Be it school trips or family vacations, Delhites have some chosen vacation destinations in their lists. Jim Corbett tops the charts. Well, why not? Getting away from the busy streets of your city and enjoying your holidays in the lap of nature definitely sounds good.
Getting lucky to see a tiger is an added advantage. Jim Corbett is one such place that caters to the adventurous side of your personality. Apart from the jungle tour, you can also visit the Corbett Falls and go for river rafting.
Jim Corbett National Park is situated near the small town of Ramnagar. Since it is a well-known tourist destination, the national park is well connected through roads or rail with Delhi, Nainital, Bareilly and Moradabad.
Covering an area of 520 square kilometres, the national park has been divided into five zones for the convenience of the tourists. Each zone has a separate gate entry. The Delhi to Jim Corbett distance is around 245 kms.
Dhikala Zone, Canter Safari Zone’s entry gate is called the Dhangadi Gate. Its 32 km away from Ramnagar and opens from 15th November to 15th June.
Only canter safari is offered here. The second zone is the Bijrani Zone. This zone is nearest to Ramnagar with a distance of only 2 km. This is a jeep safari zone and thus tours are undertaken in the daytime only.
Jhirna Zone which can be entered through the Dhela Gate is 15 km away from Ramnagar. This zone also offers only jeep safari. The fourth zone is the Dhela Zone.
The Dhela zone and the Jhirna zone share the same gates. Dhela zone is 15 km away from Ramnagar and is open throughout the year for jeep safari.
Another is the Durga Devi Zone whose gate is the Durga Devi Gate. Again the jeep safari zone is opened from 15th November to 15th June. The last zone is the Sitabani zone, also known as the Buffer zone.
The entry gate of this zone is from near Teda Village and the exit is from Paulgarh gate. The interesting fact about the zone is that private vehicles are allowed in here and apart from jeep safari, the zone also offers Day elephant safari.
Since the national park falls in the district of Nainital, one can enjoy the landscapes of Nainital prior to coming to Jim Corbett National Park. Nainital distance from Delhi is about 333.1 km via NH9. One can drive their way through if they feel comfortable enough. The roads are constructed well.
If you want to go by train, then the nearest railway station to Nainital is in Kathkodam which is 34km away from Nainital. Plenty of trains connect it from Delhi.
You can hire a cab or private taxi from Kathgodam to reach Nainital or Jim Corbett. Getting a taxi is not a big issue and you can get them easily.
By Road
Another way of directly reaching the National Park by car is taking NH24. You will reach your destination within approximately 5 hours 30 minutes.
The best way of covering the Uttarakhand distance from Delhi is by taking the road because if you want then you can take your car to the National park for a safari through the Durga Devi Zone. The Delhi to Corbett distance can also be covered by a bus.
You can also take a Bus from Delhi to reach Ramnagar. The bus service is well connected between the two places. The time taken by bus from Delhi to Nainital is 5 hours 30 minutes to 6 hours depending on the traffic.
By Train
If you want to take a train from Delhi directly to Corbett, then it’s better to get down at the Ramnagar railway station. This station is only 12km away from the national park. Catch Ranikhet Express, the best train to directly reach Ramnagar from Delhi without any chaos.
By Air
Of course, you can always travel in a flight to reach the destination, however, flights are not much recommended since the nearest airport which is in Pantnagar at Phoolbagh which is 50km away from the national park. The method is hectic, time-taking and expensive.
Jim Corbett offers hotels and resorts with a package inclusive of the safari tours. Most of the hotels have this facility for the ease of the visitors.
A pre-planned trip to Jim Corbett National Park makes your trip enjoyable and havoc-free. Since Jim Corbett is a well known vacation destination amongst the tourists, it always better to book a hotel prior to your visit.
