A national park made of grass and sky
People expect a desert park to be all dunes. In fact, most of this park is open grassland, gravel plain and low rocky ridges, and that is exactly why the bustard lives here.
Where it is: south-west of Jaisalmer, reaching into Barmer district.
One of India's largest: among the biggest protected areas in the country, and one of the very few protecting a desert ecosystem.
Its status: classified as a national park under the IUCN system, and on India's tentative list for World Heritage.
Facts to know
- Gazetted
- 1980
- Area
- 3,162 sq km
- Split
- About 1,900 Jaisalmer, 1,262 Barmer
- Main enclosure
- Sudasari, about 55 km from Jaisalmer
- UNESCO
- On India's tentative list
- Less than half sand: dunes cover a little under half the park.
- The rest: rocky pavements and craggy outcrops, compact beds of old salt lakes, stony plains and fixed dunes held by grass and shrubs.
- The grassland is the heart: after a decent monsoon, sewan and other desert grasses turn the plains briefly green, then gold, then silver-grey through the dry season.
- Trees and shrubs: khejri trees, thorny shrubs and the rohida, Rajasthan's state flower, with orange blooms in late winter.
- Not an empty wilderness: many villages and their herds live inside the park, as they did long before it was declared.
- Why that matters: conservation here is more complicated than in a fenced tiger reserve, and more interesting.
- Fenced enclosures: the forest department protects key areas from grazing. Sudasari is where most visitors look for bustards.
How the Thar keeps itself alive
In the Thar, everything alive is a specialist in waiting. Plants wait for rain, animals wait for night, and the whole landscape waits for the monsoon.
Very little rain: the western Thar around Jaisalmer gets some of the lowest rainfall in India, in a few weeks of monsoon, and some years almost none.
Working with extremes: life here adapts rather than fights.
Fast grasses: they grow in the rains and set seed before the ground dries.
Facts to know
- Rain
- Mostly July to September
- Summer days
- Can pass 45°C
- Winter nights
- Close to freezing
- Sacred groves
- Orans
- Small leaves: desert shrubs drop their leaves or never grow broad ones.
- Roots that search: many plants send roots metres down, or spread them just below the surface to catch every shower.
- Chinkara: can go a long time without drinking, taking much of their water from the plants they eat.
- Gerbils and jirds: spend the hot hours in cool burrows and come out at night.
- Spiny-tailed lizards: bask in the morning to warm up, then retreat underground.
- Sandgrouse: fly long distances each morning to drink, and in several species the males soak their belly feathers to carry water to their chicks.
- People learned too: they built rainwater cisterns and protected sacred groves called orans, where trees could not be cut.
- Moving herds: herders shifted with the seasons, letting grasslands rest and recover.
- The lesson: where those traditions survive, the grassland is often healthiest.
- Desert seasons: our piece on winter in the Thar has more.
Five plants that hold the desert together
Botanists have recorded well over a hundred and fifty plant species in the park. Learn these five and you will read the landscape like a herder.
Facts to know
- Plant species
- Well over 150 recorded
- Key grass
- Sewan
- State tree
- Khejri
- State flower
- Rohida
- Dune-binder
- Phog
Sewan grass
What it is: the tufted, grey-green grass of the plains, the best fodder in the Thar and the bustard's essential cover.
- Its trick: deep roots let it survive years of drought and spring back after a single good monsoon.
- A health check: healthy sewan is the surest sign of a healthy park.
Khejri
The state tree: Rajasthan's great provider.
- What it gives: leaves for goats and camels, pods that become sangri, roots that enrich the soil, and shade for crops, herders and birds.
- Lopped, not felled: villagers trim it carefully rather than cutting it down.
Rohida
- Desert teak: a small tree with hard, beautiful timber.
- The state flower: in late winter it bursts into orange and yellow, the brightest colour on the plains all year.
Phog
A dune-binder: the leafless, broom-like shrub holds loose sand with its spreading roots.
- Its uses: branches for thatch and fodder.
- What it tells you: where it grows, the dune is held in place.
Ker
- A dense shrub: almost leafless, with small berries that become half of ker sangri, the desert's most famous dish.
- In spring: coral-red flowers, and birds and people both harvest the fruit.
