Jim Corbett National Park in July

The July story

The park is closed but the ecosystem is at its most dynamic. The 1936 reserve — India's first national park — is doing what it was established to do: letting the forest regenerate without human disturbance. The Ramganga rises to its banks, fish breed in flooded channels, and the sal forest canopy closes overhead in unbroken green. If you drive the Ramnagar-Kaladhungi road along the park boundary, you can hear the forest — bird calls, the crash of elephants in undergrowth, the sound of a full river. The Corbett Museum in Ramnagar is worth a visit: Jim Corbett's rifle, his camera, first editions of his books, and photographs of the man-eating tigers he was called to shoot. Entry ₹50. His Kaladhungi house-museum has the desk where he wrote. Both give context to why this park exists — Corbett the hunter became Corbett the conservationist, and India's tiger preservation movement started here. Lodge rates: ₹2000-4000 for monsoon stays. Some lodges offer nature walks on their property, bird counts, and river-side sessions.