Pench Mowgli Trek

You start the day after having a hearty breakfast. The distance to be covered is long.

You enter the jungle after crossing a protective fence of the National Park. 400 meters into the thick jungle, you cross the village boundary and come across Choppan Talab. It is a small pond, however, if you look carefully, you will find that this is a great sight for birding and observing wildlife that comes here. As curious and excited as you might be about this, we cannot spend much time here. It is just the start of the trek. You will find multiple ponds and a walk alongside the river also awaits you. 

About 150 metres from the Talab, you come across a diversion in the trail. Take a left here.

Just 100 metres ahead, you come across a salt dig. A salt dig is a man made pit that is filled with salt and water by forest officials. The pit is then left to dry. The herbivores around the area come and fulfill their sodium requirements by licking the ground here. This is an animal hotspot. 

Soon you meet a thick canopy of bamboo groves on the trail. Then comes a sudden ascent of around 300 metres till Kutha daan. 

A quick descent from Kutha daan brings you the refreshing sight of Bodha Nala. Take off your shoes and cross the small stream. The water will be refreshing. However, do not try and drink this water without filtration. Even flowing water may occasionally have harmful bacteria and parasites in jungles. 

Keep walking on the forest trail for another 1.3 km until you reach a diversion. Take right here and you will enter the boundary of Nayegaon. This is the start of a new beat. The forest guards accompanying you will change here. 

3.75km into the trek, a mountain on the right and a small clearing is a sign that you have arrived at your first rest point.

After a quick break, start trekking again through gradual ascents and descents, you arrive at the end of mountain slope. 

From here on, you start walking besides a small stream. The sound of the water gurgling along the stones is a melody for your ears. One and half km from your first rest point, you come across the best rest point of the day. 

From here on, you walk on a flat trail. You come across small patches of grasslands with shrubs around them. You will also cross small water streams and see a check dam. This dam will be full of water in the monsoon season. 

Walking further, you will see traces of civilisation. Here you realise how closely the villagers and the Pench wildlife live in harmony. A quarter moon shaped Nayegaon talab is one of the biggest source of water around the vicinity. 

The village boundary ends a few hundred metres from this pond. And now, you are back in the wild again. There are multiple faint trails from now, hence it is very easy to confuse your way. Take the trail on the right on the first diversion after Nayegaon talab. Four hundred metres later, you come across another diversion. Take left from here and you will reach bawanthadi hadi river.

The river dries up in the winter and summer seasons, but during monsoon, the strong water current is a sight to behold. 

Walk alongside this river leisurely for 1.7km till you reach another crossroad. Take the trail on the right. After walking for the same amount of time, you will reach the Nalyer Camp. 

The forest officials have constructed an outpost here. You will be staying in government maintained swiss tents here. 

Start out from the Nalyer camp having packed your lunch. Take the first right on the diversion right out of your camp and you will find yourself trekking on a mud trail. Forest officials often use SUV’s to reach Nalyer.

Hike till you reach beat rock. Beat rocks are man made cemented structures used to divide the forest zones into ‘beats’. Each beat has its own designated forest staff who know their respective areas in and out. 

Follow the trail mindfully, as you will come across a lot of natural elements on this day of the trek. From bamboo forests to sections of multiple streams that will be a delight in the humid weather. 

Keep on the trail for around 3km, and you will see the next important landmark. Satar Pen is a holy stone that the locals worship. A forest deity.
Take a left from here for another kilometre towards forest Munara. A sharp right from here will make you cross the Tuar nala. 

From this temple, it takes about an hour to reach a natural cave, called Sher Gufa. 

Further up, you come across the 2nd salt dig of the area. Spend some time here and observe the paw/ hood marks of different animals that come here.

On Indiahikes exploration, our senior trek leader Nitesh Kumar encountered tiger paw marks as fresh as 30 mins. The forest officials that guide you often can judge the size, time and what animal the paw marks belong to. 

Going into the deeper jungles, you often find trees with barks peeled off and green paint with numbers on it. The officials call this line a transit line. This marks certain distances and waypoints that will be used by the guards when on duty. 

