Wildlife · Ramnagar
Into the Dhikala range at first light, when the jungle is loud and the cats are still moving.
4.85Superhost
We meet at the Ramnagar office at 05:15 to collect permits and go through the checkpost formalities so we are first in the queue when the gate opens.
The first hour is on the Sambar road. Dawn is the loudest part of the day — langurs alarm-calling, peacocks, and the chance of a tiger crossing the track.
The open grassland at Dhikala is the best place in the reserve to see something large at a distance, and the only place with a clear view for miles.
A stop for coffee and a proper look at the river, then back through the gate before the day vehicles come in.
Rohan Mehta
Mumbai
5.0
Devendra found pug marks twice and stopped to explain how old they were, which was more interesting than the sightings themselves. We did get a tiger, forty minutes in, on the Sambar road.
Claire Dubois
Lyon
5.0
He was upfront that we might see nothing. We saw chital, two sambar, a serpent eagle and no cat at all, and it was still a brilliant morning.
Arjun Pillai
Thiruvananthapuram
4.0
Genuinely cold at 5am in December — take the jacket seriously. The permits are fiddly but Devendra had it all sorted before we arrived.
Lena Fischer
Hamburg
5.0
Second safari with Devendra. He spotted a leopard's tail in the grass from the moving jeep, which I still do not understand.
Corbett reserve permit office
Ramnagar, Nainital District, Uttarakhand 244715
Meet at 05:15. Entrance slots are allocated by the forest department, not by us, so we cannot hold the gate open.
Devendra Rawat
Naturalist and licensed forest guide
Hosting since 201497% response rateSpeaks English, Hindi, Kumaoni
Devendra has guided in Corbett for fifteen years and holds one of the reserve's forest-guide licences, which is what gets a vehicle past the Dhikala gate at all. He keeps a notebook of sightings and will tell you plainly that a tiger is never guaranteed.
Almost entirely seated in an open 4x4 on forest tracks. The tracks are rough, so those with back trouble should sit towards the front.
Free cancellation up to 48 hours before the start — the reserve charges us for permits from that point. If the forest department closes the zone, we refund in full.
₹3,200/ per guest
October 2026
Start time
You won't be charged yet
Free cancellation up to 48 hours before
Date to be chosen · 05:15
Up to 6 guests