What to expect
Highlights
- Watching and helping bathe and feed the camp elephants.
- Crossing the Kaveri by boat to reach the camp.
- Coracle rides and the riverside forest setting.
Dubare Elephant Camp
Dubare Elephant Camp sits on the far bank of the Kaveri near Kushalnagar, a forest camp once used to train elephants for the Mysuru Dasara. Visitors cross the river to watch the camp’s elephants being scrubbed, fed and cared for by their mahouts.
Practical guide
Plan Dubare Elephant Camp
Who's going?Tailor Dubare Elephant Camp to your trip
Typewildlife
Nearest baseKushalnagar
DistrictKodagu
Best timeOctober to May
Time needed2 to 3 hours including travel and the…
EntryEntry + boat + interaction fees apply
Places to visit4→Listed businesses2→Run with the Forest Department, the camp offers elephant interaction sessions, coracle rides and riverside walks, and adjoins forest where wild elephants and birds are sometimes seen.
Getting there
How to visit
- About 15 km from Kushalnagar and ~40 km from Madikeri; the camp is reached by a river crossing.
- Go for the morning session (roughly 8:30–11 am) when the elephant activities happen; river crossing depends on water levels.
Distance by road
- Mysuru120 km
- Bengaluru260 km
- Mangaluru135 km
- Kannur115 km
- Ooty210 km
Road km to Kodagu; ghat roads and traffic vary — allow extra.
Timing
Best time
October to May; the morning interaction session. High monsoon flow can suspend the river crossing.
Weather in Dubare Elephant CampSeasonal guide
Live forecast loads in your browser.
Today at Dubare Elephant Camp
Sunrise6:16 am
Sunset6:37 pm
Golden hour best light5:37 pm–6:37 pm
Blue hour after sunset6:37 pm–7:02 pm
Sun sets toward compass bearingW · 279°
Moon tonight🌖 Waning gibbous · 78%
South-west monsoon. June to September brings heavy rain to Karnataka. Trails, falls and ghat roads can be slippery, swollen or closed at short notice, and forest departments sometimes suspend access. Check locally on the day before you travel.
Sun and moon are calculated for this location and shown in IST. Photography windows are the hour around sunrise and sunset; the sunset bearing is degrees clockwise from true north. Moon phase is accurate to about half a day.
Visitor notes
- Entry, boat and interaction fees apply; timings depend on river levels — confirm before travelling.
Photos
Dubare Elephant Camp in pictures
Stay · eat · do · rent · see · shop
Stays, food & things to do near Dubare Elephant Camp
Verified hotels, homestays, restaurants, experiences, sights, shops and rentals around Dubare Elephant Camp — commission-free, with direct contact. Filter by what you need.
2 places to eat near Dubare Elephant Camp
S
Shanthi Bites
Where to eat
Top pick
Restaurant
Shanthi BitesA restaurant on the B M Road opposite Nisargadhama at Kushalnagar, with a wide menu running from south and north Indian through European and Chinese to Tibetan — the Tibetan end reflects the big settlement at Bylakuppe next door.
Commission-freeView details
F
Fish Curry Rice
Where to eat
Top pick
Restaurant
Fish Curry RiceA Mangalorean restaurant at Kushalnagar opposite the Government Engineering College, doing coastal fish curry and rice rather than Kodagu cooking.
Commission-freeView details
Book with the place itself. India’s cyber-crime coordination centre warned in April 2025 that convincing copies of hotel and pilgrimage booking sites are being pushed through sponsored search and social ads, taking payment for rooms the property never hears about. Every listing here links to the business’s own contact details and its own Google or Bing profile — we take no commission and sit in nobody’s payment path. If a booking page reached you through an ad, check the address bar against the property’s own site before you pay. Fraud can be reported on cybercrime.gov.in or on 1930.
Ranked
The best of Kushalnagar, ranked
Dubare Elephant Camp sits in Kushalnagar, and these rank everything verified across the town rather than this one spot — built from the same listings shown above, ordered by the strength of the source evidence behind each entry rather than by anyone's star score. Every card shows how many places are really on it. Nobody pays to appear.
