Pench Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra) | Live Safari Availability

About Pench Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra)

The northern slice of Pench, straddling the Madhya Pradesh border. The forests that inspired Kipling's Jungle Book, with sal, teak and bamboo and the Pench river running through.

Area (Maharashtra side): ~257 km²
Best season: Oct – Jun
Nearest city: Nagpur (~90 km)
Sessions per day: Morning, Afternoon

Gates: Khubala (Core) · Sillari (Core) · Chorbahuli (Core) · Khursapar (Core) · Surewani (Buffer) · Banera (Buffer)

Tap any green slot to book it on WhatsApp. We confirm the gate, date and session in one chat.

Available Waitlist / RAC Booked ClosedM = morning · A = afternoon · MD = mid-day

Pench Tiger Reserve

6 gates · 30 days

Gate	Wed02Sep	Thu03Sep	Fri04Sep	Sat05Sep	Sun06Sep	Mon07Sep	Tue08Sep	Wed09Sep	Thu10Sep	Fri11Sep	Sat12Sep	Sun13Sep	Mon14Sep	Tue15Sep	Wed16Sep	Thu17Sep	Fri18Sep	Sat19Sep	Sun20Sep	Mon21Sep	Tue22Sep	Wed23Sep	Thu24Sep	Fri25Sep	Sat26Sep	Sun27Sep	Mon28Sep	Tue29Sep	Wed30Sep	Thu01Oct
KhubalaCore	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	M3 A3
SillariCore	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	M29 A29
ChorbahuliCore	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed
KhursaparCore	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	Gate Closed	M23 A11
SurwaniBuffer	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	Gate Closed	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	Gate Closed	M2 A1	M1AWL	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	Gate Closed	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	Gate Closed	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2
Banera	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2	M2 A2

Plan your visit to Pench Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra)

Best time to visit

Open October to June, with the best tiger and wild dog (dhole) sightings from March to June. The Jungle Book landscape is at its most photogenic in the dry months, while winter is greener and cooler.

How to reach

Nagpur airport is about 90 km from the Sillari gate, which makes Pench the easiest Maharashtra reserve to reach by air. Nagpur is also the nearest major railhead.

Before you book

Book the core gates (Sillari, Khubala, Chorbahuli, Khursapar) early; the buffer gates Surewani and Banera are easier to get.
Reserve on the Maharashtra Forest portal up to 120 days ahead, with a small Tatkal quota near the date.
Carry the government photo ID used in your booking.
Check the weekly closed day for your chosen gate when you book.

Frequently asked

How do I find an available safari slot quickly?

Use the Reserve dropdown to focus on one park, then scan the matrix for green pills. Those are the gate, date and session combinations with vehicles still available, and the number on each pill is how many vehicles are still open.

What do the colours and labels mean?

Green with a number: vehicles still available, and the number is how many.
Amber "WL": Reservation Against Cancellation or Waitlist. You can register and take a slot if a booking is cancelled.
Red "✕": fully booked.
Grey "Gate Closed": that gate is not operating that day. When both morning and afternoon are closed, the cell shows one combined label.

How do I see different dates on a phone?

Swipe the matrix left or right. The Gate column on the left stays in place while you scroll through the date columns, so you always know which gate you are looking at.

Can I narrow the matrix down to just what I want?

Yes. Use the filters above the matrix to pick a Reserve, a specific Date, a Status (e.g. only Available), or type part of a gate name. Cells that do not match a Status filter are dimmed instead of removed, so you keep your bearings.

What do M and A in each cell mean?

M is the morning safari session, A is the afternoon session. Most parks run two sessions per day. The pills on top show morning, the ones below show afternoon.

Which gate should I pick for the best chance of a tiger?

The Recent sightings section ranks every reporting gate by how many animals were logged there over the last 30 days, next to how many of those days produced a sighting at all. Consistency and volume are different things: a gate can post a big total from two exceptional drives while another produces something on most days. The ranking refreshes with the data, so read the top rows rather than relying on a gate's reputation.

Should I book a morning or an evening safari?

Every gate in the sightings ranking has a Best drive column worked out from where that gate's own sightings actually came from. It only names a drive when one side leads the other by a clear margin, and says Both when the split is close. The difference can be large: some buffer gates produce roughly twice as much in the evening as they do at dawn.

What do the green squares in the day-by-day grid mean?

Each square is one gate on one day. The number is how many animals were reported and the name under it is the individual that was identified, so a count of five reads as a named tigress with four cubs rather than an unexplained number. Hover a square for the full morning and evening breakdown. Darker green means more animals, on a fixed scale so a quiet month cannot repaint two animals as a busy day. A pale empty square means nothing was logged that day.

How accurate are the sighting counts?

They are a record of what was reported from safari drives, not a census. A gate with no entry on a day may still have had animals; it only means nothing was reported. Counts are read conservatively, so a report naming a tigress with four cubs counts as five animals while an unnumbered mention of cubs counts as one.

What is the difference between Core and Buffer zones?

Core zones are the strictly protected interior of the reserve where only limited safari activity is permitted. Buffer zones surround the core and have mixed-use forest with safari access. Tiger sightings are still common, and slots are usually easier to get.