Winding Roads & Never Ending TalesFamily trips, wrong turns and the places we still talk about.
Kausani and Ranikhet: Our Family's Kumaon Road Trip
My daughter's first summer break got me thinking about our own childhood holidays. Mangoes, village visits, no screens. I wanted us to get away for a proper break, and that is how this Kumaon trip began.
We started with Corbett, Ranikhet and Kausani before heading farther into the hills.
A note on this archive story
From the travel archive, first published 6 May 2017. This is our experience at the time, not a current price or booking guide. Check opening hours, access, fares and services before making your own plans.
How our Kumaon journey fits together
This was a summer-break road trip, not a race between hill stations. We entered through Corbett, continued via Ranikhet and Kausani, travelled deeper towards Munsiyari, then returned through the Chaukori and Binsar side towards Bhimtal. The changing mountain views were the point of the journey.
Start here: Corbett, Ranikhet and Kausani
The account below covers our planning and the first hill stops. A road closure changed the Ranikhet day; in Kausani, a wrong turn led us to Eco Park. Not everything memorable had been on the original list.
The road into Munsiyari
Baijnath and Birthi broke up the journey, but the drive itself deserves space in the plan. Read this before treating a map estimate as a comfortable sightseeing day.
Munsiyari: the stay behind the view
Mountain views were part of the reward; rain and changed plans were part of the reality. This chapter separates the stay from the long journey getting there.
Chaukori to Bhimtal: the return leg
After Munsiyari we came back through Chaukori, the cave temple and Binsar, then finished around Nainital and Bhimtal.
What I would keep in mind: I would keep flexibility around weather and road conditions, and leave at least one stop each day that we could happily drop. These are archive experiences, not confirmation of present-day access.
THE PLANNING
When we were young summer breaks meant time to go to grandparents in villages to enjoy sunbaked mangoes and litchis. I still have a fond remembrance of plucking mangoes on my own from the farms sitting on the shoulders of caretaker of our farm. But rapidly changing society has snatched that opportunity from our kids, for whom summer break means more of TV, Videogames, and cricket at the apartment ground.
The world no longer opens their eyes and ears to the warmth of morning sun and sound of chirping birds. We are indeed living in a concrete jungle. I had also stopped taking these breaks but this time when my kid's first summer break from school came I wanted to switch off from here and go to same old places. Hence the plan for Uttarakhand culminated.
If you are trying to build your itinerary for this DEVBHOOMI - Land of the GODS.
THE CHOICE: KUMAON VS GARHWAL
There will be two alternate options you will face is the choice between Kumaon and Garhwal region. Both are unique and bedrock of Himalayas but still have different things to offer. Garhwal region is the land of Ganga and boasts of all major Prayag starting from Rishikesh-Haridwar to Rudraprayag and Joshimath. Coupled with Auli the Switzerland of India it is a very inviting destination and one should definitely try this once in life at least.
We chose Kumaon for this trip, but that personal choice should not be taken as a claim that one Himalayan region is categorically safer than another. Check current conditions for your actual route. Most of you will remember the recent flood situation in this area and that was the reason we struck off this option. instead, we choose Kumaon region that has more of greener and peaceful hills all around.
It starts with Corbett, Nainital and goes up to Munsiyari the last frontier before the mighty Himalayas begin. This stretch is home to multiple glaciers and a place to falling in love with nature again and again. All the reviews and news that I read showed some good road conditions throughout and promised awesome views of Himalaya and so the choice was made swiftly.
But then what do you roam in Kumaon, being very near to the capital the place has become too commercialized and it's losing its pristine beauty and calmness in the process. The only way to reach this place easily is flying to Delhi or Dehradun and then taking a cab from there. Although people from Eastern India like Bengal also prefer to take a train till kathgodam and then take a cab from there.
Either way, it will be a road trip around these places and during winter which lasts between Nov-April most of the areas receive snow and visibility is a bare minimum. The roads are long continuous one and even if you want you can not bypass places like Nainital, Corbett, Bhimtal.
