National Parks In Uttarakhand :

The National Parks in Uttarakhand have the special privilege of being situated by the lower Himalayas, home to rich biodiversity and some of the endangered species of the world. With famous names like the Corbett National Park and the Rajaji National Park, nature lovers will enjoy the beautiful landscape and exotic wildlife spread across the National Parks of Uttarakhand.

Chilla (Rajaji National Park) :

Chilla is a wilderness area and part of Rajaji National Park in India. Known as an electricity creator (on the River) area in the Pauri Garhwal district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is also well known as a wild tourist place of Uttarakhand, standing in the middle of Rishikesh and Haridwar, nearby Ganga Bhogpur.

Gangotri National Park :

Gangotri National Park is a national park located in Uttarkashi District Garhwal range Uttarakhand.The size of this national park is about 2,390 square km. It was third largest National park of India. The park provides majestic beauty of coniferous forests and grandeur of glacial world combined with lush green meadows. The park harbors Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests at lower elevations and Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows at higher elevations. Vegetation consist of chirpine deodar, fir, spruce, oak and rhododendrons. This park is home to the snow leopard, ibex, tahr, Himalayan barbet, serow, pheasants, partridges, doves, pigeons, etc.

Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Sanctuary :

Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Sanctuary is a national park in Uttarakhand, India established initially as a wildlife sanctuary in 1955, and later converted into a national park. It is named after a prominent Indian freedom fighter and politician Govind Ballabh Pant, who became Home Minister in 1950 and is remembered for his achievement in establishing Hindi as an official language.

The park was established on 1 March 1955, and is situated in the Uttarkashi district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The park lies in the higher reaches of the Garhwal Himalaya or in Middle Himalayas. The total area of Govind Pashu Vihar National Park and Sanctuary is 958 km2 (370 sq mi).The Snow Leopard Project started by the Government of India is being managed at this sanctuary. Also, it is one of the remaining strongholds in the Himalayas of the bearded vulture, a vital ecological catalyst.

Jim Corbett National Park :

Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in India and was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park to protect the endangered Bengal tiger. It is located in Nainital district of Uttarakhand and was named after Jim Corbett, a well known hunter and naturalist. The park was the first to come under the Project Tiger initiative.

The park has sub-Himalayan belt geographical and ecological characteristics. An ecotourism destination, it contains 488 different species of plants and a diverse variety of fauna. The increase in tourist activities, among other problems, continues to present a serious challenge to the park's ecological balance.

Dense moist deciduous forest mainly consists of sal, haldu, peepal, rohini and mango trees. Forest covers almost 73% of the park, 10% of the area consists of grasslands. It houses around 110 tree species, 50 species of mammals, 580 bird species and 25 reptile species.

Nanda Devi National Park :

The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 , is a national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7816 m) in the state of Uttarakhand in northern India. The entire park lies at an elevation of more than 3,500 m (11,500 ft) above mean sea level.

The National Park was inscribed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. The latter was expanded and renamed to Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks in 2005. Within the National Park lies the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, a glacial basin surrounded by a ring of peaks between 6,000 metres (19,700 ft) and 7,500 m (24,600 ft) high, and drained by the Rishi Ganga through the Rishi Ganga Gorge, a steep, almost impassable defile.

The National Park is embedded in the 2,236.74 km2 (863.61 sq mi) sized Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, which, in turn, is encompassed in the 5,148.57 km2 (1,987.87 sq mi) buffer zone around the Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National ParksUNESCO site.

Rajaji National Park :

Rajaji National Park is an Indian national park and tiger reserve  that encompasses the Shivaliks, near the foothills of the Himalayas. The park is spread over 820 km2 and three districts of Uttarakhand: Haridwar, Dehradun and Pauri Garhwal. In 1983, three wildlife sanctuaries in the area namely, Chilla, Motichur and Rajaji sanctuaries were merged into one. The Ganga and Song rivers flow through the park.

Rajaji National Park has been named after C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), a prominent leader of the Freedom Struggle, the second and last Governor-General of independent India and one of the first recipients of India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (in 1954).

Valley of Flowers National Park :

Valley of Flowers National Park is an Indian national park, located in North Chamoli, in the state of Uttarakhand and is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the variety of flora. This richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, musk deer, brown bear, red fox, and blue sheep. Birds found in the park include Himalayan monal pheasant and other high altitude birds. At 3352 to 3658 meters above sea level, the gentle landscape of the Valley of Flowers National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi National Park to the east.Together, they encompass a unique transition zone between the mountain ranges of the Zanskar and Great Himalaya. The park stretches over an expanse of 87.50 km2 and it is about 8 km long and 2 km wide. Both parks are encompassed in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve(223,674 ha) which is further surrounded by a buffer zone (5,148.57 km2).