Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary

Binsar Nature Reserve is centred around a high (2,400m) and very steep complex of hills north of Almora, deep in the middle mountains of the Kumaon region of the Uttarakhand Himalaya. 

Founded in 1988, it is largely a re-wilding of once heavily-exploited forest, and much of it, while delightful and beautiful, still does not feel primary. Yet it is home to leopard and bear and a fine selection of vegetation. 

Lower down, you can wander through forest and farmland, chunks of it now abandoned but still redolent of an old way of life. Areas sometimes described as (marketed as) “Binsar” in fact extend into the cultivated Saryu and Pindar valleys and higher hills some way north of the reserve. 

Higher up are rhododendron, pine and oak forests, clothed with tree ferns and other epiphytes in the upper cloud forests. At the very top is a superb ridge, accessible by metalled track, which you can walk along to Zero Point, with huge views all about, including the high, snowy Himalayas to the north on a clear day - early morning best for views.

The cooperation of villagers in protecting the area has been obtained by a visionary scheme called Village Ways, whereby they are involved and benefit: walk from village to village, stay in their guesthouses and use them as guides. The villages are charming, the people friendly but unpushy, their way of life largely intact: marvel at their terraced fields.

The walking varies from easy potters on old paths between villages (and along high ridges) to tough slogs up the high flanks. Your choice. Walkopedia thinks the sustained attraction would be the village-to-village walking. The high forests are worth a detour but not a special trip.