The best time to visit Kanha
Kanha is grass, and grass changes more between months than forest does. That is what makes the timing here different.
The short answer
February and March, if the grass matters to you
Kanha's signature is the maidan — wide open grassland surrounded by sal forest. In October the grass is above head height and hides everything. By February it has been grazed and burnt back, and an animal crossing a maidan is visible for hundreds of metres in low gold light. That is the picture people come to Kanha for.
The heat months work here as they do everywhere in central India — May concentrates animals at water and raises your odds — but Kanha gives up more than most parks in exchange, because a burnt maidan under a hard midday sun is a difficult place to make a photograph.
Month by month
What each month is actually like
| Month | The grass | Sightings | For photography |
|---|---|---|---|
| October | Very tall — visibility poor | Hard | Green and dense |
| November | Dropping, drying | Improving | Good |
| December | Short. Cold, misty mornings | Steady | Excellent |
| January | Short. Frost some mornings | Steady | Excellent |
| February | Open and gold | Good | The best of the year |
| March | Open, warming | Good | Very good |
| April | Bare, hot | Very good | Hard light |
| May | Bare, over 40°C | The best of the year | Harsh |
| June | Extreme until the rains | Very good | Harsh |
| July–September | Monsoon. Core zones closed | — | — |
Core zones across central India close for the monsoon at the start of July and reopen on 1 October. Exact dates are set each year by the state forest department; we confirm the exact gate dates for your travel window when you enquire.
The other reason to come
Kanha is the only place with barasingha
The hard-ground barasingha — the swamp deer — survives in the wild essentially only at Kanha, brought back from a population that fell to a few dozen animals. They are on the maidans, and they are easiest to see and photograph in the same months the grass is short.
It is worth knowing before you book, because it changes what a Kanha day is for. A guest who arrives wanting only tigers will spend the barasingha time impatient; one who knows what they are looking at gets the better trip.