Paryatan Bazar

September 15, Kathmandu. Khaptad National Park is a offbeat and underrated destination in Nepal. It is located at the extreme west corner of Nepal and is utterly beautiful. This National park is completely untouched which make it a more beautiful and at its full potential. Khaptad National Park is also a interesting place for its religious value and the stories that surround this place.

Although the National Park exhibits extraordinary features the importance of Khaptad national park comes from its past. The history of this place is filled with stories that go beyond any imagination.

Khaptad National Park got its name from a hermit named as Khaptad Baba. He meditated here for 50 years. This added to the importance of the Khaptad National Park.Local people worship in the buffer zone of this national park during full moon to Shiva in August and September. Interesting rituals take place during this time.

Khaptad National Park has a huge variety of flora. It is like a green carpet rolling down from steep slopes to moorland. The view and the feel of being there is absolutely incomparable and will take travellers to a different place. It supports around 67 species of flora, which harmoniously coexist here. Few of the flora includes rhododendron forests, oak and pine forests.

The Khaptad national park map display a great variety of flora also. It has 23 species of mammals and 287 types of birds. This national park is great seeing mammals like leopard, Himalayan black bear, wild dog and musk deer. As it supports a huge number of birds, travellers can see birds like Impeyan pheasant (danphe; Nepalese national bird), Peregrine falcon, the white rumped vulture and many types of partridges, flycatchers, bulbuls, cuckoos and eagles.

The Khaptad National Park is very popular for trekking. The Khaptad National Park Trek is a short and medium to easy trek. It starts from Dhangadhi and ends at Silgadhi.