One highlight of the day is the multiple clearings that suddenly come to view after finding your way through dense vegetation. These are huge patches of grasslands where the herbivores come to graze on. In monsoon, these clearings may become haven for barasinghas, also known as the swamp deer, the national of Madhya Pradesh.

After 7-8 hours of trekking, you start seeing the sight of Swangi village. The village has protective fencing around it that you must cross. The closest gate to this village is the Kurai Gateway.

You camp at the periphery of the village. After evening snacks you can opt for a tour of the village. The houses are unique with a lot of forest produce used in its making. The architecture and materials used protect the villagers from the extreme fluctuations in temperature that occurs in the region. 

Today is your summit day.

Start the trek by going through the village. On the opposite side of the village, there is a big pond called ‘Bada Talab’ where you turn right and start moving towards the forest. 

Today’s trek will take you through gradual ascents and descents. Keep your eyes peeled out for the many species of small insects, butterflies and other reptiles that you find. This small world is extremely colourful. Your are surrounded by Sal forest as well as bamboo brooves today. 

5km into the trek, you reach the boundary of Kurai and Rukhad beat. Every beat is carefully managed by assigned forest guards. This makes the guards very much an expert of their particular beat. You change guards and start your summit push. 

The wet grassy terrain suddenly changes into a section of boulders. This section will require you to place your steps carefully. More so if it is raining. 

After 2 hours of climb, you finally reach the top. And it is no exaggeration to say that the view from here is otherworldly. 

Till now, you were trekking in very dense jungles. You could not see far ahead of you. It is very difficult to imagine the magnitude of the jungle without actually seeing it from a bird’s eye view. 

This top is special. Since the terrain is rocky, the views are not obstructed by trees. Every area that your eyes reach is covered with trees. You feel like you’re on a boat in the vast ocean. It is an experience that instantly humbles you.

Jungles that you can compare to an Amazon forest documentary that you often see on TVs. 

Sit on this summit for a while. All you can see is green trees. Let the fact that Pench National park has been recognised as the Reserve with highest density of herbivores sink in. All the said fauna is living in the forest below you- thousands of species of plants, animals, insects, reptiles, birds living in harmony. And you are part of it too.

Although you would like to spend more time here at the summit, you have 5km to cover to reach Rukhad gate. 

Start down the steep descent from Kurai gad. On the way, you come across Sangam Nala and Sangam Nala gufa. Now upon walking for 2km you find a mud road frequented by SUV’s. From here the walk to Rukhad gate is mostly flat trail. You find small patches of bamboo groves and multiple stream crossings till you reach Rukahd gate. 

You can use the Indian toilet present on the premises before heading back to Nagpur.

Pench Tiger Reserve is famous for its wildlife safari, which takes place through different gates. The buffer zone gates are Khawasa, Khumbhpani, Masurnala, Rukhad, and Teliya. And the core zone gates are Turia, Karmajhiri, and Jhamtara.

Your trek will end at Rukhad Gate. Here, you will have an 11 km safari in buffer zone of the forest. This is a part of day 4 and a part of your trek fee.
But you can also take the opportunity to stay a day in Pench and go for a longer safari in the core zone. This is optional and is not a part of your trek fee. It is an extra cost and you will have to pay this amount to the national park authorities.

P.S. If you are opting for this, we recommend the morning hour slot.

Turia Gate is famous amongst all the core zone gates. There are many resorts and other places to stay within a 2 km radius. Irrespective of the three core zone gates, the safari tracks all meet inside. So you may select any available gate online. Note: Every resort provides a drop-off to the distance gate with charges.

You will have to book the Day 5 core zone safari slots in advance. Go the Madhya Pradesh forest department website to book.

Pro Tip: You can choose 'full vehicle' (6-7 seater) if your fellow trek mates are also interested. Any last-minute or over-the-counter booking there is difficult as there is high demand.

If the vehicle/seats are not available online, you may try by contacting Javed Khan - 7748050767 (local agent), who arranges VIP bookings which costs 1000–1200 rupees higher per vehicle.

Note: The weekend Safari in the Tiger Reserve is very crowded. Keeping that in mind, we end your trek on a weekday. Check your trek start day carefully and book this safari on the 5th day of the trek.

Additionally, your trek leader will help you arrange transport back to Nagpur as well.