National Parks in Bhutan and What It Takes to Reach Each One

Jigme Dorji covers 4,316 sq km across Gasa, Paro, Punakha, Thimphu and Wangdue Phodrang, which is why it is the one protected area a standard Paro and Thimphu itinerary can touch without adding days. It is the only park in Bhutan where all four national symbols occur together: the takin, the blue poppy, the raven and the cypress. It also holds the country's largest takin population. Most visitors meet it on the Gasa road or at the start of the Jomolhari trek. Choose this over Wangchuck Centennial if you have under a week.

The Wangdue Phodrang to Trongsa highway runs straight through this park, so any trip going past Punakha towards central Bhutan passes through it without a detour. It spreads over Trongsa, Sarpang, Wangdue Phodrang, Tsirang and Zhemgang, and the Phobjikha valley sits on its northern edge. Migratory birds use it as a seasonal corridor. Pick this one if you want park scenery on a short western trip.

Bhutan set Royal Manas aside in 1966, making it the country's first protected area, and it holds the tropical and subtropical belt that nothing else in Bhutan does. It sits on the southern border, touching Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam, and the access towns are Gelephu and Panbang rather than Paro. Elephants, gaur and tigers are on the species list here. Come only if you are already routing through southern Bhutan, and check the seasonal opening dates before you commit.

Formerly Thrumshingla National Park, Phrumsengla stretches across Bumthang, Lhuentse, Mongar and Zhemgang, and the east west highway crosses it at Thrumshingla pass, so you drive through it rather than detour to it. More than 340 bird species have been recorded here, several of them endangered. April to June and September to November are the workable walking months. Plan for this one if your trip already runs east of Bumthang, and skip it if you stay west of Trongsa.

At 4,914 sq km, Wangchuck Centennial is the biggest protected area in Bhutan, inaugurated in 2008 across Gasa, Wangdue Phodrang, Trongsa, Lhuentse and Bumthang. It borders Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary to the east and Jigme Dorji to the west, forming one continuous northern belt along the Tibetan frontier. There is no gate and no day visit here. You see it only on a long high altitude trek with a licensed guide, so treat it as a two week proposition, not an afternoon.

Renamed from Toorsa Strict Nature Reserve for King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, this 609 sq km reserve in far western Bhutan became operational in 2010 and runs from roughly 1,400 m to 4,800 m. Strict nature reserve is a working category, not a label: it is managed for research and undisturbed habitat, and part of it sits beside a sensitive border zone. Read about it, then plan Haa valley instead if you want that western landscape on foot.

Black necked cranes winter in two places in Bhutan, and Bumdeling is the eastern one, which is the reason to come this far if you have already seen Phobjikha. Planned in 1995 and established in 1998, it records 42 mammal species, more than 340 birds, over 700 plants and 200 butterflies, including Ludlow's Bhutan swallowtail, which is found nowhere else. Access is from Trashiyangtse or Lhuentse. Time it between late October and February or the cranes will not be there.

At roughly 275 sq km, Jomotshangkha is the smallest protected area in Bhutan, sitting in Samdrup Jongkhar district against the Assam border between about 400 m and 2,200 m. It was called Khaling Neoli Wildlife Sanctuary before the rename. Low altitude means warm, humid forest rather than the alpine Bhutan most itineraries show you. It matters only if you are entering or leaving Bhutan overland through Samdrup Jongkhar.

Launched in 2003, Sakteng is the newest protected area in Bhutan, covering about 650 sq km in the far east against Arunachal Pradesh. It holds around 35 of the 46 rhododendron species recorded in the country, and they peak in April and May. Red panda, barking deer and Himalayan squirrel are on the list. What separates it from Bumdeling is the culture: the semi nomadic Brokpa communities of Merak and Sakteng live inside it, and the trek between the two villages is why most visitors go.

Phibsoo is the only protected area in Bhutan with natural sal forest, which is what sets it apart from everything else on this list. It sits on the southern border across Sarpang and Dagana, a little larger than Jomotshangkha, with the Punatsangchhu running down its western side. Spotted deer, Bengal tiger and Gangetic dolphin have all been recorded here. There is no visitor infrastructure, so for most trips this is a conservation footnote rather than a stop.