The Todgarh Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary is a rugged, forested slice of the Aravalli hills where three Rajasthan districts meet. It takes its name from the hill town of Todgarh, itself named after the British officer and chronicler Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod (often written Colonel Todd), and protects leopard, sloth bear and chinkara in a landscape of ravines, grassland and tropical dry forest. It is a place for slow travel: walks, drives and the famous meter-gauge rail stretch nearby.
Todgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary is a roughly 495 sq km protected forest spread across the Ajmer, Pali and Rajsamand districts of Rajasthan, in the central Aravalli hills. Established in 1983, it shelters leopard, sloth bear, Indian wolf and chinkara, and is best visited between October and March for cool, dry weather and easier trails.
Key takeaways
- Todgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary spans the Ajmer, Pali and Rajsamand districts of Rajasthan, in the central Aravalli range, and was established in 1983; its area is given as about 495 sq km by Wikipedia and Incredible India, and as 463 sq km by Roundglass Sustain.
- The sanctuary is named after the town of Todgarh, which Maharana Bhim Singh of Mewar named around 1821 for Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod, the East India Company agent who wrote Annals and Antiquities of Rajast’han, per Wikipedia.
- Its flagship wildlife is the leopard and the sloth bear; Roundglass Sustain, citing a 2020 census, reported estimates of about 39 leopards and 60 sloth bears, alongside wolf, chinkara, hyena, sambar and wild boar.
- The best time to visit is October to March; Incredible India’s temperature table shows winter lows of about 6-12 degrees C, while summers reach roughly 40-44 degrees C.
- The scenic Goram Ghat meter-gauge rail stretch, with viaducts and tunnels between Phulad and Kamli Ghat, lies on the sanctuary’s western edge near Marwar Junction, in Pali district.
- Entry, safaris and the Raoli forest rest house are arranged through the Rajasthan Forest Department; no official tourist fee could be verified online this session, so reconfirm charges with the DFO before you travel.
About Todgarh-Raoli and its setting
Todgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary sits at the point where the Ajmer, Pali and Rajsamand districts of Rajasthan converge, in the middle of the Aravalli hill range. It is a landscape of undulating ridges, dry ravines and open grassland cloaked in tropical deciduous forest, centred on the hill town of Todgarh. Rajras and Incredible India both describe it as established in 1983 across these three districts.
The area figure is not settled. Wikipedia and Incredible India give about 495 sq km, while Roundglass Sustain reports 463 sq km. The difference likely reflects different measurements of notified versus mapped area; treat the exact number as approximate and use the forest department’s figure when it matters. The sanctuary is managed in four ranges, which Roundglass lists as Raoli, Jojawar, Devgarh and Bijaguda, and about 12 villages lie within its boundary.
Water here is seasonal rather than dramatic. According to Roundglass Sustain, streams rise in these hills and flow south towards the Luni river, and the forest department has built check dams to hold water through the dry months. The forest is the catchment as much as the wildlife habitat, which is one reason the Aravallis here matter beyond tourism.
| Location | Ajmer, Pali and Rajsamand districts, central Aravalli range, Rajasthan |
| Area | About 495 sq km (Wikipedia, Incredible India); 463 sq km (Roundglass Sustain) |
| Established | 1983 |
| Forest type | Tropical deciduous forest and grassland |
| Flagship wildlife | Leopard and sloth bear |
| Ranges | Raoli, Jojawar, Devgarh, Bijaguda (per Roundglass Sustain) |
| Nearest town / railhead | Beawar (nearest city); Ajmer Junction and Beawar nearest railheads |
Wildlife: leopard, sloth bear and more
The sanctuary’s headline animals are the leopard and the sloth bear, both of which still hold on in these ravines. Roundglass Sustain, citing a 2020 census, reported estimates of about 39 leopards and 60 sloth bears here, along with roughly 50 hyenas and 110 sambar. Incredible India, Rajras and Wikipedia list the wider cast as leopard, wild boar, chinkara (Indian gazelle), common langur, sloth bear and Indian wolf, plus nilgai, civets and porcupines.
Tigers are gone. According to Roundglass Sustain, tigers disappeared from this Aravalli landscape by the late 1960s, and the Raoli forest rest house guestbook even records a 1953 entry by Keshav Sen describing tigers shot in the Todgarh and Beawar forests. The absence is why the leopard now sits at the top of the food chain in the panther-rich ravines that give the sanctuary its character.
