Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks

These are some of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the Himalayas. Dominated by the peak of Nanda Devi, which rises to over 7,800 m, Nanda Devi National Park has remained more or less intact because of its inaccessibility. It is the habitat of several endangered mammals, especially the snow leopard, Himalayan musk deer and bharal. The Valley of Flowers National Park is renowned for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and outstanding natural beauty, and is also home to rare and endangered animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, brown bear and blue sheep. Together they encompass a unique transition zone between the mountain ranges of the Zanskar and Great Himalaya, praised by mountaineers and botanists for over a century and in Hindu mythology for much longer.