Which is the best time to visit Bandhavgarh ?

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve remains open from October to June month, for visitors. So one can visit the park at any day during these months. In monsoon, i.e. in the months of July – August – September, Bandhavgarh Park remains closed for visitors. So we can conclude that we can visit park during winters & summers. Bandhavgarh National Park is spread over Vindhya ranges in Madhya Pradesh State of Central India. In first two months, after opening of park, i.e. during October and November, climate remains pleasant as after monsoon departure, we can find greenery everywhere in the forest area with plenty of water-holes. Winter season lasts for 3-months in Bandhavgarh, December – January – February. March & April (first half) are the Spring seasons but day time temperature will make you feel hot as temperature will start reaching 40 degree Celsius in day time. From second-half of April to June, sunlight express his strong presence with heat-waves, dryness in jungle, disappearance of water-holes and a peculiar silence in the forest.

Best time to visit Bandhavgarh National Park varies with the aim with which we are intending to visit the forest. If we are interested in migratory bird watching in green surrounding of forest, perennials then from October to January months will be more suitable for us. Temperature will remain below 30 degree Celsius. During this time we can enjoy greenery of forest, plenty of water sources and birds around them. Similarly, tigers can also be seen is areas other than Tala zone like Magdhi Zone (Gate-2) and Khitauli Zone (Gate-3) as water sources in those zones remain alive and grasslands will ease the availability of prey in those areas. We can find even distribution of tigers and other animals during this time. Accommodation problem may arise in the months of November & December as these are festival season in India due to which domestic tourist visits the forest most at this time as a family vacation tour so advance accommodation booking would be the better option to follow.

Those who are interested in birding, tiger-sighting along with other mammals sighting, they can visit the park during January – February – March months. During this time temperature will remain below 25 degree Celsius which makes the weather cool and pleasant so safari will be problem. In the months of February and March, flowers in Flame of Forest tree make the jungle more photogenic and attract birds around them, sloth bears to come out more frequently. With the presence of Mahua (Madhuca longifolia), the fruit of Indian Butter Tree attracts most of the herbivores and omnivores animals of Bandhavgarh forest. Sambars, Blue-bull, Sloth Bear, Spotted deer, Languar monkeys can be seen more often in open. During this time, domestic tourism falls down due to examinations in schools so accommodation availability will not pose any problem from domestic tourism side.

Months of April – May – June are considered the best time to do wildlife photography and tiger photography. During this time, we can expect unusual photography of tigers as heat causes animals to remain close to water sources. Limited water sources will enable us to predict the animal location more accurately. During this time Tala Zone have good number of active water sources and the area have hills of sand-stone that retain water from long time and also felt cool during day time so tiger sighting chances in Tala Zone are far better than any other tourist zones of Bandhavgarh National Park. Close to water source, we may be lucky enough to find unusual photographs of tiger making kill or resting in water etc. Sighting of Tigress with cubs can be possible in early morning hours and just before sunset as tiger mating mostly take place in the months of November – December – January – February so cubs born from 110 days of gestation period can be seen during this time. Similarly, birds can also be seen close to water sources. Spotted deer herds under Indian Butter Tree are the most commons scenes of forest. Due to dryness in trees, fall of leaves in Sal trees and disappearance of bushes causes more penetration capacity to watch distant animals also. For Bird watchers, Khitauli Zone is considered good as here water sources at Bamera Dam, Khitauli reservoir offers scope for birding around them. Blue bull or Nilgai antelope and sloth bear sighting in this zone is also good compare to other tourist zones of Bandhavgarh.