One can plan to add these places as a stopover and keep on going further inside to some amazing offbeat places that really brings out the best of the region mesmerizing you with its tranquility and awesome views of Himalaya. Our trip came up well with mapping these natural oases with our needs as we finalized the following 5 destinations.
Final Destinations
1. Munsiyari
2. Chaukori
3. Pithoragarh
4. Bageshwar
5. Binsar
The itinerary that we followed was Delhi-Corbett-Kausani via Ranikhet-Munsiyari-Chaukori-Pithoragarh-Bageshwar-Binsar-Bhimtal-Delhi. We tried keeping travel time to a bare minimum so that it does not take a toll on my daughter and wife. And you can also take a similar route if you do not like the long circuitous mountain routes because some stretches like the one between Kausani and Munsiyari are on moderate to tough in terms of drive comfort as I will cover later in detail. Mountain conditions and personal comfort vary; the presence of trees is not a reason to assume altitude cannot cause problems.
BREAKPOINT: Corbett National Park
The entry to the Kumaon region being guarded by fiercest of them all the king of the Jungle himself. The place is an oasis for Tiger Safari and probability of a sighting here during early morning near waterbed is very high as compared to many other National forests across India.
WHERE TO STAY
The place is filled with farm resorts but one of the most sought-after remains the KMVN (Government Financed) that is nestled inside jungle unlike any other. We though stayed in Maya Resort which once used to be a riverside resort but due to canal redirection no longer enjoys the view and should be booked only for a night stay like we did.
With an attractive all-inclusive pricing and some good home cooked food, it is a good place to spend a day or two. Safari could be booked online in advance or through your hotel for last minute plans. The cost is Rs 4000 for Jeep and 3200 for Elephant Safari and it includes pick and drop to all the major resorts of the area.
At the Park gate, there are options to go for Elephant ride as well which my Kid liked a lot. Although Corbett was the briefest of our stay as it took us almost 6 hours to reach here from Delhi Airport and it was very Hot outside but we still have the picturesque setting in our mind for this jungle.
Places to Visit:
- National Park Safari
- Corbett Museum followed by Corbett Waterfall both of which are situated almost next to each other.
Important Points:
- Museum and Park's gate closes at 5 PM
- Museum is around 30 minutes drive from park gate
- Most of the resorts do not have adjoining markets so pack your bags accordingly
- Safari during peak season are hard to get in morning so book in advance here
BREAKPOINT: Ranikhet
The Second day after breakfast we started off to Kausani. The journey time was showing 5 hours but our plan was to take a detour of Ranikhet as it was on the way. Ranikhet is a small hill station that has military written all over it. This place houses one of the most dreaded armed force of the world namely the Indian Army. The place is naturally green and has been well maintained by Military. Although being a small place it gets crowded too soon.
Best Places to visit:
- Girjya Temple
- Jhula Devi Temple
- Golu Devta Temple
- Chaubatia Orchard
- Golf Ground
- Baba HaidaKhan Ashram
Our first visit was Girjya Temple a beautiful and very famous temple situated atop a small hillock with only stairs as the access point. The magnificent Kosi river passes alongside touching the feet of the goddess. The landscape of this temple makes it a must stop before heading to Ranikhet. As this place is very near to Corbett so one can cover it in few hours from the main park as well.
Baba HaidaKhan Ashram which was made by Bhole Baba as he is fondly called here. The Haidakhan Ashram covers a quite big area including three different levels, the main Ashram, Fakirabad and the Gufa Side and offers a good view of the valley. it is a very chilled out place to come sit and enjoy the beauty of nature all around.
Next in line was Jhula Devi Temple which has a long story of getting wishes fulfilled by Goddess Durga for all the pilgrimage. But as we moved towards the place we found that Army for some unknown reason had decided to close the direct route and the detour would have taken additional time of 2 hours. With a heavy heart, my wife agreed to skip this location.
The road closure also meant we were deprived of visiting the very famous Chaubatia Orchard. If you are in Ranikhet don't forget to try this place, besides having some amazing viewpoints amongst the apple and other fruits trees are the guided tours that are on offer here. You will see some very interesting plants here and be hearing about them through the widened eyes of the caretaker there will make it worth every penny spent.
