Place: Jalpaiguri district,
West
Bengal
Nearest town: Lataguri
Best time to visit: November to April, The park is closed from mid
June to mid September
Main attraction: One horned rhinoceros, elephants, bison, Brahmany Duck
Gorumara
National Park is located in the Dooars (rolling hill slopes) region of Jalpaiguri
district in West Bengal. This small forest area famous for its natural population
of the Great Indian one horned Rhinoceros was declared a wildlife sanctuary
in the year 1949. Later in the year 1992, it was established as a National
Park, comprising 80 km of diverse forests.
The dooars lying in the Himalayan foothills has great natural
beauty and is home to some of West Bengal's most varied flora and fauna. Gorumara
park located on the bank of rivers Murti and
Raidak has vegetation of riverine grasslands interspersed with savannah woodlands.
Much of this forest is moist deciduous and sal (shorea robusta) is the most
common and valuable tree. Teak, Simul, siris, Khair are also found here. The
park is breathtaking with its rivers and mountain ranges.
Besides the one horned
rhinoceros, the fauna of the park include Indian Elephant, Indian Bison, leopard, different species of deer,
turtles, pythons, monkeys etc. and more than 200 species of birds. The park
is a birdwatcher's paradise with beautiful birds like Indian pied hornbill,
Woodpeckers, Sunbird, fly catcher, Minivet, Drongo, Pheasants and many more
migratory birds especially in winter. Brahmany duck is a regular visitor here
and the birds can be watched from Suksukia, a bird watching point inside the
park.
Lataguri a small town adjacent to
the park is the entry point. There are watch towers for
viewing the animals inside the park. They are Jatraprasad Watch tower (named in
memory of a legendary elephant of that name), Rhino observation point in front
of the Gorumara forest bungalow, Old Khunia Watch Tower near the Murti forest
bungalow and Suksukia Bird watching Point. Rhino observation point is the best place to observe wild animals like rhino, elephant, bison and deer as they regularly come to the salt reservoir just below the tower.
From Gorumara it is only a two hours ride to Jaldapara wild life sanctuary which is also located in the
dooars.
Accommodation:
There are forest bungalows amidst
beautiful surroundings available for stay at Gorumara ( 2 rooms)and Murti. Murti forest
bungalow (4rooms and 2 dormitories) with all modern amenities lies on the banks of river Murti near the
beautiful forests of Chapramari, a 45 minutes drive from Lataguri. The nearby small town Lataguri has many
private resorts as well as the Gorumara National Park nature Tourism centre available for stay.
The Meghamallar tourist lodge at Malbazar, 18km away from Lataguri is another
option for stay. Reservations can be made from
West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation,
Phone : 91-33-2485917/2488271,
E-Mail: Contact
Us
How to get there
Air : Bagdogra is the nearest Airport (Siliguri to Bagdogra 13 km.)
Rail : Nearest Railway Station is Madarihat only 7 kms from the Sanctuary. The
park is accessible from the rail stations at Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar,
Koch Bihar from where one can hire a jeep / car through National Highway 31 to
Lataguri, the gateway to the park.
Road : National highway 31 which connects Siliguri and
Guwahati
passes through Lataguri (about 75km from Siliguri), Chalsa and Nagrakata near
the park. North Bengal State Transport Corporation Buses, Bhutan Govt. Buses, Mini Buses and Private Buses are available from Siliguri to Alipurduar via
Madarihat. The Routes are (a) Darjeeling-Siliguri-Jalpaiguri (via New Teesta Bridge) – Mainaguri-Dhupguri-Gairkata-Birpara-Madarihat (140 miles or 224
kms.) (b) Darjeeling- Siliguri- Sevoke- Bagrakote- Mal- Chalsa- Nagrakata-
Binnaguri – Birpara - Madarihat (214 kms.). Journey time from Siliguri about 4 hours.
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