Kanha
A tiger reserve of sal forest and open meadows in the Maikal hills of Madhya Pradesh, and the park that brought the hard-ground barasingha back from the brink.
Kanha
Kanha is a tiger reserve in the Maikal hills of the Satpura range, spread across Mandla and Balaghat districts in Madhya Pradesh. It was notified as a wildlife sanctuary in 1933, became a national park on 1 June 1955 and has been a tiger reserve since 1973. The National Tiger Conservation Authority counts a core of about 917 square kilometres with a buffer of some 1,134 around it. What a visitor sees is sal forest mixed with bamboo and broken by wide grass meadows. The 2022 national estimate put 105 tigers within the reserve. The animal the park is proudest of, though, is the hard-ground barasingha, a swamp deer that was down to 66 animals in the late 1960s and has since recovered into the hundreds. A visit means safari drives: a morning and an afternoon round in an open vehicle with a park guide, in one of four core zones called Kanha, Kisli, Mukki and Sarhi, on a permit issued by the forest department. There is no town. Lodges stand outside the gates, chiefly at Khatia and Mukki, and the forest department counts 160 km from Jabalpur to the first and 200 km to the second, so choose your side before you book. The core is closed from July to September, and no sighting, of a tiger or anything else, is ever promised.
Explore Kanha on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
What Kanha is for
Two rounds a day in the forest on a permit, and long quiet middays between them.
Safari drives
- The morning round. On the booking portal’s 2026–27 timetable vehicles enter between 5.30 and 6.20 am, depending on the month, and leave by 11 or 11.30. It is the longer and cooler drive.
- The afternoon round. Entry is at 3 or 3.30 pm and the exit at 6 to 7 pm. Under the state’s rules the core zones are closed to visitors on Wednesday afternoons.
- Four core zones — Kanha, Kisli, Mukki and Sarhi. A permit names one zone and one round, within a daily cap on vehicles: 36 for the Kanha zone’s morning round.
- The buffer zones — Khatia, Khapa and Sijhora, with the Phen sanctuary beside them — stay open all year under the state’s rules. They are the fallback when core permits have gone.
Inside the forest
- Barasingha. The Ministry of Tourism says the hard-ground barasingha is best seen on the meadows of the Kanha zone. It is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh.
- The rest of the list. The forest department counts 43 species of mammal and about 300 of birds here, and names tiger, leopard, wild dog, bear and gaur among the major ones.
- Bamni Dadar, the high point also called Sunset Point, looks out over the sal and bamboo. It ends an afternoon round when the route allows.
- Shravan Tal is a small pond tied by legend to Shravan Kumar of the Ramayana, and a quiet place for birds.
Outside the gates
- The Kanha museum, kept by the forest department near the Khatia (Kisli) gate, is open throughout the year, according to MP Tourism.
- Walking and cycling in the buffer. The state’s rules allow both on routes marked out by the park, with a guide. Ask what is running when you book.
How long to give it
In from Jabalpur
Drive from Jabalpur by way of Mandla to the Khatia side, 160 km on the forest department’s figure. Allow about four hours, arrive in daylight and keep the evening for the lodge.
Morning and afternoon rounds
Out before sunrise for the morning round, back for a late breakfast, then rest until the afternoon entry. On a Wednesday the core is shut after midday, so use a buffer zone or the museum.
One more round, or the road
A last morning in the forest if a permit has been issued, then leave: back to Jabalpur, or north to Bandhavgarh, about 200 km on MP Tourism’s figure and most of a day.
How to reach and move
A long drive in from a city, and after that the park’s vehicles, not yours.
Getting there
- By air the usual airport is Jabalpur, 160 km from the park on the Mandla district administration’s figure. Raipur is 250 km and Nagpur 300 km.
- By rail the forest department lists Jabalpur, Gondia, Raipur, Bilaspur and Balaghat as the nearest stations. Mandla district counts 145 km from Gondia to the Khatia gate.
- By road from Jabalpur the route runs through Mandla: 160 km to the Khatia gate, 150 km to Sarhi and 200 km to Mukki. We allow about four hours to Khatia.
- From Nagpur or Raipur the forest department gives 260 km and 210 km to the Mukki gate.
Getting about
- Your own car stops at the gate. Drives are made in vehicles registered with the park, which work on a roster, carry at most six visitors and take a park guide on every round.
- Khatia and Mukki are separate bases. The Khatia gate gives entry to all four core zones; Mukki serves the Mukki and Kisli zones and, in the morning only, the Kanha zone.
When to visit
The forest department’s calendar decides when you can go; the thermometer decides how it feels.
Cold mornings in an open vehicle. The forest department gives a January minimum of 1°C and warns of frost.
Average highs of 40 to 42°C. MP Tourism notes that the dried-out vegetation of these months favours tiger sightings.
The core is closed to visitors from 1 July to 30 September under the state’s rules. Only the buffer zones stay open.
The department announces the dates each year. For 2026 the portal took bookings from 1 October; its brochure gives the season as 15 October to 30 June.
The rules close the core on Wednesday afternoons and all protected areas on the Holi and Diwali holidays.
The park’s character
An old, carefully run forest with one conservation story everybody here knows.
The barasingha story
- The Ministry of Tourism records that the hard-ground barasingha had fallen to 66 animals by the late 1960s and was brought back by breeding and habitat work at Kanha.
- A 2026 report put the Kanha population at about 1,100, with new herds founded from it at Satpura and Bandhavgarh.
- The park’s mascot is Bhoorsingh the Barasingha. Mandla district says Kanha was the first tiger reserve in India to adopt one.
How it is run
- Every visitor enters on a permit that the rules describe as individual and non-transferable, with a guide licensed by the park who normally lives in the district.
- Kanha is often named as a source for Kipling’s Jungle Book. Mandla district is more careful: the book’s forest is thought by some to be based on jungles including this one.
Practical tips
Settle the permits before anything else; the rest of the plan hangs on them.
Before you book
- Permits come first. They are sold on the forest department’s portal from dates it announces: for the 2026–27 season, 1 August for October drives and 1 September for the months after.
- Names and identity papers are fixed at booking. Indian visitors must carry a valid identity document and foreign visitors a passport, or the permit can be cancelled.
- Who should skip it: anyone who will count the trip a failure without a tiger, and anyone who dislikes very early starts.
On the drive
- Dress for the hour, not the day. Warm layers and a cap in winter; a hat, water and a scarf against dust from April.
- Expect to leave the phone behind. Since a Supreme Court order of November 2025 phones are reported as barred from core-zone drives. Bring a camera; we confirm the rule in force when you book.
- Be at the gate early. Under the rules a permit lapses if you miss the entry window.
Nearby
The other tiger reserve of the usual pairing, the gateway city, the district town on the way in, and the park towards Nagpur.
Related to Kanha
Journeys that include Kanha — each one visits the city as part of its itinerary.
Common questions
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