Singalila National Park: is a national park of India located on the Singalila Ridge at an altitude of more than 7000 feet above sea level, in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It is well known for the trekking route to Sandakphu that runs through it.

The park was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1986, and was made an Indian national park in 1992. The region had long been used as the trekking route from Manebhanjang to Sandakphu (the highest peak of West Bengal) and Phalut.

Political geography: The park is located in the Darjeeling subdivision, Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India. It is bordered on the north by the state of Sikkim and on the west by the country of Nepal.

Physical geography: The park is part of the Eastern Himalayas. The Singalila Ridge, which runs roughly North to South and separates Himalayan West Bengal from the other Eastern Himalayan ranges to the west of it. The two highest peaks of West Bengal, Sandakphu (3630 m) and Phalut (3600 m), are located on the ridge and inside the park. River Rammam and River Sirikhola flow through the park.

The park has no significant history of human settlement. However, small settlements have grown up along the trekking route to Sandakphu and Phalut. There is a reasonably large village at Kala Pokhri, around the lake of the same name. The Singalila Ridge was used as an approach route by the first documented mountaineering team which unsuccessfully attempted to climb Kanchenjunga in 1905. The team was led by Jules Jacot-Guillarmod and the famous occultist Aleister Crowley.

How to reach

By road: Singalila National Park is well connected by road. But the roads are circular and the journey can feel like wave motion.
The road route from Siliguri
Siliguri > Sukna > Rangtong > Kurseong> Tung > Sonada> Ghoom> Manebhanjan > Tonglu – 90 km.

By rail: The nearest railway station of is Ghoom Railway Station 31 km from Tonglu (entry point to the Singalila National Park).

By air: Singalila National Park is located 13 km from Bagdogra Airport in Bagdogra. That is the nearest airport, but by road it is less than 100 km and takes 3 to 4 hours.

Biomes

Because of the park’s range in altitude, it includes three separate biomes, ranging from subalpine to subtropical, and three corresponding ecoregions:

• The Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests ecoregion, of the temperate coniferous forests biome
• Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests ecoregion, of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome
• Himalayan subtropical pine forests ecoregion, of the subtropical coniferous forest biome

The subtropical biome roughly exists in the altitude range of 1800 to 3000 m, and the temperate biome exists in the altitude range of 3000 m to 4500 m.

Fauna

Mammals: The park has a number of small mammals including the red panda, leopard cat, barking deer, yellow-throated marten, wild boar, pangolin and pika. Larger mammals include the Himalayan black bear, leopard, clouded leopard, serow and takin. Tigers occasionally wander into the area, but do not have a large enough prey base to make residence in these forests feasible.

Birds: The park is a birder’s delight with over 120 species recorded including many rare and exotic species like the Himalayan Vulture, scarlet minivet, kalij pheasant, blood pheasant, satyr tragopan, brown and fulvous parrotbills, rufous-vented tit, and Old World babblers like the fire-tailed myzornis and the golden-breasted fulvetta. The park is also on the flyway of many migratory birds.

Reptiles and amphibians: The endangered Himalayan newt frequents the region and congregates around the lakes of Jore Pokhri and Sukhiapokhri and nearby lakes to reproduce. Jore Pokhri and Sukhiapokhri are within 20 km of the park boundary and are protected wildlife sanctuaries.