The great Indian bustard, or godawan
Imagine a bird as tall as a child, that walks like a stately gentleman and flies on wings as wide as a man is tall. That is the great Indian bustard, and fewer than a couple of hundred remain.
A heavyweight: one of the heaviest flying birds in the world, and the state bird of Rajasthan.
Its size: males are much larger than females and can weigh well over ten kilograms.
How it looks: pale brown above and white below, with a black crown and long, strong legs.
Facts to know
- Local name
- Godawan
- Scientific name
- Ardeotis nigriceps
- Status
- Critically endangered
- Wild population
- Estimated under 150
- State bird
- Of Rajasthan
- Breeding centres
- Near Sam, and Ramdevra (2022)
- What it eats: seeds, insects, lizards and even small snakes, picked up as it walks slowly through the grass.
- The display: in the breeding season the male inflates a throat pouch, cocks his tail and struts, visible from far across the plain.
- A shrinking range: it once ranged across much of western and central India.
- What went wrong: hunting, the ploughing of grasslands and the spread of irrigation and infrastructure left a few scattered populations.
- Where they survive: the great majority of the remaining birds are in and around this park.
- Fully protected: it is listed in Schedule I of India's Wildlife (Protection) Act, the highest level of legal protection.
- Project Great Indian Bustard: Rajasthan launched its own recovery programme for the bird in 2013.
- Slow to recover: females usually lay a single egg on bare ground.
- The gravest threat: overhead power lines. Bustards have poor forward vision and are too heavy to turn quickly, and many have died flying into wires of solar and wind projects.
- The courts step in: court orders in recent years have required power lines in the bustard's priority habitat to go underground or be marked.
- Breeding for release: the Rajasthan forest department and the Wildlife Institute of India opened a conservation breeding centre near Sam in the late 2010s, and a second at Ramdevra, near Pokaran, in 2022.
- Eggs to chicks: eggs collected from the wild have been hatched and raised there.
- A world first: in October 2024 the first chick of the species produced by artificial insemination hatched at the programme's centre in the park.
- The aim: to release captive-bred birds back into protected grassland. Our journal piece on the great Indian bustard follows the story.
Who else lives in the desert
Go out with a good naturalist and the Desert National Park becomes crowded. It is just that most of its residents are small, shy and the colour of sand.
Facts to know
- Most visible
- Chinkara
- Night hunters
- Desert and Indian foxes
- Rare
- Caracal
- Raptor season
- Winter
- Flyway
- Central Asian
Chinkara, the desert gazelle
The park's most visible mammal: the slender, sandy-brown Indian gazelle.
- When: small herds graze the plains at dawn and dusk, standing still to watch you before bounding away.
- Village protection: tradition guards them across much of western Rajasthan, above all among the Bishnoi community, so you may see them near farmland.
- A state animal: the chinkara is Rajasthan's state animal.
Foxes, cats and wolves
Foxes: desert foxes, a pale race of the red fox, and the smaller Indian fox hunt at night and are often seen at first light near their dens.
- The desert cat: the Asiatic wildcat, spotted and secretive.
- Also here: Indian wolves and striped hyenas, and the extremely rare caracal.
- What it takes: patience, luck and an early start.
Reptiles of the sand and rock
Spiny-tailed lizard: thick-bodied and armoured, common around its burrows on the gravel plains, basking in the morning sun.
- A vegetarian lizard: unusually, it lives mostly on grasses, leaves and flowers.
- Others: geckos and monitor lizards.
- Venomous snakes: saw-scaled and Russell's vipers, rarely seen and best admired from a distance with a guide.
Eagles, falcons and vultures
A raptor hotspot: in winter, one of the finest places in India for birds of prey.
Eagles: steppe, tawny, eastern imperial and short-toed snake eagles.
- Falcons: including the laggar and the saker.
- Vultures: cinereous and Eurasian griffons arrive in winter, often gathering at livestock carcasses.
- Bring: binoculars, a field guide, and an expert who can tell a juvenile steppe eagle from a tawny at half a kilometre.
Winter visitors from Central Asia
Houbara bustards: smaller cousins of the godawan, arriving in small groups from late autumn and regularly recorded at Sudasari and Sam.
- Passing through: demoiselle cranes on migration.
