Nanda Devi National Park

Nanda Devi rises to 7,816 metres, the highest mountain entirely within India, and it stands inside a natural amphitheatre closed by a ring of peaks over six thousand metres broken only by the Rishi Ganga gorge, which kept the sanctuary unentered until 1934. Heavy trekking damage led to closure of the core zone in 1983, and it has stayed closed, which has allowed the inner sanctuary to recover. The UNESCO listing pairs it with the Valley of Flowers. Buffer areas around Lata and Tolma villages are open with permits and community guides, offering high meadows, forest and views of the peak.

History

W. W. Graham made the first recorded attempt to explore the sanctuary in 1883 but got only as far as the Rishi Ganga, and later attempts, including Hugh Ruttledge's in 1932, also failed, until Eric Shipton and H. W. Tilman entered the inner sanctuary through the Rishi Ganga gorge in 1934; it was declared a game sanctuary in 1939. In the 1960s, after China's first nuclear test in 1964, American climbers hired by the CIA and an Indian team set out together to place a plutonium-powered listening device on the summit, left it on the mountain when bad weather ended the season, and found it gone the next year; later searches failed to find it. The national park was established in 1982, became a World Heritage Site in 1988 and was joined with the Valley of Flowers in 2005, and on 7 February 2021 a flood swept down the Rishiganga valley after a landslide, avalanche or glacial lake outburst (Wikipedia, Nanda Devi National Park).

What's there

• Nanda Devi - the 7,816-metre peak seen from buffer-zone viewpoints.
• The ring of peaks - the wall of six-thousanders enclosing the sanctuary.
• The buffer treks - routes above Lata and Tolma with community guides.
• The high meadows - bugyal grassland and forest in the open areas.

When to go

June to September for the open trekking season; the monsoon brings rain but also the flowering meadows. Winter closes the high routes entirely. Permits must be arranged in advance.

Good to know

The inner sanctuary is closed and cannot be visited at all; only buffer areas are open. Permits and local guides are required. Trails are steep and remote with basic village homestays.

Nearby

The Valley of Flowers lies northwest; Joshimath is west.

Key facts