Located amidst the picturesque surroundings of the towering Western Ghat Mountains on the Mysore-Ooty highway in Karnataka, Bandipur National Park covers an area of about 874.2 sq km. Together with Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala and Nagarhole National Park in the North, it creates the India's biggest biosphere reserve popularly known as the 'Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve'.
Bandipur National Park, an 874-sq.-km forested reserve in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, is known for its small population of tigers. Once the private hunting ground of the Maharajas of Mysore, the park also harbors Indian elephants, spotted deer, gaurs bison, antelopes and numerous other native species. The 14th-century Himavad Gopalaswamy Temple offers views from the park's highest peak.