Geography, Location & Area

Located south of the Narmada basin, lying between latitude 22’19” to 22’45”and longitude 77’53” to 78’34”, Satpura National Park comprises of three critically protected area namely

• Satpura Tiger Reserve ( 528.73 sq km )
• Pachmarhi sanctuary ( 491.63 sq km )
• Bori sanctuary ( 485.71 sq km )

A huge and scattered peripheral buffer area of 794.04 sq km engulfs the area spread across the districts of Hoshangabad, Rampur Bhatodi (Betul) and Chhindwara.
The Satpura range of hills are an integral part of the Deccan plateau of Western India. Spread across a vast area of 560 miles (900 kms ), it stretches across the widest part of peninsular India stretching from Maharashtra to Madhya Pradesh.

It is ideally located between the two lifeline rivers of India, the Narmada in the north and the Tapti in the south.

The range rises in eastern Gujarat state running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to the east till Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and these two east-west ranges divide Indian Subcontinent into the Indo-Gangetic plain of northern India and the Deccan Plateau of the south. The Narmada River originates from north-eastern end of Satpura and runs in the depression between the Satpura and Vindhya ranges, draining the northern slope of the Satpura range, running west towards the Arabian Sea. The Tapti River originates in the eastern-central part of Satpura, crossing the range in the center and running west at the range’s southern slopes before meeting the Arabian Sea at Surat, draining the central and southern slopes of the range. The Godavari River and its tributaries drain the Deccan plateau, which lies south of the range, and the Mahanadi River drains the easternmost portion of the range. The Godavari and Mahanadi rivers flow into the Bay of Bengal. At its eastern end, the Satpura range meets the hills of the Chotanagpur Plateau. The Satpura Range is a horst mountain and is flanked by Narmada Graben in the north and much smaller but parallel Tapi Graben in the south.

It is angular in shape, with its vertex at Ratnapuri and the two sides being parallel to the Tapti and Narmada river. It runs parallel to the Vindhya Range, which lies to the north, and these two east-west ranges divide the Indo-Gangetic plain of northern India from the Deccan Plateau lying in the south. The Narmada runs in the depression between the Satpura and Vindhya ranges, and drains the northern slope of the Satpura range, running west towards the Arabian Sea.

Both Satpura and Vindhya found in the central- western part of the Indian sub continent are block mountains, having formed through cracks in the earth’s crust, these ranges rose while the block of earth known as the Rift Valley depressed.

Mount Dhupgarh or Dhoopgarh is the highest point in the Satpura Range and in Madhya Pradesh, India. Located in Pachmarhi, it has an elevation of 1,350 metres (4,429 ft).It is the highest point of Madhya Pradesh.

The Core Critical Tiger habitat (1339.26 sq km) comprises of the Bori & Pachmarhi Sanctuaries and Satpura National Park and Buffer area (794.04 sq km) surrounding it includes reserve forest, protected forest and revenue areas. The detail of Core and Buffer area is given in following table.

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