Best season to visit is during July-August when orchard has fruits on trees. It's so tempting you will have a tough time not drooling here.
So after having some pizza in Pizza Talk Cafe that is situated just near the Taxi parking area and serves some decent Pizza options, we continued our journey to stop at Golf Course. Situated at height of 6132 ft it is one of the most challenging and beautiful Golf areas and though you will need Membership to play here you can easily take a tour of the place free of cost and have some amazing clicks.
Naturally built by reusing the existing Alpine cover all around the place the place is majestic insight and keeps on switching between vibrant colors of Rainy season to an earthly look of Brown during Summer. We were greeted by an amalgamation of brown and green and was a wallpaper like a view.
BREAKPOINT: Kausani
The remaining drive was peaceful with my daughter and wife both sleeping peacefully in the back and myself engrossed in Kindle. It took me about 8 hours to cover this itinerary.
WHERE TO STAY
We reached Kausani around 6 pm and checked into our resort for next two days called as Nature Valley Resort. Had seen some very good review of this place on TripAdvisor but I guess reviews could be misleading sometimes. Ok, maybe not completely because what they lack in Room Quality and overall ambiance they compensate for their excellent service.
The rooms which we were first put had a very gloomy look maybe because it was a corner one and one side was covered by some kind of storage. We asked for a Room upgrade but were told it's a busy weekend and all other rooms were booked.
Coming down, I noticed another room open on the same floor, on the other side of the property. It had open space around it and looked much better than our gloomy corner room. I asked about it. The staff were a little reluctant, but we eventually got the room changed.
After that the stay was fine. Good food, helpful staff, and they pampered my daughter a lot. So the reviews were not entirely wrong; we just had a disappointing start. Glad I asked about that other room before settling in.
They pampered my daughter a lot and allowed me to relax. There was an excellent view of the valley from all the rooms and it would be really awesome to stay here during snow as we could see from the pictures.
Best Places to visit:
- Golu Devta Temple
- Anashkati Ashram
- Eco Park
- Sumitra Nandan Pant Museum
- Rudradhari Falls and Cave Temple
Next morning we planned to visit Anashakti Ashram, the place where Gandhiji spent some good amount of time creating the Anashakti Yoga Book. The place is known only as ashram around here and should be visited to see some very old and rare photographs of Gandhiji and other national leaders who gave this opportunity to enjoy the free air. The place has a beautiful viewpoint and it was here that we had our first glimpse of Snow capped Himalayas.
The staff told us the view was better on cloudless days. Even our brief glimpse of the snowy Himalayas was enough to make this stop memorable.The setting and the first glimpse of snowy peaks stayed with us more than any quotation.
If you don't take the right turn to enter the Ashram you can continue on an uphill that takes you to Eco Park a great place to unwind amongst the bountiful nature. A hidden picnic spot which is not even listed amongst the travel destinations and we also reached here just because we lost our way to the ashram. We could have covered Baijnath Temple as it was only around 30 min drive from our place but we left it for last day as it was in any ways en route to our next destination of Munsiyari.
We instead spent the day roaming around the Tea garden which is not as majestic as you would see in Ooty or Darjeeling but still a place to stroll. You will find shawl factory there as well but as we came to know later it was just a rebranding shop selling Ludhiana Items under the pretext of the Local cottage industry.
Rudradhari Falls is also a recommended place here but we left that as it requires to cover some hundred of steps to reach the bottom and I wasn't prepared for the trek with my daughter. So maybe next time but if you are travelers without kid you should go here especially when its monsoon.
TIP:
- For us, the appeal was the mountain setting and a slower pace, not a long sightseeing list.
- The place has a small market and if you are traveling with Kid buy your own ready to use Milk at plains.
- Pack for the current forecast and chilly evenings rather than using our old packing list as a rule.
- Check road conditions close to departure; this account describes our trip, not today's access.
What I would keep in mind
- A road closure can change the day; keep one stop you are happy to drop.
- Ask to see the room before settling in when the view matters to the stay.
Looking back: Animal rides or handling encounters mentioned in this old diary are part of what happened then, not recommendations for a future trip. I would choose observation without rides, feeding or handling.
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