Satmalia Deer Park
It is advisable to visit this park early morning, especially during the feeding time of the animals. Generally the animals come in group near the main gate or road side to have their food. Many dug outs are being built inside the park, where the park volunteers go and dump food as deer are in general shy. Inside the park, there are mud trails where tourists can watch varieties of deer leisurely roaming.
The park boasts of having variety of deer species like Sambhar, Chital, Nilgai, Black Bucks etc. along with different kinds of birds like Peacocks, Thrushes, Flameback Woodpecker and many more. Inside the park near to a water hole, there is a watch tower (or Machaan), from where one can get an amazing panoramic view of the entire Satmalia Park and can also see the distant Mahuban Dam.
Earlier visitors could take their own car inside park for a personal tour, but now this has been stopped. There are government owned Gypsy Vans, which can be availed for a thirty minutes park tour. This is done to reduce sound and noise pollution and maintain the wild.
The entry fee to the park is Rs. 25/- per Indian national and Rs100/- per foreign national. Still photography inside the sanctuary is free, but for movie cameras one has to take a camera ticket of Rs. 100/- . The park is open from 7am-11am in the morning and again from 3pm-6pm in the evening.
Before visiting, one should keep this in mind that only one van goes around the park with tourists every one hour. For holidays and weekends, try to visit early in the morning, else one might have to wait in a long queue. Moreover one should remember that Satmalia Deer Park admits only a limited number of tourists every day. Hence the ticket counter can refuse to give tickets if deemed required, much to anybody’s disappointment.