Overview
About Saddle Peak National Park
Saddle Peak is the roof of the archipelago at 732 metres, and the national park around it protects some of the least-disturbed tropical evergreen forest in India. The trek to the summit starts near Lamiya Bay outside Diglipur and runs roughly eight kilometres each way through dense forest, climbing steadily the whole distance.
It is a real trek, not a walk. Expect six to eight hours round trip, humid heat, leeches after rain, sections where the path is more suggestion than trail, and no water sources you should rely on. In exchange you get forest that almost nobody sees — Andaman wild pig, endemic birds, enormous buttressed trees, and, from the top on a clear day, a view down over the northern islands and out to sea.
A Forest Department permit is required and a guide is effectively mandatory: the trail is not consistently marked and it is easy to lose. Guides are arranged at Diglipur or through the park office.
Start early. The heat builds fast, and you want to be back down well before the light goes — there is no way off this hill in the dark.
Why people come here
- The highest point in the Andaman and Nicobar islands at 732 m
- Undisturbed tropical evergreen rainforest
- Endemic birds, Andaman wild pig and exceptional tree cover
- Summit views over the northern islands on clear days
- One of the few genuine treks in the archipelago
Things to do
What to do here
The summit trek
Eight kilometres of climbing through evergreen forest to the highest point in the islands. Start at first light.
Forest birding
Andaman endemics along the lower trail, best in the first two hours of the day.
Lamiya Bay at the trailhead
The boulder beach at the start of the trail is where most people collapse afterwards, and it is a good place to do it.
Getting there
How to reach
From Diglipur
A short drive to the Lamiya Bay trailhead. Arrange the guide and permit in Diglipur the day before.
From Port Blair
10 to 12 hours by road up the Trunk Road, or an overnight government ferry to Aerial Bay.
Permits
Issued by the Forest Department. Carry original photo ID and expect to sign in and out at the park post.
Best time to visit · December to March, starting at dawn
The dry months give firmer trail, fewer leeches and the clear air the summit view needs. The trek is genuinely unpleasant and sometimes unsafe in monsoon.
Good to know
Travel tips
- Take a guide. The trail is not reliably marked and people do get lost on it.
- Carry at least three litres of water per person. There is nothing on the mountain.
- Leech socks and long trousers, especially in or after the wet season.
- Start by six in the morning. Being on the hill at four in the afternoon is a bad plan.
- Tell your guesthouse when you expect to be back, and sign in at the park post.
Gallery
Saddle Peak National Park in pictures
North Andaman (Diglipur & Mayabunder)
Combine it with
Tour packages
