MANALI
A UNESCO World Heritage site roughly 2 hrs from Manali via Kullu, best for serious trekkers rather than a casual day-trip crowd - permits for the core zone must be arranged in advance at the Shamshi head office or range offices, not at the gate.
Established in 1984 in the Banjar sub-division of Kullu district, the park covers roughly 1,171 sq km with elevations ranging from 1,500 to over 6,000 meters, encompassing alpine meadows, temperate forest and glaciated peaks. After a lengthy nomination process beginning in 2011 and an IUCN field evaluation in 2012, UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in June 2014 in recognition of its outstanding biodiversity, which includes the endangered western tragopan pheasant and snow leopard habitat. Local Gaddi and Kullvi shepherd communities practiced grazing and gathering here for generations before conservation restrictions were introduced, a tension that shaped much of the park's later management and community-rights negotiations.
