Achanakmar Tiger Reserve

Achanakmar is one of Chhattisgarh's two tiger reserves, a densely forested landscape in the Maikal hills forming part of the larger Achanakmar–Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve shared with neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. Its forests support tigers, leopards, wild dogs and a substantial elephant population, alongside significant tribal Baiga community settlements within and around the reserve.

Compared to Chhattisgarh's better-known Bastar wildlife circuit further south, Achanakmar remains relatively under-visited, offering genuine wilderness and a real chance of sightings for visitors willing to plan a dedicated trip to this less-travelled part of the state. The reserve's hilly, forested terrain also makes it ecologically important as a link connecting wildlife populations across the wider central Indian landscape.

Declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1975 and upgraded to tiger reserve status in 2009, Achanakmar forms a critical wildlife corridor connecting forest habitats across the Chhattisgarh–Madhya Pradesh border, an ecological role that has made it a priority for conservation planning in the wider central Indian tiger landscape.

About 155km from Bilaspur, roughly 4 hours by road.