Birdlife is strong for a dry-forest sanctuary. A 2013 survey recorded about 143 bird species here, per Roundglass Sustain and Incredible India. Sightings of large mammals are never guaranteed in forest this dense; most visitors come for the walking, the ridgelines and the chance of a leopard or bear sign rather than a safari-park tally. Roundglass notes that bear encounters are more likely in the monsoon, when vegetation is thick, so the forest department advises caution on foot.
| Species / group | Figure or status | Source / date |
|---|---|---|
| Leopard | About 39 | Roundglass Sustain, citing 2020 census |
| Sloth bear | About 60 | Roundglass Sustain, citing 2020 census |
| Striped hyena | About 50 | Roundglass Sustain, citing 2020 census |
| Sambar | About 110 | Roundglass Sustain, citing 2020 census |
| Birds | About 143 species | 2013 survey, via Roundglass / Incredible India |
| Tiger | Locally extinct since late 1960s | Roundglass Sustain |
There is a conservation twist worth knowing. According to a Drishti IAS summary dated 8 November 2024, the Union government and the National Tiger Conservation Authority gave in-principle approval in August 2023 to a proposed Kumbhalgarh-Todgarh-Raoli tiger reserve of about 1,397 sq km across Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pali, Ajmer and Sirohi districts. An expert committee advised building up habitat and prey, including relocating chital, before any tiger reserve is declared, saying the current area cannot yet support a sustainable tiger population.
Todgarh town and Colonel Tod
Todgarh is a small hill town at about 510 m (1,670 ft) that gives the sanctuary its name. According to Wikipedia, Maharana Bhim Singh of Mewar named the village around 1821 in honour of Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod, the East India Company’s Political Agent in the region; the area was earlier known as Madla. “Garh” means fort. Tod is remembered for his two-volume Annals and Antiquities of Rajast’han, published in 1829 and 1832.
The town sits in an isolated pocket of Ajmer district ringed by Pali and Rajsamand, about 13 km from Beawar and, by Wikipedia’s figure, roughly 130 km from Ajmer city. Its hilly setting gave it a cool climate that colonial-era travellers valued. Between about 1850 and 1860, Wikipedia notes, the English Catholic missionary William Robb built a church on a hillock here, along with a post office and a jail; the church is described as one of the earliest in Rajasthan and still stands, though in poor condition.
Inside the sanctuary, history and legend mingle. Dewair (also spelt Diver) is remembered as the site of a battle linked to Maharana Pratap; James Tod himself called the clash at Dewair the “Marathon of Mewar” in his Annals, a description worth treating as his literary judgement rather than settled military fact. The Dudhaleshwar temple, reached by the Katar Ghati route, and a short climb to the Mangatji Maharaj temple with Aravalli views, round out the human landmarks.
Goram Ghat and the meter-gauge railway
The Goram Ghat rail stretch is the region’s best-known scenic ride, a meter-gauge section that climbs through the Aravallis on the sanctuary’s western, Pali-district side. Goram Ghat is a station on the branch between Marwar Junction and Mavli, and railfan accounts place it about 33 km from Marwar Junction, between Phulad and Kamli (Khambli) Ghat. The line is remembered for its stone viaducts, a tunnel and old semaphore signals.
Phulad, from which the ghat climb begins, is a village in the Marwar Junction tehsil of Pali district, beside the Aravalli range, with its own station on the Marwar Junction line. Rail-trip reports describe trains pausing at Goram Ghat in dry, rocky country where monkeys gather on the platform. This is the “Bhil country” edge of the Aravallis, where small hamlets and herders share the hills with the forest.
One caution: the sources describing the meter-gauge service date largely from 2010 to 2016, and India has been converting meter-gauge lines to broad gauge for years. Whether this exact service still runs on meter gauge, on what timetable, could not be verified this session. Check current operations on the IRCTC or NTES portal before planning a ride, and reconfirm the station, timings and gauge.
