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Palakkad: Silent Valley, the last of the few remaining original forests of the Western Ghats! It is a haven for an array of exotic flora fauna and is the last refugee of the lion tailed macaques. Located 40 kms away from Mannarghat town in Palakkad District, this wildlife Sanctuary, sprawling over an area of area of 90 sq. kms is famous for watching birds and butterflies as well.  In these last stretches of virgin tropical evergreen forests diverse  wild animals such as wild boar, flying squirrel, tigers and elephants are seen.  Various types of snake, lizard and amphibian species thrive in this national park

It conveniently falls in the tourist circuit as it is not very far from the famous hill resort of Coonoor apart from many wild life sanctuaries such as Parambikulam sanctuary, the Attappadi forest range, the Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary, Eravikulam National Park ( famous for Nilgiri Tahr), Anamalai Wild Life Sanctuary and the JP Smriti Vanam. There are regular bus services from Munnar and Marayur, famous for its sandal wood forests.

Silent Valley, known locally as Sairandhrivanam (the forest in the valley) was threatened by the construction of a Hydel Power Project during the 1970’s. It was saved from being inundated by a proposed dam due to the timely intervention of environmentalists and government officials.  The Silent Valley National Park is adjacent to the Attappadi Reserve Forests to the East, the Palghat and Nilambur forest divisions in the West and South and the Nilgiri Forests in the North, thereby forming a crucial elephant corridor. This  biodiversity hot spot  of Silent Valley was declared as a National Park in 1984 and the  Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve with the Silent Valley National Park as its core area, was created in 1986.

The rain forest is rich in tropical evergreen trees with teak, rosewood, amla, bamboo and semal. In addition there are tropical hill forests, sholas and temperate forests. The climate in the National Park is warm in summer and cool in winter with th mercury spanning from 35°C Max in June and dips to a moderate 20 °C in December. It receives a total annual rainfall of over 1600mm and the Southwest monsoon lasts from July to September, bringing heavy rainfall to Silent Valley.

There are many rest houses, hotels and small guest houses where the tourists can stay within Silent Valley national Park. Palakkad town offers all the conveniences of a bustling town with cyber cafes and telecommunication facilities for you to stay connected with the world outside even in the tranquil recluse of Silent Valley.

Location: Mannarghat town in Palakkad District
Best Time To Visit: September to March  

Accommodation: At Mannarghat there are many small lodes apart from a PWD Rest House and the reservation authority is the Palakkad District Collector.

Transportation: Silent Valley National Park is well connected by air, rail and road. Peelamamedu Airport, at Coimbatore is the nearest airport, at a distance of 155 km from Silent Valley National Park. Olavakkode Railway Station at Palakkad, 75 km away, is the nearest railway station, which is connected to Silent Valley National Park by bus service.

 Getting around: There are also regular buses from Palakkad to Mannarghat (45 kms.) Bus service connects Mannarghat to Mukkali located 22 kns away.  Silent Valley, located 18 kms away from Mukkali can be accessed by Jeep or Truck.