Kufri Tour Package

The Himalayan Nature Park, better known as Kufri Zoo, was set up in 1992 on the site of a Musk Deer Farm that had run here since 1965 to breed and study musk deer for research. Spread across roughly 90 hectares at about 2,600 metres, the park now houses more than 200 animals across 31 species native to the western Himalayas, including the Himalayan black bear, brown bear, barking deer, musk deer and the colourful Himalayan monal pheasant.

Its best-known residents are a pair of snow leopards, brought in from Darjeeling Zoo in 2004 as part of a conservation breeding programme run across Himalayan zoos. Walking trails follow the natural slope of the hillside rather than a flat layout, so a full visit involves a fair bit of walking.

The park sits right at the entrance to Kufri town, making it an easy first stop before heading up to Mahasu Peak or the ski slopes.

Mahasu Peak is the highest point in the Kufri area, reached by a roughly 3 to 4 km trail that climbs about 268 metres from the main Kufri plateau, near Kufri Fun World. Estimates of its exact height vary between about 2,650 and 2,890 metres depending on the source, but it is consistently listed as the highest accessible viewpoint in the belt.

The trail passes through deodar and rhododendron forest lower down before opening into scrubby ridge terrain near the top, ending at the small Nag Devta temple with a 360-degree view that takes in the Badrinath and Kedarnath ranges on a clear day. Horses are available for those who would rather ride the last stretch than walk it.

The peak is at its most dramatic between January and March, when snow covers the ridge, while April to June brings clearer skies for photography.

Green Valley is a roadside viewpoint on NH-5 between Shimla and Kufri, roughly midway along the route, where the highway opens onto a wide view of pine and deodar forest covering the slopes below. There is no entry fee, and most visitors treat it as a short chai stop rather than a planned destination, since a full look around takes about fifteen minutes.

The forest here is home to musk deer, barking deer and occasional Himalayan black bears, along with wildflowers that bloom through spring. Yaks are sometimes brought here for tourist photographs, though they are not native to the area and are kept by local handlers rather than found wild.

Fagu, a small apple-growing village at about 2,000 metres, sits roughly 6 km further along the same road and is often combined with a Green Valley stop.