Best time to visit
The best time to visit Todgarh-Raoli is October to March, the cool, dry window when walking and driving the hills is comfortable and water sources concentrate wildlife. Incredible India’s monthly temperature table shows the coolest months, roughly November to February, with lows of about 6-12 degrees C and highs around 30-34 degrees C, while summers climb to about 40-44 degrees C. The monsoon greens the forest but makes tracks slippery and, per Roundglass, raises the chance of bear encounters on foot.
| Season | Months | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Winter (peak) | October-March | Cool and dry; best for walks, drives and ridgeline views; mornings cold |
| Summer | April-June | Hot, about 40-44 degrees C; animals near water, midday travel harsh |
| Monsoon | July-September | Green forest and waterfalls; tracks slippery, bears more active on foot |
How to reach Todgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary
Reach Todgarh-Raoli by road from Ajmer, Beawar or Marwar Junction, as there is no station inside the forest. Incredible India and travel guides list Ajmer Junction and Beawar as the nearest railheads, with Ajmer about 105 km away and Beawar the closest city; one guide notes the Todgarh approach runs about 25 km from Jassa Khera on NH-8, the Delhi-Udaipur highway. For the western, Goram Ghat side, Marwar Junction and Phulad in Pali district are the nearest railheads.
By air, the practical options are Udaipur’s Maharana Pratap Airport to the south (handy for the Rajsamand and Kumbhalgarh side), Jodhpur Airport to the west (for the Pali and Marwar side) and Jaipur International Airport to the northeast; Incredible India also lists Kishangarh Airport near Ajmer. All need an onward road journey of several hours, so most visitors hire a car or taxi. Distances vary by which gate and range you aim for, so plan the specific entry point with the forest department first.
| From | Distance / mode | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Beawar | About 13 km to Todgarh town | Nearest city and a practical road base |
| Ajmer | About 105 km by road; Ajmer Junction nearest major railhead | Figure per Incredible India; drive onward |
| Marwar Junction / Phulad | Western, Goram Ghat side (Pali district) | Railheads for the scenic meter-gauge stretch |
| Udaipur airport | Several hours by road (south) | Good for the Rajsamand / Kumbhalgarh side |
| Jodhpur airport | Several hours by road (west) | Good for the Pali / Marwar side |
| Jaipur airport | Several hours by road (northeast) | Widest flight connections |
If you are shaping a wider Rajasthan trip, our Jodhpur travel guide covers the blue city you may fly into or pass through, and our Mount Abu travel guide helps you link the Aravallis’ only hill station into the same loop.
Things to see and do
The main things to do at Todgarh-Raoli are quiet ones: forest drives and walks, visiting the temples and viewpoints, and a trip to Bheelberi Falls in the rains. This is not a packaged safari destination like Ranthambore; it rewards travellers who like empty trails and ridgelines over a guaranteed sighting. Arrange any drive or guided walk through the forest department, as routes and access depend on the range.
Bheelberi Falls, in the Bhagora forest block, is a seasonal highlight. Wikipedia describes it as a roughly 55 m fall, best in the rainy season, reached by a jeep nature trail of about 4 km. The Dudhaleshwar temple on the Katar Ghati route and the short climb to the Mangatji Maharaj temple, which Roundglass notes gives Aravalli views, are the other walkable draws. Dewair carries the Maharana Pratap association described above.
| Experience | Good to know | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Forest drive / guided walk | Arranged via the forest department; route depends on range | Half day |
| Bheelberi Falls | About 55 m fall, Bhagora block; monsoon only; 4 km jeep trail | Half day |
| Mangatji Maharaj temple hike | Short climb with Aravalli views | 1-2 hours |
| Dudhaleshwar temple / Katar Ghati | Temple reached by the Katar Ghati route near Todgarh | 1-2 hours |
| Goram Ghat rail stretch | Scenic meter-gauge section; reconfirm service and gauge | Half to full day |
A suggested two-day plan
Two days lets you pair the forest with the scenery around it without rushing the long drives in.
- Day 1: Drive in via Beawar to Todgarh, settle into the Raoli forest rest house or a Todgarh stay, and take an afternoon forest drive or walk arranged with the forest staff. Visit the Dudhaleshwar or Mangatji Maharaj temple at golden hour.
- Day 2: Start early for wildlife activity, then head to the western side for the Goram Ghat and Phulad scenery (reconfirm any rail ride), or, in the monsoon, make the jeep trail to Bheelberi Falls.
- Add a day: Continue south to Kumbhalgarh fort and its sanctuary, or to the Ranakpur Jain temples, both within easy reach.
Where to stay
Accommodation is simple and sparse, so plan and book ahead. The headline option is the forest rest house at Raoli, run by the Rajasthan Forest Department and arranged through the DFO; Roundglass mentions the Raoli rest house and its historic guestbook. Todgarh town itself has basic lodges and homestays rather than formal hotels. These are no-frills choices in a lightly visited sanctuary, so keep expectations modest and carry essentials.
