, and a day hike to Shivapuri Peak (2,732 m) or an overnight walk to Chisapani gives forest, birds and, on clear winter mornings, a view of the Himalaya from the city’s edge.

Rara Lake, Nepal’s largest lake at about 2,990 m, lies in Rara National Park, ringed by pine and juniper forest with snow peaks behind. Getting there means a flight from Nepalgunj to Talcha airstrip and a short walk, or a long road trip, so few foreigners make it.

Shuklaphanta National Park, in the far southwest near Bhimdatta (Mahendranagar), protects one of the largest open grasslands in South Asia and large herds of swamp deer. Fly to Dhangadhi and drive about an hour and a half. Facilities are simple and safaris are arranged through a handful of local lodges.

Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, on the Koshi River floodplain in the east, is Nepal’s best wetland for birds, especially migratory ducks and waders from November to March, and the last refuge in Nepal of the wild water buffalo. Fly to Biratnagar and drive about one to two hours.

Fees and permits. The mountain parks (Sagarmatha, Langtang, Makalu Barun, Rara and Shey Phoksundo) charge foreigners NPR 3,000 per entry, about USD 22, payable at the Tourist Service Center in Kathmandu or at the park gate. The Terai parks charge a daily entry fee, usually folded into a lodge package. Most trekking routes also need a TIMS card and, since 2023, a licensed guide; see the trekking guide. Fees change, so check before you go.

Guides. You cannot enter the Terai parks’ core areas on your own. Jungle walks in Chitwan and Bardiya go with licensed naturalist guides, usually two per group, and jeep safaris and canoe trips are booked through your lodge or the guide associations in Sauraha and Thakurdwara.

Seasons. The Terai is dry and comfortable from October to March, though mornings are foggy in December and January. From February, when the tall grass is cut and burned, animals are easier to spot, and by April and May heat drives them to water, which is peak tiger season but 40°C at midday. During the June to September monsoon many safari activities stop and Bardiya largely closes. Mountain parks follow the trekking seasons; see our best time to visit Nepal guide.