Shivalik Fossil Park, Suketi
What it is
The Shivalik Fossil Park, also called the Suketi or Saketi Fossil Park, is a protected fossil site at Suketi in the Markanda valley, south of Nahan. The Geological Survey of India found the site in 1969, and the park was set up with the state government on 23 March 1974, the same year it was notified as a National Geological Monument. It covers about 15 km² of forest on the Siwalik hills, the youngest and southernmost range of the Himalayas.
Photos: Vjdchauhan (CC BY-SA 3.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
What you see
The rocks here belong to the Upper Siwaliks, and the bones found in them come from animals that lived in these hills millions of years ago. The park shows that world in two ways. Out in the forest stand six life-size fibreglass models. There is a sabre-toothed cat and a hippopotamus relative with a huge mouth and short legs. There is a giant tortoise far larger than any living one, long-tusked relatives of the elephant, a four-horned giraffe with a short neck, and a crocodile of the gharial family. They are set in a recreated landscape of the Plio-Pleistocene.
The Siwalik Fossil Museum, opened inside the park in May 2014, holds the real thing: fossil jaws and skulls, turtle shells, fish remains, crocodile teeth, and stone tools made by early humans. It also keeps finds made in this area by Proby Cautley.
Getting there and the visit
The park is about 19 km and 43 min from Nahan by road, near Kala Amb, which is about 36 min from the town. We route to the village of Suketi, because no point for the park gate is published; ask locally for the entrance. We have no verified opening hours or entry fee, so check before you go. Allow an hour or two for the models and the museum.
Plan it
See things to do in Nahan, the Nahan guide and how to reach Nahan.
Nearby places
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Questions people ask
What is the Shivalik Fossil Park?
A protected fossil site at Suketi, also written Saketi, in Sirmaur district, notified as a National Geological Monument by the Geological Survey of India in 1974. Six life-size models of extinct animals of the Siwalik hills stand in its forest, and a museum opened in 2014 shows the fossils.
How far is the fossil park from Nahan?
About 19 km and 43 min by road on our measured routing, south of Nahan near Kala Amb in the Markanda valley. It makes a half-day from Nahan, or a stop on the road between Nahan and the plains, since Kala Amb lies on that way.
What can you see at the fossil park?
Six life-size fibreglass models of extinct animals stand in a recreated ancient landscape: a sabre-toothed cat, a hippopotamus relative, a giant tortoise, long-tusked elephant relatives, a four-horned giraffe and a gharial-like crocodile. The museum adds fossil jaws, skulls, shells and stone tools.