Pench National Park, straddling the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra border, is another reserve closely associated with Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book', its forests and the Pench river running through the park's core lending credibility to this literary connection alongside genuine wildlife significance. Tigers, leopards and substantial populations of deer and other prey species make Pench one of central India's consistently rewarding safari destinations.
The park's relatively compact scale compared to Kanha or Bandhavgarh makes it possible to cover significant ground across a shorter stay, and its position along the main road between Nagpur and Jabalpur gives it convenient accessibility compared to some more remote central Indian reserves.
Declared a national park in 1975 and a tiger reserve in 1992, Pench's connection to Kipling's Jungle Book stories — set in the same broader Seoni region the author referenced — has become a significant part of the park's identity and appeal to visitors.
October to June; closed during monsoon.
About 90km from Nagpur, or roughly 200km from Jabalpur, each approximately 3-4 hours by road.
No reviews yet — be the first.
Sign in to leave a review — reviews are posted under your account name.