Hi Travellers!
You might have seen many waterfalls in the course of your adventures. I am not sure if you have seen one that is hidden till the last minute before appearing all of a sudden in front of you!. You see nothing at first. You can just hear the roar and you can wonder, be impatient and get frustrated with the walk…. When all of a sudden you take a turn and what do you see?. A majestic waterfall with a roar like that of a tiger!
To give you a pictorial explanation, here it is!.

First view of the majestic Tiger Falls!
If you search for Tiger Falls(Chakrata) as a tourist place, you will be relieved to see the search results. Why? because it says “Unexplored” and though it is not completely true, it is definitely heaven compared to the heavily saturated tourist places like Dehradun and Mussourie. I sincerely hope it stays so and most probably it will if we let it be!.
You can decide to either go halfway by car or trek down to the falls. In case you decide to go by a car, once you park your car on the road, you have to walk down for about 20 minutes to reach the fall. The way to the falls is through a thick jungle and you will only hear the chirping of the birds, the sounds of the dry leaves getting crushed under your eager feet and the grasshoppers. However, if you are a trained and passionate hiker, you could choose to walk down the trek route from Chakrata to the Tiger falls. It is a 4 hours trek, with no signs to help you reach the right place(so you are on your own!). The trek route starts from hotel Snow View and hence, it is advisable to stay there if you wish to hike. I have hiked a lot with proper signboards and directions to help me, but this was a thrill. The hike route crosses thick jungles with no sign of any humans or animals or the sun for that matter. You could meet a few birds on the way!. The route is also very steep at places. The combination of thrill, fascination, eagerness mixed with the silence of the jungle builds up an unexplained feeling in you. Just as you start enjoying the silence and you have walked for about 3 hours, your attention is drawn towards a noise. Wait! is that a roar?. Yes, you can hear the roar of the Tiger falls even when you are 1 hour away from it. You get impatient, hoping to see the falls from a distance. I thought “maybe tiny, but I should be able to see something”. But, I was wrong, i kept on walking following the sound of water hoping to see the waterfall at every turn. Just as I was wondering if I am going towards a wrong direction(remember there is no road map given to you), I see a small water body with water splashing in to it from somewhere and then another turn and guess what i see?. The majestic waterfall with a sound like the roar of a tiger almost hidden in the jungle.
Taking a dip in the water is a must!. Since there is no facility here, you have to take the responsibility of keeping yourself safe!
Let me take you through the trek route!

Start of the 4 hour long trek- It looks easy. You just don’t know what is awaiting you!
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After an hour of walking without directions, I reached this clearing which looked inhabited and there was hope I would get direction from here. I was wrong!. Not a single human being to be seen in this village.

The walk continues, unsure of our destination!(seen in the picture, my mom. She is as enthusiastic for hiking as I am)

Tired of walking, I decide to stop and look around- The view from the top. Little did I know that from here it is a steep descend to the falls.

The Approach to the falls….. a sight of relief!
This should give you a fair idea of what you are getting into… Let me now give you some usual information on how to reach in case you decide to visit the tiger post reading my blog.
Information on “How to reach” (Wikipedia)
Chakrata can be reached from Dehradun via Mussoorie or Vikasnagar. Both routes pass through beautiful mountainous road.
Where to stay
There are a few private hotels in Chakrata. However, I would strongly recommend you staying in Hotel snow view as it is easily accessible and the trek route starts from here.
Avoid monsoons as there are frequent roadblocks.
Hope you like this place and do share your experience in case you happen to go there…
That is all from me for now…. Be happy and keep travelling!
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