Eravikulam, Marayoor and Chinnar
Munnar · 9 hrs · Cab included · Pickup from your stay
From ₹2500 for the whole vehicle, up to 6 people. The price is per car, not per person.
Vehicles
- Swift Dzire: Sedan. Best for a couple or a small family. ₹2500 for the vehicle.
- Innova or Ertiga: The comfortable one on a long hill day. ₹3500 for the vehicle.
- Jeep: For the estate tracks a sedan cannot take. ₹4000 for the vehicle.
The long day north, and the one that changes what Munnar means
Munnar reads as one landscape until you drive north out of it. In sixty kilometres the road goes from Eravikulam's wet shola grasslands, where the Nilgiri tahr walks up to the path and Anamudi stands over everything at 2,695 m, through the sandalwood at Marayoor, and out into Chinnar's thorn scrub in the rain shadow, which looks like a different state entirely. It is.
It is also the day with the most moving parts. Eravikulam admits visitors only at Rajamala, private vehicles stop at the gate and a forest department bus does the last climb, tickets are capped and the queue starts early. The park shuts entirely for roughly two months in the tahr calving season, usually February into March. Chinnar needs a forest guide taken at the check post. None of that is difficult, all of it rewards being there at the right hour with someone who has done it before.
So this one starts at seven. You book the vehicle for your group at a flat rate, the driver handles the timing and the counters, and the forest department's own fees are the only things you pay on the day.
Your day, stop by stop
1. The tea museum at Nallathanni
On the Eravikulam road, a working demonstration of how leaf becomes the dust in your cup, with the original rollers still turning. Closed on Mondays, so this day avoids them.
Museum entry, paid at the counter
2. Eravikulam National Park
Rajamala, the only part of the park open to visitors. Private vehicles stop at the gate and a forest department bus takes you up to the trail, which is a short walk through grassland where the Nilgiri tahr come close enough to embarrass a telephoto lens.
Park entry and the forest bus, paid at the ticket counter
3. Anamudi from the trail
At 2,695 m the highest peak in India south of the Himalaya, seen from the Rajamala path. You cannot climb it, that is core forest, and the view from here is the point.
4. Marayoor sandalwood and the dolmens
The only natural sandalwood forest in Kerala, and the Muniyara dolmens standing in it: megalithic burial chambers of flat granite slabs, several thousand years old and entirely unfenced.
5. Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary
Over the rain shadow line into thorn scrub and dry deciduous forest, which looks nothing like the Munnar you drove out of. Grizzled giant squirrel country, on the Tamil Nadu boundary.
Sanctuary entry and the mandatory forest guide fee, paid at the check post
In your price
- Private vehicle with driver for the full day
- Pickup and drop at your stay
- Waiting time at Rajamala while you are inside the park
- Parking and toll charges
- GoExplorer support number for the day
Not included
- Eravikulam entry and forest bus
- Chinnar entry and forest guide
- Tea museum entry
- Lunch and refreshments
What you pay on the day
- Eravikulam park entry and the forest department bus, at the Rajamala counter
- Chinnar sanctuary entry and the compulsory forest guide fee, at the check post
- Tea museum entry
- Camera fees where the forest department charges them
- Lunch at Marayoor
- Personal expenses
Who this suits
Anyone who can manage a gentle 2 km walk on a paved forest trail at Rajamala. It suits families and photographers, and it is a long day in a car, which is worth knowing before you book it with very small children. The vehicle seats four or six depending on which you pick, at one price either way.
What to bring
A warm layer for Rajamala and something lighter for Chinnar, since the two ends of this day are genuinely different climates. Water, sun protection, cash for the forest counters, and binoculars if you own them.
The park has its own calendar
Eravikulam closes for roughly two months in the tahr calving season, usually February into March, and the forest department can shut it at short notice in heavy rain. If the park is closed on your date we tell you before you travel and you take a full refund or a reschedule. We will not run this day quietly without its best stop.
Cancellation
- More than 24 hrs before: Full refund
- Within 24 hrs: 50% refund, or reschedule free once
- No show: No refund
Safety and the operator
Everything inside Eravikulam and Chinnar follows forest department rules: stay on the marked trail, no feeding, no plastic past the gate. The tahr are wild animals that have stopped fearing people, which is not the same as being tame. Chinnar is walked with the department's own guide.
Questions
Is the price per person?
No. It is the vehicle for the whole day. What is per person is the forest department's own entry and bus, and those are paid at the counter.
Will we actually see Nilgiri tahr?
At Rajamala, almost always. They graze beside the trail and are used to people. It is as close to a sure thing as wild animals get, and we still will not call it guaranteed.
Can we climb Anamudi?
No. The summit sits in the core zone and is closed to visitors. You see it from the Rajamala trail, which is the view everyone means anyway.
What if Eravikulam is closed for calving season?
We tell you before you travel. You can move the date, take a refund, or run the day as a Marayoor and Chinnar trip if you would rather. Your call, not ours.