Khangchendzonga National Park
Located 51 kms from Gangtok
High altitude lake.
This is a World heritage Site
Khangchendzonga National Park (previously named Kanchenjunga National Park) also Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve is a National Park and a Biosphere reserve located in Sikkim, India. It was inscribed to the UNESCO World Herotage Sites list on July 17, 2016, becoming the first “Mixed Heritage” site of India. The park gets its name from the mountain Kanchenjunga which is 8,586 metres (28,169 ft) tall, the third-highest peak in the world. The total area of this park is 849.5 km2 (328.0 sq mi).
There are many glaciers in the park including the Zemu glacier. The vegetation of the park include temperate broadleaf and mixed forests consisting of oaks, fir, birch, maple, willow etc. The vegetation of the park also includes alpine grasses and shrubs at higher altitudes along with many medicinal plants and herbs.
Khangchendzonga National Park contains many mammal species including musk deer, snow leopard, Himalayan tahr, wild dog, sloth bear, civet, Himalayan black bear, red panda, Tibetan wild ass, Himalayan blue sheep, serow, goral and takin, as well as reptiles including rat snake and Russell’s viper.
A recent study revealed, that the Asiatic wild dog has become very rare in the area. The wild dogs in the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve are believed to belong to the rare and genetically distinct subspecies C. a. primaevus
About 550 species of birds are found inside the park including blood pheasant, satyr tragopan, osprey, Himalayan griffon, lammergeyer, Tragopan pheasant , green pigeon, Tibetan snowcock, snow pigeon, impeyan pheasant, Asia emerald cuckoo, sunbird and eagle.
Trekking[
Most of the trekking routes starts from Yuksom (145 km (90 mi) from Gangtok) in West Sikkim. Necessary Permit can be obtained from the Wildlife Education and Interpretation center at Yuksom or from the check post. State Tourism Department along with other travel agents organize treks to Dzongri (4,050 metres (13,290 ft)) and other places. The popular trek routes are:
Yuksom – Tshoka – Dzongri
Bakim – Dzongri – Thangshing – Samuteng – Goechala
Dzongri Base Camp – Rathong – Khangerteng
Thangshing – Lam Pokhari – Kasturi Orar – Labdang not ladang – Tashiding.
Another popular trekking point includes trekking to the Green Lake with Lachen, a village in North Sikkim as the starting point. Foreign nationals would require a restricted area permit from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Delhi to visit the park and the associated region. Indian nationals are required to obtain an Inner-Line Permit from the State Home Department. Permission of the State Chief Wildlife Warden is also mandatory for everybody visiting the park. The important and popular routes are:
Lucanes Jakchen-Yabuk-Rest Camp (Marco Polo Camp) – Green Lake
Lachen-Thasngu (13,695 feet (4,174 m)) – Muguthang (16,000 feet (4,900 m)) – Thay La (17,000 feet (5,200 m)) – Khyoksa La (18,000 feet (5,500 m)) – Rest Camp – Green Lake.
Most of these trekking routes pass through the Kanchenjunga National Park.
Source : Wikipedia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC008-xZNsg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ufiH0AudY8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRkMbbgE8p0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOosA59nsD0
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