Trek in Rara National Park: A backpack at the lap of nature!!!

The national park was established in 1976 A.D. with the goal to conserve the local ecosystem. Situated in the north-western part of Nepal, Rara is the smallest national park; whereas, it is home to Rara Lake aka Mahendra Lake, the biggest lake in the nation. The oval-shaped lake is extended up to 10.8 sq km with a recorded depth of 167m, inhabited with various rare aquatic species and flows out into Mugu Karnali River through Nijar Khola.

The national park is covered by pine coniferous greenery and inhabited by more than 500 different kinds of flowers, 20 different species of mammals and 214 species of birds. Similarly, snow trout is the fish species detected in the Rara Lake. Moreover, the woodland of Rara National Park renders a safe haven to rare and endangered species such as Himalayan tahr, yellow-throated marten, wild dog, wild boar, common langur, rhesus macaque, red panda, musk deer, common otter Himalayan black bear, leopard, and jackal. On top of that, it also nurtures a wide range of winter birds like red-crested pochard, mallard, common teal, coots, great-crested grebe, black-necked grebe, gulls and merganser alongside a handful of migrant waterfowls and gallinaceous birds at a particular point of the season. With the rich biodiversity in its possession, Rara National Park is an exemplary snippet of the region’s flora and fauna.

When to reach and How??

Autumn, spring and summer time of the year are considered pre-eminent to explore Rara National Park. The effortless method to reach Rara is to take a flight from Nepalgunj to Talcha airport in Mugu district. From here onwards, few hours of walk takes you to the beautiful Rara Lake. But for trekkers interested in real travel venture, trekking into the dense woodland rich of natural bliss, a flight from Nepalgunj to Jumla, from where the journey’s end is 2-3 days walk away.

What to do??

For utmost experience, it is still recommended to be self-sufficient and explore a dense forest of pine and juniper in the Rara region. Moreover, camping next to the gleaming Rara Lake in the middle of lush green hills at an elevation of 2,990m asl is the paramount way to get acquainted with Mother Nature. Also, you can explore the Rara region through a hike around Rara Lake and Rara National Park, which provide the exposure to the untainted magnificence of nature. Apart from that, you can ride paddle boat in the lake, ride a horse, click stunning snaps, and set the hammock and sleep in a tent. A rewarding hike to Chuchemara Hill delivers splendid vistas of the turquoise lake and green forested hillsides alongside the snow-capped peaks on all sides.