Karopani natural deer park is located in Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh. It is popular for Black buck & Spotted deer species. It is a notified deer park by Madhya Pradesh Forest Department thus it has its own legal existence where deers can be seen roaming freely on the site between MP State Highway 40 and Narmada river. While moving from Jabalpur to Amarkantak, tourists often takes stopover at this point, after crossing Dindori town. It is a plateau type landscape where villages are also located. Here deer park is close to Karopani village thus its name is derived from same village name. In past, Black bucks are spread over a large area of Central India which covers from Amarkantak forest to Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Satpura Tiger Reserve. They have grand presence but due urbanization and blocking of wildlife corridors, they are either extinct from certain region or remain concentrated to limited area. Karopani deers still manage to survive only because of the support of local community. Local villagers have always supported their presence and provided them shelter thus this isolated herd of deers still flourishing & roaming freely on this region. Presence of Narmada river, close to Karopani village was the main source of water for them thus conditions are ideal for their survival.
Dindori district in Madhya Pradesh is popular as an tribal region where majority of local villages are of tribal population. Till 19th century, this region was remote and deprive of urbanization. Poor road connectivity and presence of widespread forest land had blessed this region with variety of wildlife species. Deer species were widely spread over the east to south of Madhya Pradesh, covering a vast region of Central India. In these wildlife species, deer & antelope species are widely spread in which prominent species are Barasingha, Black buck, Spotted Deer etc. British India officer James Forsyth has also specifed about Dindore deer herd, in his travel notes which shows that isolated herd was present in this region and presen one is the same herd. It is surprising to see that one deer herd continously present in this region and flourishing.
Karopani is a small village in this Black buck conservation area. While driving from Jabalpur to Amarkantak, we pass through Shahpura town, which acts as an hub of road network. From Shahpura, we can find routes towards Bandhavgarh national park, Kanha national park, Mandla, Amarkantak, Jabalpur. If we proceed further, towards Amarkantak, we will pass through Dindori town. After passing through Dindore town, we need to drive further, approx. 18 kms and then take left turn to reach this deer park. Distance from State Highway to Karopani natural deer park is just 1.5 kms. Distance from Jabalpur to Karopnai is approx. 170 kms/04:00 hrs.Travel distance from Amarkantak to Karopani deer park is approx. 70kms/02:00 hrs. On visit to this region, we will notice that Karopani park reserve land is surrounded by agricultural fields, from all the sides except north-east direction in which Narmada river passes through.
Nearest Airport = Jabalpur Airport (185kms)
Nearest Railway Station = Pendra Road (40kms)
Nearest Bus Stand = Dindore Bus Stand (18 kms)
Here it is important to note that Jabalpur is the nearest airport for reaching Karopani natural deer park. After reaching Jabalpur airport, you need to drive further by taxi cab or may use locally availble public carrier bus, running on Jabalpur - Amarkantak route. As their is no accommodation facility in this place thus tourists visit this park as journey stop-over, while traveling from Jabalpur to Amarkantk or vice versa. It nearest township is Dindori so for every small shopping, you need to go to Dindori town.
If you are interested in visit of Karopani Black buck conservation area, then you need to understand that it is not a big tourist destination thus tourists often visit it as stop-over visit. While traveling from one destination to another, you can take a small stopover in Karopani and then proceed further. Night stay is not recommended or possible here. It is a rural area thus amenities are also very limited. Usually following are the way to plan for this visit.
As we know that Karopani Natural Deer Park or Black Buck conservation area is a remote location, surrounded by villages and some open landscape, thus accommodation facility is unavailable for tourists. In such case, best idea is to visit this place as stop-over point, while traveling from one place to anyther. If you want night stay, then hotels in Amarkantak are the best suitable option. While staying at Amarkantak hotel, we can cover this point as excursion tour.