Once a hunting reserve for royalty, the Nagarhole National Park is today one of India's most pristine wild life sanctuaries. Spread over 643 sq kms, the park is located 96 km away from Mysore and is home to several rare and endangered wildlife species including the tiger. It derives its name from the Kannada word "Naga" which means snake and "Hole" which means streams. And as the name suggests, the park has several streams snaking through its rich tropical forests.

Situated within the Kodagu (formerly Coorg) and Mysore districts of Karnataka, the sanctuary borders Kerala and is a picture-perfect landscape of gentle slopes and shallow valleys. The Kabini is the largest river in the Park. Other major rivers in the Park include the Lakshmana, Teentha and Nagarhole.

The Park mainly consists of a moist deciduous forest in the northern and western parts and dry deciduous forest in the south-eastern part. The forests are unique in the sense that they have open grassy swamps that remain green all through the year. The area has rich and diverse flora and fauna. Apart from its elephant population, the you can spot the tiger, panther, chital, sambar, Indian Bison, sloth bear and primates like the langur, bonnet macaque and slender loris. It is also home to over 250 species of birds including the malabar trogon, malabar pied-hornbill, the crested hawk-eagle and the crested serpent-eagle.