Situated within the Koodogu (Coorg) and Mysore districts of Karnataka, the Nagarhole National Park with 643.39 sq km. in area borders the Kerala State. It was originally designated as a game sanctuary in 1955 that centered on the Nagarhole settlement. The sanctuary was later extended to its present size in 1974 by combining the Mysore forests and Nagarhole Sanctuary. The park area is home to several rare species of flora & fauna.

Sightseeing at Nagarhole National Park
The Flora : The predominant vegetation in the Nagarhole is of southern tropical, moist, mixed deciduous type with a substantial eastern portion intergrading into dry deciduous type. Several shrubs belonging to Solanum, Desmodium and Helicteres sp. etc. are profusely found but weedy shrubs like Eupatorium and Lantana now dot the forest area.

The Fauna : At Nagarhole, too, there are excellent facilities for viewing wildlife and large groups of gaur, elephant, sambar, chital and even the occasional tiger or leopard are seen. Among other mammals are the muntjac, the tiny mouse deer, wild boar, pangolin, giant squirrel, slender loris, langurs and macaques. Lesser cats like the jungle cat, leopard cat and rusty spotted cat are also resident species. 

The Avifauna : The Park has about 250 species of birds and the Malabar trogan, the Malabar Herd of elephants pied hornbill, the great black woodpecker, the Indian pitta and the green imperial pigeon are part of its avian variety. Birds at the sanctuary are - Pea fowl, common babbler, scinaitar babbler, bea eater, red whiskered bulbul, red vented bulbul, little brown dove, ring dove, spotted dove, crested hawk eagle, crested serpent eagle, tawny eagle, malabar pied hornbill, malabar grey hornbill, loriekeet, minivet, biyth's myna, etc. to name a few.

Park Trips : One can explore the park by taking an elephant ride through the wildlife reserve. Most of the safaris are, however, done by 4-wheel drive vehicles. Buffalo hide coracle boats are available at the Kabini river reservoir at Nagarhole national park.

Best Season to Visit : October- March 

Reaching Nagarhole National Park
Air : Bangalore (220 km) is the nearest airport from Nagarhole National Park.
Rail : Mysore (80 km) is the nearest railway station from Nagarhole National Park.
Road : The sanctuary is well connected to all the major cities of Karnataka.