Pench Tiger Reserve

Top choice in Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh


Pench is made up mostly of teak-tree forest rather than sal, and so has a different flavour from nearby Kanha or Bandhavgarh. It also sees fewer tourists (and has fewer tigers) so, as you’re driving around the park, you’ll often feel like you have the whole forest to yourself.

The reserve has a total area of 1921 sq km, of which 1180 sq km is in Madhya Pradesh and the rest is in Maharashtra. Most of its tigers are on the MP side, specifically in Pench National Park (part of the tiger reserve's core area), which has around 50 tigers. By far the easiest reached and most used entry point is Turia gate, 12km west of Khawasa on the Jabalpur–Nagpur road (Hwy 44).