Across the whole of Kushalnagar
Ranked guides
Top experiences around Kushalnagar
3 more places around Kushalnagar, each worth a day of its own.
templeNamdroling Monastery
12.4 km · 17 min drive
The Golden Temple at Bylakuppe near Kushalnagar, the largest teaching centre of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism in the world, with gilded 12–18 m Buddha statues, vivid murals and hundreds of resident monks.
heritageNisargadhama
20.8 km · 22 min drive
A 64-acre river island of bamboo, sandalwood and teak on the Kaveri near Kushalnagar, reached by a hanging bridge, with a deer park, boating, a treehouse and easy forest walks.
damHarangi Dam
26.9 km · 30 min drive
A dam across the Harangi, a Kaveri tributary, near Hudgur about 10 km from Kushalnagar, with a garden and boating; the reservoir and its spillway are busiest and most scenic when the gates open after heavy rain.
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Add a nearby businessBefore you go
Dubare Elephant Camp — at a glance
TimingsMorning session ~8:30 - 11:00 AM (river crossing subject to water level)
Best timeOctober to May; morning
Entry: Entry + boat + interaction fees apply
Getting here
How to reach Dubare Elephant Camp
~15 km from Kushalnagar; reached by a Kaveri crossing
Getting back
Work out your return before you settle in for the sunset. Public transport here thins out sharply in the evening, and Dubare Elephant Camp is easier to reach than to leave. We do not publish departure times: there is no official live feed we are permitted to republish, and a wrong time here would strand you. Check the operator directly on the day.
- KSRTC — the Karnataka state bus operator; route and schedule enquiries. Online booking.
- Indian Railways — live running and seat availability for the nearest railhead, named under “Getting here” above.
Ask at the bus stand for the time of the last service back, not the next one. If you miss it, an auto or app cab is the fallback — agree the fare before you get in.
Getting around Dubare Elephant Camp
We have not assessed physical access at this place yet. Across India, step-free routes, handrails and accessible toilets are the exception rather than the rule, and pavements are often interrupted — if step-free access matters to you, contact the site or a local operator before committing to the trip.
If you need help at Dubare Elephant Camp
112All emergencies (police · fire · medical)The single number to call in any emergency (ERSS).100Police101Fire108Ambulance (emergency / EMS)1091Women’s helpline (distress)1098Child helpline1363Tourist helpline (India, 24×7, multilingual)
Emergency numbers are verified against official government and state tourism sources. 112 works anywhere in India.
Nearby
What’s near Dubare Elephant Camp
Walking and driving times are real routed distances, except the few marked “straight line”, which are direct-line estimates and will read short. Routing: © openrouteservice.org by HeiGIT | Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
On the map
Where Dubare Elephant Camp is
Good to know
Dubare Elephant Camp — frequently asked
When is the best time to visit Dubare Elephant Camp?
October to May; the morning interaction session. High monsoon flow can suspend the river crossing.
What are the entry fee and timings at Dubare Elephant Camp?
Entry: Entry + boat + interaction fees apply. Timings: Morning session ~8:30 - 11:00 AM (river crossing subject to water level).
How do I reach Dubare Elephant Camp?
About 15 km from Kushalnagar and ~40 km from Madikeri; the camp is reached by a river crossing. Go for the morning session (roughly 8:30–11 am) when the elephant activities happen; river crossing depends on water levels.
How much time do I need for Dubare Elephant Camp?
2 to 3 hours including travel and the river crossing.
What else is near Dubare Elephant Camp?
Nearby you can pair Namdroling Monastery (12.4 km), Nisargadhama (20.8 km), Harangi Dam (26.9 km), Honnamana Kere (43.6 km).
Read before you go
Dubare Elephant Camp guides, stories & itineraries
We have not published a story about Dubare Elephant Camp itself yet. These cover Kushalnagar, the town it sits in, and the wider district.
Karnataka-wide guides & itineraries
Route-level itineraries and practical guides for the rest of Karnataka.
Photographs: BHARATHESHA ALASANDEMAJALU, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), BHARATHESHA ALASANDEMAJALU (CC BY-SA 4.0), Vinayaraj (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wikimedia Commons.
Image credits
- Dubare Elephant Camp:BHARATHESHA ALASANDEMAJALU, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0