For more comfort, base yourself towards the Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur side to the south, where resorts and heritage-style hotels cluster around the fort and the Jain temples, or in Beawar for a plain road base. Because tariffs change and little is bookable online for the forest rest house, treat any price as indicative and reconfirm directly with the forest office before you travel.
| Option | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Raoli forest rest house | Inside the sanctuary (Raoli range) | Forest department; book via the DFO; basic, limited rooms |
| Todgarh lodges / homestays | Todgarh town | Simple budget stays; no formal hotels |
| Kumbhalgarh / Ranakpur resorts | South, towards Rajsamand / Pali | Wider mid-range and heritage choice; good comfort base |
| Beawar hotels | Nearest city, about 13 km from Todgarh | Plain road-trip base with everyday services |
Food to try
Expect hearty Marwari-Rajasthani cooking rather than restaurant variety. Staples worth trying include dal baati churma (baked wheat dumplings with lentils and a sweet crumble), gatte ki sabzi (gram-flour dumplings in a spiced yoghurt gravy), ker sangri (a dry curry of desert berries and beans) and bajre ki roti (pearl-millet flatbread) with garlic chutney. Sweets run to churma and ghewar. Inside the forest there are no shops, so carry water and snacks for drives and walks, and eat at your stay or in Beawar and Todgarh.
Budget breakdown
Todgarh-Raoli is an inexpensive trip by Rajasthan standards, largely because it is off the mainstream circuit and the forest rest house is government-run. The estimate below is a planning guide per person for a two-day trip, based on two people sharing and self-driving or sharing a hired car; every figure is indicative and should be reconfirmed, as official tariffs could not be verified online this session.
| Item | Indicative cost (₹) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stay (1 night, share of a room) | ₹600-2,500 | Forest rest house or Todgarh lodge; higher near Kumbhalgarh |
| Forest drive / guide (share) | ₹300-1,000 | Per-vehicle and guide charge split; arranged with forest staff |
| Car / taxi (share) | ₹1,000-2,500 | Round trip from Beawar/Ajmer, split between travellers |
| Entry / permit | Reconfirm | No official tourist fee verified online; ask the DFO |
| Meals and water | ₹400-900 | Stay meals or food in Beawar/Todgarh |
| Approx. total per person | ₹2,300-6,900 | Budget end self-driving and sharing; higher with resorts |
Entry, permits and rules
No inner-line or special state permit is needed to visit Todgarh-Raoli, which is an ordinary wildlife sanctuary rather than a border or restricted zone. Entry, any forest drive and the Raoli rest house are arranged through the Rajasthan Forest Department and the Divisional Forest Officer for the area; for the adjoining Kumbhalgarh sanctuary, Roundglass notes bookings go via the Assistant Conservator of Forests at Sadri or the DFO in Rajsamand, which is a useful contact point for this landscape too.
No official tourist entry fee or safari tariff for Todgarh-Raoli could be verified online this session, so confirm current charges and timings with the forest office before you go. Incredible India lists visiting hours of roughly 5 am-12 noon and 4 pm-9 pm, which also need reconfirming. The usual protected-forest rules apply: stay with your guide, do not feed or approach animals (especially sloth bears), avoid single-use plastic, carry out waste, keep noise down, and do not fly a drone without prior written permission from the forest authorities.
Practical tips
Todgarh-Raoli is a lightly developed sanctuary in remote hill country, so self-sufficiency matters:
- Connectivity and cash: Mobile signal is patchy in the hills. Carry cash for fees, fuel and small lodges, as UPI and ATMs are unreliable once you leave Beawar or Ajmer.
- Plan the entry point: The sanctuary spreads across three districts and four ranges. Fix the gate and range with the forest department before you drive, so you do not arrive at the wrong side.
- Sloth-bear safety: Bears are present and, per Roundglass, more active in the monsoon. Walk only with a guide, make noise on blind trails, and never corner or photograph a bear at close range.
- Medical: The nearest full hospitals are in Beawar and Ajmer. Carry a basic first-aid kit and personal medicines; there is little inside the forest.
- Solo and women travellers: Go with a forest guide, travel by day, keep your plan shared with someone, and base in a town rather than an isolated spot if travelling alone.
