The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 is a national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7816 m) in Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, in northern India. The entire park lies at an elevation of more than 3,500 m (11,500 ft) above mean sea level. The national park was inscribed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. It was later expanded and renamed as Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks in 2005. Within the park lies the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, a glacial basin surrounded by a ring of peaks between 6,000 metres (19,700 ft) and 7,500 m (24,600 ft) high, and drained by the Rishi Ganga through the Rishi Ganga Gorge, a steep, almost impassable, defile. The national park is embedded in the 2,236.74 km2 (863.61 sq mi) Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, which, in turn, is encompassed in the 5,148.57 km2 (1,987.87 sq mi) buffer zone around the Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks UNESCO site. The best time to visit Nanda Devi National Park is from May to October.
