Eravikulam National Park

About this place

Kerala's first national park, created in 1978 over 97 square kilometres of the Western Ghats near Munnar, covered with rolling mountain grasslands and dense shola forest and crowned by Anamudi, the highest peak in southern India. Its star is the Nilgiri tahr, a rare, endangered mountain goat found only in these hills; the park holds its largest population in the world, and the animals often come close to visitors in the Rajamala tourism zone. Once every twelve years the hills are covered in the blue-violet blooms of the neelakurinji flower, turning the mountains a single magical colour, with the next bloom expected around 2030; the rest of the time they are wrapped in green and mist. Foreign visitors pay about ₹500, and park buses carry visitors from the entry point to the viewing area, per visitor guides. The tourism zone closes for about a month between February and March for the tahr calving season, so check before you go.