Places to Visit in Gir National Park: A Local Guide's Honest List
The best places to visit in Gir National Park are the core Gir Jungle Trail lion safari, Devalia Safari Park, Kamleshwar Dam, the Sasan crocodile centre and forest shrines like Kankai and Tulsishyam. Experience My India pairs these with Somnath, Junagadh and Diu on one easy Saurashtra route.
I am Harsh Rawat, born in Dwarka and a guide on this coast for more than 8 years. In that time I have taken over 50,000 travellers into these forests and I run the Gir routes for the Somnath Dwarka Tour Package team, the wildlife and pilgrimage unit of Experience My India. Most lists you will read quietly mix Somnath and Diu into the park itself. This one is honest about it. I have split every place into what sits inside the forest, what sits on its edge and what you can pair on the same trip and I have arranged them around the one date that catches people out: the monsoon closure.
Planning Gir now? Message me your dates on WhatsApp and I will send a live safari and permit plan or call +91 73006 20809.
Best Places to Visit Inside Gir National Park
Gir is a 1,412 sq km sanctuary in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat and it is the only place on earth where the Asiatic lion still lives in the wild. The 2025 census counted 891 lions across Gujarat, up from 674 in 2020, with the Gir protected areas holding the core population. These are the spots worth your time once you are past the gate and they anchor most wildlife and nature tours of the region.
1. Gir Jungle Trail (the core lion safari)
This is the reason to come. The core safari runs in open Gypsy jeeps along fixed forest routes assigned at the gate and each drive lasts roughly three hours. One e-permit covers up to six adults and one child aged 3 to 12. Permits are limited and released on a first come, first served basis on the official portal girlion.gujarat.gov.in up to 90 days ahead and the December to May dates sell out fast. Beyond lions you will likely see leopards, chital, sambar, nilgai, marsh crocodiles and a good share of the park's 300-plus bird species.
2. Kamleshwar Dam
Set on the Hiran river deep inside the forest, Kamleshwar is the park's largest reservoir and its best water hole. Marsh crocodiles haul out along the banks and in winter the shallows fill with migratory birds. Many safari routes pass it, so ask your guide. For birders and photographers it is the quiet highlight of Gir.
3. Crocodile Breeding Centre, Sasan
A short walk from the Sinh Sadan reception, this mugger crocodile hatchery is a small, genuinely educational stop and children love it. It takes twenty minutes and it explains a side of Gir that the lions overshadow: the sanctuary's reptile and river ecology.
4. Kankai Mata Temple and Banej
These two shrines sit deep inside the sanctuary, reached only on specific forest routes with a permit. Kankai Mata is a temple in a forest clearing that draws pilgrims through the year and Banej is a Shiva temple set among the trees. Access is restricted and best arranged in advance, but the drive in is as memorable as the shrines themselves.
5. Tulsishyam Temple and Hot Springs
On the eastern edge of Gir, Tulsishyam is a Vishnu temple beside natural hot springs, wrapped in old legend. A short distance away is a well-known gravity hill, a stretch of road where a vehicle in neutral appears to roll uphill. It is a calm, offbeat pause that most safari-only visitors skip.
Places to Visit Near Sasan Gir (on the edge of the forest)
6. Devalia Safari Park (Gir Interpretation Zone)
About 12 km from Sasan Gir village, Devalia is a 412-hectare fenced zone often called Gir in a nutshell. You explore it by bus or gypsy on a loop of 45 to 60 minutes and lion sightings here are far more assured than in the open park. It is closed on Wednesdays, but it stays open all year on its cemented tracks, which makes it your one reliable option when the core park shuts for the monsoon. Choose it if you are short on time, could not secure a core permit or are travelling with young children or elders.
7. Zamzir Waterfall
Near Jamwala village, roughly 23 km from Sasan Gir, Zamzir is a rocky, tiered waterfall that comes alive during and just after the monsoon. It is a green, picnic-style detour rather than a headline sight and it pairs well with the season when the core park is closed anyway.
8. Sasan Gir Village and Sinh Sadan
Your base. Sinh Sadan is the reception centre where permits are verified and where a small orientation museum sets up the forest. Nearby you can meet the Siddi community, whose African-origin heritage and dhamal drumming are unlike anything else in Gujarat. The Veraval to Junagadh meter-gauge train also cuts through the sanctuary here, the only rail line running through a national park in India.
