How the plan to visit Sultanpur National Park could be possible
I had been planning to visit Sultanpur National Park with my family for the last many years but unfortunately due to the limited (peak) time period of visiting the park i.e. Dec. & Jan. , it could not be materialized. My children & I generally have off during Saturdays but my wife has to go. One Saturday due to some program in school my daughters and wife were supposed to go to school & I had to drop them. Luckily the school falls on the same way to Park. All of a sudden it struck on my mind that instead of killing my time alone at home I should visit the park.
Sultanpur National Park
Sultanpur National Park
The SNP is situated in Gurgaon district of Haryana , about 50 kms from Delhi & 15 kms from Gurgaon on Gurgaon – Faruukh Nagar road.
The park is developed around the natural lake. For the years Sultanpur lake has been attracting birds. Peter Jackson of International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources wrote to Prime minister Indira Gandhi about the need to declare the Sultanpur lake to a bird Sanctuary, In 1971 the Lake was declared as Bird Sanctuary later in 1991 the Bird sanctuary was notified as National Park.
The park is spread over 1.42 sq. kms. An elevated path of mud and bricks has been constructed on the periphery of the lake , the length would be around 3 kms and takes around 1 ½ – 2 hours to complete the full round of the park on foot.
There is an island kind of formation in the park where most of the birds come and stay, it is difficult to get the better view of the birds without binoculars. There are 2-3 jetties like pavements that would take you close to the lake which helps in giving the better view of birds. There are 4 machhans , where you can climb and be at a height of few feet to have bird’s eye view of the birds.
The park is famous for its migratory birds. Every winter park is full of several migratory species. The early bird start arriving in September and most of them are here by November.
Approx 250 species of Birds are found at park, approx. 150 are the resident while others come from distant regions like Siberia, Europe and Afghanistan.
Best time to visit
Best time to visit the park is in winters, December to January.
Route
SNP is around 20 kms from the IFFCO Chowk on Jhazzar road , Gurgaon. From IFFCO chowk take Jaipur Highway till Rajeev Chowk & then take a right turn under the flyover of Rajeev Chowk. Almost after one km turn left towards Basai road & then after crossing sector 09 take right turn and immediate left turn which leads to SBS. On the way you will pass through the Dhankot & Chandu villages. Almost after 22 kms to SNP the road is divided into two passages, right one goes to Badli left road which is exactly 03 kms leads to SNP.
Some of the regrets
One must not be without binoculars to actually enjoy the birds watching which I did not have & another carrying camera with high quality of lenses to capture the images of flying birds & the birds sitting far away beyond the range of an ordinary camera.
Timing
Summers (6.30 to 7.00 PM)
Winters (6.30 AM to 4.30 PM)
Accommodation
Forest department do not provide any accommodation, it is provided by Haryana tourism “Rosy Pelican tourist complex” which is located adjacent to the park.
Park where people enjoy Picnic
Facilities
1. Education and Interpretation Centre : – It has many attractive coloured photographs pf birds.
2. Dr. Salim Ali Centre :- This centre is established in the memory of Dr. Salim Ali , international Ornithologist of India. The centre has some photographs , write-ups , a bit of history and certain of his personnel belongings.
Please note that on weekends both the centers are closed.
Conclusion
At the end of the day I found it a worth visiting place. But the matter of worrying is that most of the localities visiting this place use it as a picnic spot which is disturbing the natural habitat of the migratory birds. Nowadays school are also organising the educational trips to SNP but the children in excitement make so much of noise which leads to the disturbance in the Park.
Mahesh ji ……
Thanks for informative & useful post about Sultanpur National Park along with excellent pictures..
Thanks Ritesh for going through the post and liking it.
Wow Mahesh ji,
Very informative and attractive post. The pictures and write up both are excellent.
Thanks.
I am glad that you liked the post & the pictures.
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Mahesh,
Frankly speaking i have also been planning to visit the sanctuary for so many years, but never did.
However i never knew that its actually so beautiful as your pics depicted.
Really like to thank you for sharing such a nice experience in there. This has almost doubled my motivation of going there now.
Lovely and excellent coverage
Regards
Anupam Mazumdar
Thanks Anupam !
Park is worth visiting place.
Hi Mahesh jee ,
I was waiting for long time and remember you almost every day whenever I am on ghumakkar.
The main reason why i like your post is that they are ” pleasant “. I don’t know why I used this word but its true. Your posts don’t have very big descriptions but are precise and describe whatever is required. Your way of description is also very simple and sweet. The photos are also very good and are in average numbers………………
The same can described about your above post……………..
In one of your photos where you have shown the hoarding of migratory birds has pictures of 2 or 3 ducks. I don’t know whether any type of duck is migratory. I don’t think they have any type of very good flying capabilities to migrate ?????
I don’t know but I may e wrong , but this one was just out of curiosity…………………
Keep posting ………………
Thanks a lot buddy for your golden words !!
Although this post doesn’t required this much of appreciation , weak as compare to my other post.
“In one of your photos where you have shown the hoarding of migratory birds has pictures of 2 or 3 ducks. I dont know whether any type of duck is migratory. I dont think they have any type of very good flying capabilities to migrate ?????””
You may be right …..but sorry can not reply :-)
good write up,truly said:good lenses are needed sometimes.
Thanks for liking the post !
Nice, crisp, precise and informative post Semwal Ji.
Thanks Harish !