- Everywhere: larks, wheatears, shrikes and sandgrouse.
- For keen birders: visit Tal Chhapar for blackbuck and harriers, and read our guide to birding in Rajasthan.
The fossil forest at Akal
Before there was a desert here, there was a forest by the sea. You can stand among its trees, turned to stone, seventeen kilometres from Jaisalmer.
What's protected: rocky ground holding the fossilised trunks of trees that grew here in the Lower Jurassic.
What they were: gymnosperms, relatives of today's conifers.
Stone wood: replaced so completely by stone that you can still see the grain and growth rings.
Facts to know
- Distance
- About 17 km, Barmer road
- Area
- About 21 hectares
- Age
- About 180 million years
- Period
- Lower Jurassic
- Allow
- About an hour
- Where they fell: some broken into sections, some partly buried, beneath small shelters.
- A lost world: warm, wet and wooded, close to an ancient coastline.
- A fossil region: fossils of plants and animals have been found across the park and its surroundings.
- Reading the trunks: a good guide explains how the land beneath you has been sea, forest and desert in turn.
- When: early morning or late afternoon.
- Combine with: a drive into the national park, a visit to Kuldhara, or the long drive south to Barmer.
- Hands off: don't touch or climb on the fossils, and never take fragments.
The people who share the park
In the middle of the park, you may meet a herder with two hundred sheep, a woman carrying water and a boy on a bicycle. They live here too.
Villages inside: unlike most national parks in India, this one includes many villages within its boundaries.
Their herds: cattle, sheep, goats and camels graze the grasslands.
Facts to know
- Villages
- Many, inside the park
- Livestock
- Cattle, sheep, goats, camels
- Community groves
- Orans
- Our guides
- From local villages
- Real tension: too much grazing degrades the grass bustards need.
- Fences feel like loss: keeping animals out of enclosures can feel like losing land families have used for generations.
- The park's eyes: herders are also its best watchers, and many villages protect their own orans and the wildlife on them with great devotion.
- Hopeful work: villagers report bustard sightings and nests and help guard eggs.
- Stepping stones: protected orans act as patches of habitat between protected areas.
- How we help: we use local naturalists and drivers from the surrounding villages, so the park's wildlife brings income to the people who live beside it.
A desert in the middle of change
Stand on a ridge in the park and turn slowly. In one direction, grass to the horizon. In another, wind turbines, a glinting solar farm and pylons marching across the plain.
Faster change than ever: the Thar is changing now more quickly than at any time in its history.
Canal water: the Indira Gandhi Canal, which brings water from Punjab's rivers, has reached parts of Jaisalmer district, turning scrub into wheat and mustard.
Borewells: deep wells have changed farming elsewhere.
Facts to know
- Canal
- Indira Gandhi Canal
- Energy
- Solar parks and wind farms
- Main hazard
- Overhead power lines
- Losers
- Desert grassland specialists
- Sun and wind: the same forces that make the desert hard to live in have made it one of India's most important places for renewable energy.
- Solar parks and wind farms: built across western Rajasthan, with transmission lines carrying the power east.
- Real gains: the people of Jaisalmer and Barmer have gained jobs, roads and income.
- The cost: every new line across open country is a hazard for bustards, cranes, eagles and vultures, and every fenced solar park is grassland lost.
- Greener isn't better here: irrigated fields bring different birds and push out desert specialists that need open, dry country.
- Negotiation: conservationists, courts, companies and villagers are deciding where development can go and where grassland must be left alone.
- No need for gloom: the park and its enclosures still hold extraordinary wildlife, and the bustard's fortunes have begun, cautiously, to turn.
- See it as it is: a precious island of old Thar in a fast-changing landscape. Your visit with local people adds weight to the case that the grassland is worth more alive.
How to visit the Desert National Park
This is not a park for driving around until something appears. It rewards an early start, a good naturalist and a little patience.
Permits: we arrange them in advance with your guide and vehicle.
Sudasari: fenced grassland here gives the best chance of bustards.
Facts to know
- Permits
- From the forest department, arranged by us
- Where
- Sudasari, about 55 km south-west
- Start
- Before dawn
- Drones
- Never
- A licensed local naturalist: spotting a bustard or a desert cat across open grassland is a real skill.
