Journal · Himalaya · India
Kumaon on foot: Nainital, Binsar and Corbett
Kumaon is the eastern half of the Uttarakhand hills: oak and rhododendron forest, terraced villages, and the snow peaks of the Himalaya along the northern skyline. This route is for walkers. It climbs from the lake town of Nainital to a village and a forest sanctuary, then drops to the jungle at Corbett.
How do you get into the hills?
By a short flight from Delhi to Pantnagar, on the plains below, and then by road up to Nainital. The town is built around a lake in a bowl of hills, and was a summer retreat in the years of British rule. Staying a little outside it is quieter.
Two nights there allow a hike to Naina Peak, the highest point above the town, and a walk past its old houses and churches.
What is a village homestay like?
Simple, and the heart of the trip. The second stop is a homestay in the hill village of Jwalabanj. The days are walks: up a hill for the sunset, and down through the forest to Jageshwar, a valley crowded with old stone temples among tall deodar cedars.
The plan does not name the homestay. It needs choosing, and it is the one booking here that cannot be made through a hotel website.
How do you reach Binsar on foot?
By a short drive and then a hike of some hours through the forest. Binsar is a wildlife sanctuary on a ridge, and the lodge on this route lies inside it and is reached on foot.
The reward is the view. From the high point of the ridge, on a clear morning, a long line of Himalayan peaks stands along the horizon. The forest is also good for birds.
How does Corbett fit a walking trip?
As a change of scene at the end. Corbett National Park lies where the hills meet the plains, in sal forest and river valleys. It is India’s oldest national park and is named after Jim Corbett, the hunter turned conservationist, whose old home at Kaladhungi is a small museum on the road in.
Three nights allow jeep safaris at dawn and in the afternoon, and a cycle ride through the villages outside the park. From there it is a drive back to Delhi.
Quick answers
How fit do you need to be for this route?
Able to walk for most of a day on hill paths. The hike into Binsar is the longest, and there are shorter walks on most other days.
When can you see the Himalaya from Kumaon?
On clear days, which are most common in autumn and in spring. In the monsoon the peaks are usually hidden by cloud.
Is Corbett good for seeing tigers?
It has tigers, but the forest is dense and a sighting is never certain. Elephants, deer and birds are seen far more often.
Before you book: check the whole trip at once
The village homestay on this route has no name yet, and the journey to it has no fixed way of travelling, so both can still be blank when everything else is booked.
Trips by Manr.ai puts your hotels and transport on one timeline and checks for gaps, overlaps and missing legs. Type a booking in, drop in the PDF, or paste the confirmation email. With an account and sync switched on, you can also forward confirmations to trips@manr.ai from the address you signed in with. Nothing joins your trip until you have seen it and added it.