Places to Visit Near Gir You Can Pair on the Same Trip
Gir sits in easy reach of three very different places, which is why our Somnath Dwarka with Gir package strings them together instead of forcing you to backtrack.
9. Somnath (about 45 km)
The first of the twelve Jyotirlingas stands right on the Arabian Sea and the evening aarti with the light and sound show is the natural close to a Gir day. Somnath is the shortest and most popular pairing and the drive from Sasan is comfortable in an afternoon.
10. Junagadh and Girnar (about 65 to 80 km)
For history and a serious climb, Junagadh and Girnar deliver the ancient Uparkot Fort, the temple-topped Girnar hill with its long stone stairway and Sakkarbaug Zoo, one of India's oldest, known for its Asiatic lion breeding programme.
11. Diu (about 110 km)
If you want the trip to end by the sea, Diu offers a Portuguese fort, Nagoa beach and a slow coastal day. It is the calm counterweight to a dawn safari.
Core Gir Jungle Trail vs Devalia Safari Park
This is the choice most travellers actually agonise over, so here it is side by side.
What to compare | Gir Jungle Trail (core) | Devalia Safari Park |
Distance from Sasan | At the Sinh Sadan gate | About 12 km |
Vehicle | Open Gypsy on fixed forest routes | Bus or gypsy on a fenced loop |
Ride time | About 3 hours | About 45 to 60 minutes |
Sighting chance | Wild, never guaranteed | High and near-assured |
Open in monsoon | No, closed about 16 June to 15 October | Yes, but closed on Wednesdays |
Best for | True wilderness and photographers | Short on time, no permit, families |
Gir Safari Timings, Permits and the Monsoon Closure
The single most important date: Gir's core zone closes each year for the monsoon breeding season, typically from 16 June to 15 October and reopens on 16 October. Season dates shift slightly year to year, so confirm before you lock travel.
Safari slots: three a day, split into morning, mid-morning and evening. Winter mornings start around 6:45 AM and summer mornings earlier, near 6:00 AM. Evening drives run roughly 3 to 6 PM in winter and 4 to 7 PM in summer.
Booking: permits are issued only through the official portal girlion.gujarat.gov.in, up to 90 days in advance. The permit, the guide fee and the gypsy fee are paid separately. Avoid any reseller promising premium permits, since black-market permits are a known problem in peak season.
Doing it stress-free: if you would rather not fight the midnight booking rush, the Experience My India Gir tour package arranges the permit, gypsy and guide together and holds your slot.
Want the permit handled for you? Send your dates on WhatsApp and I will confirm availability the same day.
Best Time to Visit Gir National Park
December to March is the comfortable window, with cool air, clear light and steady wildlife movement, which suits families and long drives. April and May are hot but often give the strongest lion sightings, because the heat pulls animals toward the water holes at dawn. The park is shut through the monsoon, so plan outside the 16 June to 15 October closure or lean on Devalia instead.
How to Reach Gir National Park
The nearest railway stations are Veraval, about 42 km away and Junagadh, about 71 km, with a small meter-gauge stop at Sasan Gir itself. The closest airports are Diu at roughly 110 km, Rajkot at about 154 km and Ahmedabad at about 376 km. Most travellers arrive by road from Somnath, Junagadh or Rajkot and a private cab is the simplest way to reach the gate in time for an early safari.
A Few Honest Words Before You Book
The picture people carry is a lion sitting in the middle of the track at 7 am. It happens and when it does you will never forget it. But it is not every drive. I have had mornings that gave us only birds, fresh pugmarks and the flick of a leopard's tail into the grass and the travellers who booked two safaris instead of one almost always went home happy. Gir is a living forest, not a zoo and that honesty is the whole point of it.
So my real advice is simple: treat Devalia as your safety net, book at least two core drives if the lion is your dream and give the trip three days so Somnath and Junagadh are not a rush. That is exactly how I build the Experience My India Somnath Dwarka Gir tour. This trip is not for you if you want a guaranteed lion in a single three-hour slot and will not do Devalia as backup. For everyone else, Gir is one of the great wild places left in India.
Ready to meet the lions of Gir?
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Harsh Rawat
Somnath–Dwarka circuit planning
Harsh Rawat runs Somnath Dwarka Tour Package on the ground in Gujarat, part of Experience My India. Since 2018 he has been planning and driving the Somnath–Dwarka circuit — the darshan timings, the road hours between temples and the stops worth adding — and the routes, fares and timings published across this site are the ones he maintains.