- Keep your distance: stay in or beside the vehicle. Never chase, call or approach wildlife.
- Bring: binoculars, a telephoto lens, sunscreen, a hat and warm layers for the early morning.
- Stay out there: combine the park with a night in the desert at Sam, on its edge, or Khuri.
- How we plan it: a private jeep safari in the Thar on established tracks only, back to Jaisalmer or a camp for lunch.
- Our principles: see our guide to ethical animal encounters.
Local tip
Start before dawn. Wildlife is most active in the first two hours of light, and the heat builds quickly even in winter.
When to visit the park
For most wildlife, winter is best. For the bustard's display, the timing is different, and worth knowing.
November to March: pleasant weather, grasslands still in good condition after the rains, and the winter visitors present: eagles, vultures, houbara and cranes.
December and January: cold mornings, so dress in layers.
Facts to know
- Main season
- November to March
- Cold mornings
- December and January
- Best for birders
- February and March
- Avoid
- April to June
- Bustard displays
- Monsoon and after
- February and March: warmer mornings and good light for birders and photographers.
- April to June: extreme heat. Only for specialist naturalists, very early in the morning.
- The bustard's season: breeding is linked to the rains, and some of the best displays have been seen in the monsoon and the weeks after, though access can be harder.
- If a displaying male is your dream: tell us, and we will plan around it with local experts.
- The wider picture: our guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan.
Where to stay for the park
The park is within a morning's drive of Jaisalmer, so you can stay in comfort and still be in the grassland at sunrise.
Facts to know
- Suryagarh
- About 13 km from Jaisalmer
- The Serai
- About 40 minutes from Jaisalmer
- Closest
- A camp near Sam
Suryagarh, on the Sam road
- Where: about thirteen kilometres from Jaisalmer, towards Sam.
- Why: a calm, comfortable base for early departures, with a pool and spa for hot afternoons.
The Serai
Where: SUJAN's camp on a private desert estate off the Jodhpur road, about forty minutes from Jaisalmer.
- Who it suits: guests who want calm, space and excellent food between early starts.
- Its setting: open scrub that feels like an extension of the park.
A desert camp near Sam
- Closest to the park: a carefully chosen camp near Sam puts you nearest for a dawn start.
- How we choose: our guide to luxury desert camps explains it.
A day in the park, the way we'd plan it
This is the day we plan for guests who want to see the desert's wildlife properly.
Facts to know
- Dawn
- Sudasari grassland
- Mid-morning
- Raptors and reptiles
- Afternoon
- Akal fossil park
- Night
- Stars at a desert camp
- On a longer journey: the park fits our Under the Thar Sky journey, and pairs with our Jaisalmer guide for a fuller stay.
- Onward for wildlife: many continue to Ranthambore for tigers or Jawai for leopards.
Before dawn, into the grassland
- In the dark: leave Jaisalmer or your camp with hot tea and breakfast packed.
- First light at Sudasari: scan the plains with your naturalist for bustards, chinkara and foxes.
Mid-morning, raptors and reptiles
- As it warms: spiny-tailed lizards at their burrows and eagles on the first thermals.
- On the way back: tea with a herding family in a village.
Afternoon, the fossil forest
- After lunch and a rest: the Akal Wood Fossil Park in softer light.
- Sunset: a quiet spot to finish the day.
Evening, the night sky
- At a desert camp: a fire and a telescope.
- Dark skies: some of the darkest in India. See stargazing in the Thar.
What we tell friends before the park
The Desert National Park is a place for quiet watching. These small things help.
Set your expectations: bustards are few and shy, and sightings are never guaranteed. The grassland itself is the experience.
Wear muted colours: bright clothes stand out in the open landscape.
Facts to know
- Sightings
- Never guaranteed
- Wear
- Muted colours
- Bring
- Good binoculars
- Never
- Feed wildlife or leave plastic
- Quiet watching: keep voices low and engines off.
- Leave nothing: never feed wildlife or leave food or plastic behind.
- Respect villages: ask before photographing herders and their animals.
- Binoculars first: in open country they matter more than any camera.
- Support conservation: ask us about responsible organisations working for the great Indian bustard and the Thar grasslands.