- Packing: Closed shoes, a hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, binoculars and a refillable bottle; add warm layers for cold winter mornings on the ridges.
Nearby places
Todgarh-Raoli’s strongest card is its neighbours: it sits between the Kumbhalgarh fort-and-sanctuary complex, the Ranakpur Jain temples and the Goram Ghat rail country, so it slots into a wider Aravalli loop. Beawar and Ajmer anchor the northern approach.
| Place | Direction / distance | Why go |
|---|---|---|
| Kumbhalgarh | South, towards Rajsamand | Hill fort with a long wall and an adjoining wildlife sanctuary |
| Ranakpur | Southwest, towards Pali | Marble Jain temple complex; a short detour from Kumbhalgarh |
| Goram Ghat / Phulad | West (Pali district) | Scenic meter-gauge ghat section through the Aravallis |
| Beawar | About 13 km from Todgarh | Nearest city; services, food and road base |
| Dewair | Inside the sanctuary | Battlefield tied to Maharana Pratap, noted by James Tod |
To extend the trip west, our Jodhpur travel guide opens up the Marwar plains and their forts.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Todgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary and which districts does it span?
Todgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary lies in the central Aravalli hills of Rajasthan and spans three districts: Ajmer, Pali and Rajsamand. Established in 1983, it is named after the hill town of Todgarh, which sits in a pocket of Ajmer district. Its area is given as about 495 sq km by Wikipedia and Incredible India, and as 463 sq km by Roundglass Sustain.
What wildlife can you see at Todgarh-Raoli?
Todgarh-Raoli’s flagship animals are the leopard and the sloth bear, with Indian wolf, chinkara, wild boar, common langur, nilgai, hyena and sambar also present. Roundglass Sustain, citing a 2020 census, reported about 39 leopards and 60 sloth bears. Tigers vanished from this landscape by the late 1960s, and about 143 bird species were recorded in a 2013 survey.
What is the best time to visit Todgarh-Raoli?
The best time to visit Todgarh-Raoli is October to March, the cool, dry season. Incredible India’s temperature table shows winter lows of about 6-12 degrees C and comfortable days, while summers reach roughly 40-44 degrees C. The monsoon brings green forest and the Bheelberi waterfall but slippery tracks and more active sloth bears, so winter is both safest and most pleasant.
How do I reach Todgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary?
Reach Todgarh-Raoli by road, as there is no station inside the forest. Beawar is the nearest city, about 13 km from Todgarh town, and Ajmer Junction and Beawar are the nearest railheads; Marwar Junction and Phulad serve the western Goram Ghat side. The nearest airports are Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Kishangarh, each followed by a road drive.
Is Todgarh-Raoli becoming a tiger reserve?
Not yet. According to a Drishti IAS summary dated 8 November 2024, the Union government and the National Tiger Conservation Authority gave in-principle approval in August 2023 to a proposed Kumbhalgarh-Todgarh-Raoli tiger reserve of about 1,397 sq km. An expert committee advised improving habitat and prey first, saying the area cannot yet support a sustainable tiger population, so no reserve has been declared.
Do I need a permit to visit Todgarh-Raoli?
No inner-line or special permit is needed, as Todgarh-Raoli is an ordinary wildlife sanctuary, not a restricted zone. Entry, forest drives and the Raoli rest house are arranged through the Rajasthan Forest Department and the local DFO. No official tourist fee could be verified online this session, so reconfirm current charges, timings and booking steps with the forest office before you travel.
Last updated and sources
Go to Todgarh-Raoli if you want quiet Aravalli forest, leopard-and-bear country, old temples and a classic meter-gauge rail stretch, rather than a packaged safari. The best window is October to March; fix your entry point and any drive with the forest department, keep a respectful distance from sloth bears, and reconfirm fees, timings and rail service before you set out.
Last updated: 17 October 2026. Fees, timings and permits change – reconfirm with official sources before you travel.
Sources: Incredible India, “Todgarh Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary,” incredibleindia.gov.in; “Todgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org; “Todgarh,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org; Roundglass Sustain, “Todgarh-Raoli and Kumbhalgarh Sanctuaries,” roundglasssustain.com; Rajras, “Todgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan,” rajras.in; Drishti IAS, “New Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan” (8 November 2024), drishtiias.com; “Phulad,” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org; Railscapes Travel, “Last metre gauge in Rajasthan,” railscapestravel.com. Accessed October 2026.
