Satchhori Reserve Forest(সাতছড়ি রিজার্ভ ফরেস্ট) is also known as the Satchhori National Park(সাতছড়ি ন্যাশনাল পার্ক) that is located at the Chunarughat Upazela(চুনারুঘাট উপজেলা) of Habiganj district(হবিগঞ্জ জেলা). It was 4:00pm of the day when we have reached at the gate of the park. We had a hard, day long trekking at the Rema-Kalenga forest bit, and we have reached here after finishing the trek there. Few of us were extremely tired and was reluctant to have a further trekking.
The entry fee of the reserve forest is 10 Taka per person. It had a rain early on and everything was slightly wet around, and the weather was pleasant, but with a little bit of gloominess. There are several routes available for the trekkers inside the reserve forest. You can pick any of those as per your choice. You can take guide from there if you want.
We didn’t take any guide as we were late there. We have started walking using a random route and was keep moving. We have gone further inside the reserve forest and decided to return back using a different path. This decision made us lost inside the forest for a while. We couldn’t find the alternate returning path. As it was near to the sunset, we didn’t go for any further experiment and returned back through the exactly same path.
One good thing of this reserve forest is the trashcans which are randomly placed inside the park so that the tourists can use those to preserve the nature’s originality. This is highly appreciable. On contrary, the most disgusting thing was the numerous palm trees inside the forest. Those trees are planted later, but I don’t know why they have selected this useless(in Bangladesh soil) tree when we have lot of rich tress(in wood or fruit).
Another interesting thing is the random routes. Each of the roads have been divided into one or two, and again and again dividing. Interestingly, you’ll find a palm tree when you have reach at the end of each branches. I believe lot of dating couples use to come here to pass a quality! time over there. Since it had a rain early on, we didn’t find such couples on our way. Thanks good god!
In my opinion, Satchhori Reserve Forest(সাতছড়ি রিজার্ভ ফরেস্ট) is a thick, dense forest having lot of natural and planted trees. This forest is mainly a deciduous one and having lot different types of flora all around. It uses to have lot of wild animals(mainly from the monkey family), but I didn’t see any of those during my staying over there. But I have enjoyed the wild flowers from the forest. Specially this Bonjam ful from the forest. It was a sweet, sweet and sweet flower from the day.
How to Go:
Satchhori reserve forest(সাতছড়ি রিজার্ভ ফরেস্ট) is very near from Dhaka, approximately 130 kilometers. You can visit and return back to Dhaka within the same day. There are several ways you can use to visit the forest.
First come to the Shayestaganj(শায়েস্তাগঞ্জ). You can use both train or Bus for this. GPS Coordinate of Shayestaganj(শায়েস্তাগঞ্জ) is (24°16’2.80″N, 91°28’36.98″E). From there you can take a bus or CNG that will drop you exactly in front of the gate of the Satchhori National Park(সাতছড়ি ন্যাশনাল পার্ক). CNG fare can be 40-60 Taka per person, or 250-300 Taka as a reserve.
Another option can be the Madhabpur Bazaar(মাধবপুর বাজার). GPS Coordinate of the place is possibly somewhere near (24° 5’52.09″N, 91°17’35.29″E). If you go to Satchhori(সাতছড়ি) using this way, by skipping the Shayestaganj Bazaar(শায়েস্তাগঞ্জ বাজার), that case it will save your time, probably 90 minutes or more. The reserve forest is very near from the Madhabpur Bazaar(মাধবপুর বাজার).
GPS Coordinate of the Satchori National Park(সাতছড়ি ন্যাশনাল পার্ক) is (24° 7’37.49″N, 91°26’26.38″E).
You’ll find lot of tea gardens near the reserve forest. You can have a sneak inside those gardens if the time permits you. Also, there is a rest house available inside the reserve forest premise. You can enjoy your staying over there with a prior permission.
কেউ যদি এইখানে বেড়াইতে যাই, তাইলে যেন আমরা কিছু ফালাইয়া না রাইখা আসি… আমরা যে এইখানে গেছিলাম, এইটার কোনো নিশানাই ঐখানে রাইখা আসা যাবে না… মনে রাখবেন উপরের দিকে থুথু ফেললে নিজের গায়েই লাগে… জায়গাটা ময়লা আবর্জনা ফেলে নষ্ট করলে কিন্তু আমাদের দেশের একটা সুন্দর জায়গাই নষ্ট হবে, যা আমাদেরই ক্ষতি…!
Satchhori Reserve Forest(সাতছড়ি রিজার্ভ ফরেস্ট),
Upozela: Chunarughat(চুনারুঘাট উপজেলা),
District: Hobiganj(হবিগঞ্জ),
Country: Bangladesh(বাংলাদেশ)
This article is written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog https://alonelytraveler.com/
