Place: Rajampet of Cuddapah district and Chandragiri and Bailapadu of Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh
Nearest Town: Chandragiri (20km)
Best time to visit: November to February 

Sri Venkateshwara National Park extends over two districts of Chittoor and Cuddapah of Andhra Pradesh in an area of 353.62 sq.km. The park established in October 1989, is named after Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati. It is located in Rajampet of Cuddapah district and Chandragiri and Bailapadu of Chittoor district. 

The hilly terrain bounded by Seshachalam and Tirumala hills is rugged and beautiful with gorges, steep slopes, plateaus and valleys. The park is also famous for its beautiful waterfalls like Talakona, Gundalakona and Gunjana.   

The vegetation of the park is dry deciduous with moist deciduous forests seen here and there in the valleys. Some of the valuable tree species of Red Sanders (Pterocarpeis Santatinus), sandalwood, Tamba Jalari, Gymnosperm, Tella Karakkaya etc are  found here. It has about 1500 plant species belonging to 176 families.  

The fauna found here are tiger, panther, spotted deer, Sambar, black buck, bison, ibex, sloth bear, pig, bear, Bonnet monkey, mongoose, wild dogs, jackal, fox, wolf, civet cat, jungle cat,  rare and endangered golden gecko, Indian giant squirrel, tree shrew,  lizards etc and birds like partridges, quail, peacock, jungle fowl etc. 

There are treks from Mamandur, a small village near Renigunta through the shrub jungle. There is a stream behind the beautiful and elegant forest bungalow here built by the British. Permission from Andhra Pradesh Forest Department needed for stay.  

Accommodation : There are forest rest houses at Tirupati, Rajampet, Talakona, Kaarapet available for stay. There are also guest houses of Andhra Pradesh Tourist Development Corporation (APTDC) at Talakona. Click here for a list of hotels in Tirupati.

How to get there

Air :  Nearest airport is at Tirupati. Flights to Tirupati are available from Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Vijayawada. Indian Airlines, Opposite Central Bus stand, Tirupati Ph: 22349
Rail  : Nearest railway station is at Hyderabad and the nearest railhead is Tirupati. There are trains that travel via Renigunta or Gudur, but do not touch Tirupati. In such cases, Renigunta (just 10-km from Tirupati) is a convenient point to alight.                        
Road : 10 kms from Tirupati by road. The park is a three hours drive or 160 km from Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu.

Contacts 

• Dy. Conservator of Forests, 
  Sri Venkateswar National Park,
  Chittoor

• Divisional Forest Officer (DFO),
  Sri Venkateswara National Park,
  Tirupati - 517 507.
  Phone:08574-24980