The 7km steep road spiralling through the alpine forest let the visitor catch glimpse of the deeply forested area and if lucky even spot some eagles and small wild animals. Situated within the Senchal reserve forest, Chatakpur is endowed with rich flora and fauna. Within a short walking distance of 10min from the village, Chatakpur watchtower offers an astounding view of the Trekkers’ wonderland Sandakphu.

The watchtower is also the sunrise point of Chatakpur which lets the visitor witness the breathtaking phenomena of the sun slowly rising above the horizon whilst revealing the mountainous valley and glazing the snow peaked mountains of Himalayan range with an orange hue and making them dazzle like covered with precious jewels. On a clear day, the mighty Mt Kanchenjunga accompanies the visitor in Chatakpur through the day adding up to the charm of the quaint forest village.

From the tourist cottages, if you go 100 meters or so to the right, you enter the jungle. There are several forest trails here through lush greenery that are ideal for light treks. You should always take a trained guide with you for treks as the forest also harbours wild lives like leopards, barking deer and several other animals. If you are lucky, you can even see a Red Panda.

A trail from the eco cottages leads down to a nice small pond, locally known as pokhri. It's about 10 minutes walk.

As the forest is also home to a number of lovely colourful birds like Blue Magpie, Bulbul, Verditer, Flycatcher, Pipit, Longtail Shrike, Warbler, Prinia and lot more, it's a great place for the bird watchers as well.

There are only 18 village homes in this tiny place, and the villagers will do everything possible to show you what they have or do. You can pick garden fresh organic vegetables from the farmland, or even feed or milk the cattle if you want. In fact, you can buy organic vegetables really cheap and take back home.

And there are those elderly folks in the village who are waiting to tell you the stories about this place, it's history, people and their culture. You will love to hear them on a lazy afternoon as you sit under the sun on the courtyard. After sunset, the locals perform traditional folk dances on request to entertain tourists.

Waking up by the sight of a lush green mountain valley with a backdrop view of the majestic Himalayan range can be an amazing way to start the day or sitting under the starry sky while listening to the sound of crickets will help you calm your tired soul, you can experience it all while visiting Chatakpur. Surrounded by the terraced fields and tall conifer and pine trees, Chatakpur is an ideal place if you want to spend some quality time with your loved ones or find the solitude amidst the pristine nature.

Chatakpur is only about 80 Kms from NJP or Bagdogra, 26 Kms from Darjeeling and 17Kms from Jorebungalow, Ghoom.

From New Jalpaiguri (NJP) station or Bagdogra airport, the easiest is to go towards Kurseong (either by taking the Hill Cart Road, otherwise through Rohini Road), and then further up (towards Darjeeling) to a small village on Hill Cart Road is known as Dilaram. Here you take a right turn for Bagora, another small village. From Bagora, Chatakpur is about 30-40 minutes drive. Another way is to first reach Sonada via Rambi, then Mongpu and Jorebunglow. Chatakpur is just 7Kms away from Sonada.

While coming from Darjeeling, come down to Sonada which is an hours drive and then go up to Chatakpur (7kms).

Note that you should not take a small car or even an Innova for Chatakpur. The last several kilometres is a boulder road and only vehicles like Sumo, jeep, Bolero etc with good ground clearance can negotiate that. Also, the last stretch of the road passes through jungles.