Simlipal

Simlipal takes its name from the simul, the red silk cotton tree that flowers across these hills in spring. The reserve covers around 2,750 square kilometres of the Mayurbhanj plateau, rising from about 300 metres to Meghasani at 1,158 metres, and holds sal forest, moist deciduous stands, high grassland and twelve rivers, among them the Budhabalanga and the Khairi. It was among the first tiger reserves declared under Project Tiger in 1973 and became a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 2009.

Its most remarkable residents are the pseudo-melanistic tigers whose stripes have broadened into near-black coats, a genetic trait found in the wild nowhere else. Sightings of any tiger are rare here, but the drive itself is the reward: an unhurried road through forest that closes overhead, elephants crossing at dusk, gaur and sambar at the Chahala meadows, giant squirrels overhead and hornbills going over in pairs. Two waterfalls anchor the visit.

Barehipani, where the Budhabalanga falls 399 metres in two stages, is among the highest in India, and Joranda drops 150 metres as a single white column. The reserve opens through the winter and closes for the monsoon, and vehicle numbers are capped, so trips must be planned ahead through the Mayurbhanj administration rather than turned up for.