Yercaud-elango · File:Lake-2-sims park-coonoor-ooty-India.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake-2-sims_park-coonoor-ooty-India.jpg
Sim’s Park
Twelve hectares of botanical garden laid out down a natural fold of the hillside in 1874, with a lake at the bottom, a very large tree collection, and a fruit and vegetable show every May.
A garden built into the hillside
Sim’s Park was laid out in 1874 by J. D. Sims and Major Murray, and the thing that separates it from the better-known garden up in Ooty is that it was not levelled first. It follows a natural fold of the hill, so the terraces, lawns and rockeries step down one side and a lake sits at the bottom, and a stretch of natural shola has been left standing with footpaths through it rather than replanted. Twelve hectares hold more than a thousand species, across 255 genera and 85 families. Six of the seven Nilgiris itineraries put it at the end of the Coonoor afternoon, which is the right time for it and slightly too little of it.
Explore Sim’s Park on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
What is growing here
A tree collection first, a flower garden second, and a piece of the original forest kept.
The trees
- Araucaria, including the Queensland karri pine, standing over the lake
- Rudraksh, Cinnamomum, Magnolia, Quercus and Phoenix through the older sections
- Tree ferns and camellia in the damper corners
The layout
- Terraces of flower beds, lawns and rockeries stepping down the fold
- A lake at the foot of the garden, with boating operated from the bank
- A stretch of natural shola left standing, with footpaths cut through it
The collection
- More than 1,000 species, across 255 genera and 85 families
- Labelled through the main sections, which makes an unhurried walk worth more than a quick one
Getting there
In Coonoor town, which is the easy part of a day that mostly happens on hill roads.
From Coonoor
- In the town itself, a short drive or a walk from the centre
- The nearest railway station is Coonoor, on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway
From Ooty
- About 20 km down the hill, roughly 45 minutes by road
- Every Nilgiris itinerary reaches it as part of a Coonoor afternoon rather than as a separate trip
When to go
A garden runs on its own calendar.
Time of day
- Mornings are quieter and the light down the terraces is better
- The itineraries arrive late in the afternoon, which works but leaves less time than the garden deserves
Through the year
- An annual fruit and vegetable show is held in May and is the busiest the park gets
- The garden is worth walking in any month; the flower beds are at their fullest after the rains
Worth knowing
How to spend the hour rather than lose it.
Walking it
- The garden steps down a hillside, so the walk out is uphill — worth knowing before you go all the way to the lake
- An hour covers the main terraces; two lets you take the shola paths as well
Expectations
- This is a working botanical collection rather than an ornamental park, and the tree labels are the point
- Opening hours and any entry charge are set locally and are worth confirming rather than assuming
Frequently asked
Plan your journey
Our travel designers turn knowledge and inspiration into a journey crafted entirely around you.
Plan My Journey →