Carmelagiri Elephant Park in Munnar – Best Places to Visit & How to Reach

Carmelagiri Elephant Park in Munnar woos visitors with their enthralling elephant safaris through the zig-zag hilly paths between Munnar Tea Gardens. Munnar is famous for cloud-capped mountains, enchanting green landscapes, and magnificent waterfalls. However, it also offers adventurous elephant rides at Carmelagiri Elephant Park located on the way to Mattupetty Dam. Elephants, the planet’s intelligent and divine mammal still remains fascinating animal for human beings from all across the world irrespective of age. No prominent festival in Kerala is celebrated without a procession of decorated elephants and the elephant experience in Carmelagiri Elephant Park in Munnar is one of the best in Kerala.

In Carmelagiri Elephant Park,excited travelers are often seen gazing at elephants in wonder or perching atop the majestic elephants, indulging in a 1 Kilometer ride around the dense and sky-kissing forests on the way to Mattupetty Dam. The park gives trippers various riding times which ranges from 15 minutes through to 1 hour and even a full day safari. A half day or an hour-long trek educates tourists on how the majestic long-trunked elephants obeys the commands of the mahouts, hauling heavy logs from forests, acoustic communication between other elephant companions with pitches below the range of human hearing, enjoy elephant bathe, provide caress, feed and interact with them.

ALSO SEE – Top 8 Waterfalls in Munnar

Munnar Elephant Ride & Elephant Bathing

Carmelagiri Elephant Park is kids friendly tourist attraction in Munnar and an ideal place for elephant trekking along with your family and friends circle and one gets to know in person on the daily routines, special exercise walks, bathing rituals, training procedures and specific diets of elephants. After hearing about all these you can also take a, relaxing and taking a wild walk seated upon the giant beast gives you a breathtaking ride around the sprawling tea plantations of Munnar. Mounting on an incredible husky elephant and touring through the rolling green hills and lush valleys is a complete power-packed experience.

In between the rides, tourists can request short breaks for refreshment and if you come across picturesque viewpoints, you can capture the scenic settings with your camera that gives stunning picture-postcard snaps.

However please note that there are multiple people who have expressed their views that the ride is overpriced and the waiting time is long especially during the season.

How to Reach Carmelagiri Elephant Park?

The park is about 6.5 kilometres from the town of Munnar and takes only 15 minutes to get to the park.

Car/Auto-rickshaws

Trippers can arrange affordable taxi services or auto-rickshaws to reach the elephant park or is allowed to take their own private vehicles for advancing towards the park.

Bike/Bus

For adventurous voyagers, rent a bike and drive to park via Munnar-Mattupetty road. Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses plying to and fro Munnar is economical transportation provided by the Kerala Government.

Train

Tourists can catch train services from Aluva/Alwaye Railway Station which is the nearest railway station to make it to Munnar. Periodic transportation timings with flexible schedules find it really helpful for holiday seekers from distant places, especially the northern part of India.

ALSO SEE – Nearest Railway Station to Munnar

Carmelagiri Elephant Park in Munnar Elephant safari Information Tips:

Location : Latitude: 10° 5′ 42.6″ N, Longitude: 77° 5′ 49.64″ E
Opening Hours: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Opening Days: All the 7 days of the week
Photography/Videography: Permitted on Additional charge

Address Information: Mattuppetty Road, Munnar, Idukki, Kerala, India
Entrance fee: INR 400 (for 15 minutes elephant safari)

Carmelagiri Elephant Park in Munnar Elephant safari Cost

Carmelagiri Elephant Park rides cost INR 400 per person for short safaris of 15 minutes. Hiring photographers cost an additional amount of INR 250. Tourists can feed elephants with the fruits supplied from the park for INR 50 per basket of fruits. Maximum three persons are allowed to make a trip at a time and there are eight elephants available for safaris usually.

Video of Elephants in Carmelagiri Elephant Park

Places to Visit In and Around the Elephant Park

Mattupetty Dam – Top Station Highway, ride 4.6 kilometres from the Carmelagiri Elephant Park, you reach a rampant hill station- Mattupetty. The dam at Mattupetty plays a pivotal role in Kerala’s water conservation and power generation initiatives.

Eravikulam National Park Situated in the Devikulam Taluk of Idukki district, the park is a natural habitat for Nilgiri Tahr, an endangered species on the planet. Neelakurinji flowers that bloom once every 12 years is a major attraction of the world and is flourished in the grasslands of Munnar. Anamudi, South India’s highest peak keeps its head high with an elevation of 2,695 meters at Eravikulam National Park.

Tea Gardens Munnar got its International fame with its verdant tea plantations. The increasing popularity made Tata tea establish a tea museum -Kanan Devan Tea Museum- to provide a spotlight on the preparation of tea dust. Travellers can enjoy a 7.9-kilometre hike that is graced with stellar nature views to make it to the museum.

ALSO, SEE – Eravikulam National Park