Pandikuzhi

5.1 km · ~13 min by auto

The forest gate and boat landing beyond Kumily town — Thekkady is the reserve’s front door, not a town: the ticket counters, the eco-tourism programmes and the lake jetty are what stand here, under a name that comes from thekku, the teak that was cut on this ridge.

Kerala’s most famous reserve is built around a lake that is not natural: the 1895 Mullaperiyar dam drowned a valley, the dead trees still stand in the water, and the lease behind it — signed 1886 — is still being argued in the Supreme Court. Entry, boats and every programme go through the official portal.

5.1 km · ~13 min by auto

The classic Periyar outing: forest-department and KTDC boats out over the drowned valley from the Thekkady landing, in fixed slots from early morning — the first slot is the wildlife slot. Wear the life jacket without argument; the 2009 Jalakanyaka capsize off Manakkavala is why the crews insist.

5.6 km · ~14 min by auto

A full-day guided hike across Periyar’s forest and grass-covered ridges, with separate Brandipara and Thondiyar products and reporting offices.

7.9 km · ~20 min by auto

Half in the forest, half on the water: a guided day that walks the lake edge and crosses it on bamboo rafts, run by the reserve’s eco-development crews — many of them former poachers turned guides, which is the programme’s real story.

7.9 km · ~20 min by auto

A small-group, 2.5-hour interpreted forest walk from Boat Landing in Periyar Tiger Reserve, with several daily trails and a minimum four-person booking charge.

5.6 km · ~14 min by auto

Periyar Tiger Reserve’s guided trekking-and-camping programme, offered as one night/two days or two nights/three days, with reporting at the Forest Check Post Ex Vayana EDC office.

5.6 km · ~14 min by auto

Periyar’s guided night walk, currently booked as Jungle Scout, with separate Forest Check Post and Bamboo Grove departures. This is a walking programme, not a jeep safari.

7.5 km · ~19 min by auto

A gated forest track climbs about fourteen kilometres to the ruined Mangala Devi Kannagi temple on the border ridge — open to visitors essentially one day a year, around Chithra Pournami, when pilgrims from both states arrive at once. The rest of the year the gate is shut; plan around the festival or not at all.

5.5 km · ~14 min by auto

Cardamom, pepper and coffee country starting five kilometres out of Kumily — Murikkady is where the spice-garden visits actually happen, plot after plot along the road, with the St George church spire in the middle of it.

3.0 km · ~8 min by auto

Thirteen kilometres north of Kumily the hills simply stop: Chellarkovil’s terrace looks off the edge of the Ghats onto the Tamil plains at Cumbum — a sheer green drop, with waterfalls in the monsoon and coconut groves at your back.