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Great way to spend a Saturday, Mahesh. Thoroughly enjoyed your post especially since you are posting here after a long time. It was very informative and you gave some really useful tips.
You have mentioned about the irresponsible behaviour of some visitors. I suppose they need to be given an induction of some sort by the Park staff to ensure that they do not disturb the birds. After all, not all visitors are ornithologists and they need to be briefed.
Regarding the signage, I have noticed that some of them are dominated by advertisements. Not only do they distract motorists, but they make the signs harder to read because the letters are smaller to accommodate they ads. Some sort of legislation needs to be passed in this regard. I have not noticed ads on signs anywhere else, not even in other parts of India.
@ Vishal: Ducks do fly. There are many species of ducks and some of them are excellent fliers. Domesticated ducks are overfed (to provide more meat) and their obesity makes it hard for them to fly. On the other hand, ducks from Siberia and from within the frigid zone usually migrate in winters to far-off places like India. In addition to migration, they also fly to avoid attacks by predators since they cannot walk fast enough.
Thanks DL for going through the post & for the yours suggestions.
Last but not least , thanks for replying Vishal’s question.
Great infotainment post, information with entertainment.
Beautiful pics, especially the 3rd one, looking like oil painting.
Thanks Vinay for liking the post !
Thanks for the post – it brings back so many memories from my childhood – school picnics, family outings… we somehow ended up going here many times. I was wondering when did this ‘bird sanctuary’ become ‘national park’ :)
You’re right – the place can do with some more development and infrastructure…. the marshy patches invite so many migratory visitors, if only the government could do something inviting for the right audience for a ‘National Park’…
Nice to see your comment after a long time on my post.
Thanks for going through the post & leaving your comment.
Thanks :) Of late, I find myself reading posts but not getting to comment. Shall be more diligent now :)
Long time Mahesh. Glad to see you story and I am guessing that this is going to be a ‘Series’ on Gurgaon. Probably you should put your KOD story as part of this series.
I visited ‘Okhla Bird Sanctuary’ in Delhi during this winters. We arranged a guide from Sultanpurand he brought wonderful equipments (binos, telephoto kind of lens, tripod etc) and was very learned, this made the while experience much more richer. I think it is a good idea to hunt for a guide for these visits.
Recenlty, Nikhil wrote a story which captures your observation around picnic-spot etc in a more detailed way,also Bird Enthusiasts can see more pictures. I am leaving the link here.
https://www.ghumakkar.com/2012/01/27/sultanpur-national-park-pathos-for-a-sitting-duck/
Where do we go next ?
I was traveling like anything , got mad …..:-)
Yes you are right I am planning to write a serious which could take around six month or more. I will be covering approx. 5-6 places including KOD.
Maheshji, it is your first post after my joining this site. The post was good and perfect with all minute details explained. What a pity that I have been born and brought up in Delhi but never visited this place.
Thanks for sharing…. i wait for your another post on Himalayan travels,because that is my favorite place always.
@Neeraj ?????? ??? ?? ??????? ????? ?? ?? ???? ?? ??? ????-????????- ????? ???? ?????? ??? ?? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???? ??… ?? ?????? ?? ???? ?????? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ??… ????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?? ? ?????? 100 ?? ?????? ?? ??.. ??? ?? ????? ? ????, ?? ??? ?? ????, ??????? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ??, ???? ??? ? ??????? ?? ?????? ?? ??????? ?? ?? ??
Thanks SS for your golden words !
Very useful and informative post….Thanks Mahesh Ji for sharing………..
Pleasure is all mine !
Nice post mahesh. Makes we wish I had visited when i was up north.
Thanks Patrick, nice to see u once again on Ghumakkar.
Hi Mahesh,
The series (around Gurgaon) is a great idea. KoD was very informative and so is this one on Sultanpur.
These are spots around Delhi that we know about, but usually do not go to visit due to lack of relevant info (and thus, motivation).
Clear cut, precise info, as this one, is really great help because 1. they come from trusted members of this site and 2. Elaborate coverage.
While reading this post on the backdrop of issues I brought out herein, I picked up my ‘Delhi Weekends – Outlook Traveller’ to find out the reason for lack of inspiration (since we have travelled across Pataudi road on a number of occasions, being distinctly aware of SNP but never bothering to find out more about it) – and Lo – there is a small para (page 309) appearing more like a PS: , describing this park.
We can thus safely conclude that posts herein are immensely contributing to the wants of a Ghumakkar.
Keep up the good work –
Auro.
Thanks for your encouraging words !
I have heard about Asola Wildlife Sanctuary in Delhi. Anyone visited there?? or have any information?? Please share…
@ Naina – I guess you mean ‘Jasola Bird Sanctuary’ which I guess is another name for ‘Okhla Bird Sanctuary’. ‘Jasola Colony’ is on the other western side of Yamuna whereas Okhla is on the eastern side. I have been there a few times and it is not a very large typical sanctuary place but if you live in Delhi then it is a must go.
When we went, we requested a birding guide from Sultanpur and he helped us see a lot of birds which I am sure we would not have been able to spot. In anycase, it is worth a visit just to be close to nature.
Sorry for late reply.
@ Nandan – Thanks for replying on my behalf , Asola Sanctuary & Okhla Sanctuary both are different.
@ Naina – I never have been to this bird sanctuary , it is situated near surajkund , one gate is near by shooting range & other one is close to surajkund.