Important Hill stations in India – UPSC

In this article, You will read the List of Important Hill stations in India – for UPSC.

A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley.

The hill stations are high-altitude towns for recreation, enjoyment and are used as a place of refuge to escape the blistering heat in India during summertime.

As India is a vast peninsular country with limited amounts of coastal area most of its towns and districts face continental type of climate with summer being very hot so hill stations (as situated on high altitude due to which it faces low temperature) becomes an excellent spot to escape such hot and humid conditions as well as a place of enjoyment to spent quality time with your family and partner during summer break.

The Most Popular Hills in India are:

1. Shivalik Hills
2. Anamalai Hills
3. Ashambu Hills
4. Cardamom Hills
5. Biligiriranga Hills
6. Palani Hills
7. Nilgiri Hills
8. Nallamala Hills
9. Lushai Hills
10. Garo-Khasi-Jainitia Hills

List of Important Hill Stations in India

States	Hill Station
Andhra Pradesh	Araku Valley Horsley Hills Lambasingi Ananthagiri Nallamala Hills Tirumala Nagari Hills
Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar Ziro Valley Bomdila Pasighat Tawang
Assam	Haflong Diphu Umrangso Maibang
Bihar	Brahmajuni Hills Ramshila Hills Pretshila Hills Gurpa Peak Pragbodhi
Chhattisgarh	Manipat Chirmiri Baila Dila Gadiya Mountain Ambikapur
Gujarat	Saputara Wilson Hills Don Hills Girnar
Haryana	Morni Hills
Himachal Pradesh	Dalhousie Dharamshala Kasauli Kullu valley Manali Shimla Solan Keylong Khajjiar Kufri Kiarighat Chail Chamba Chitkul
Jammu and Kashmir	Gulmarg Srinagar Jammu Vaishno Devi Sonamarg Patnitop Pampore Sanasar Amarnath
Ladakh	Drass Kargil Leh Hemis
Jharkhand	Netarhat Sati Hills Ranchi Parasnath Hills Khandoli Pahari
Karnataka	Agumbe Coorg Kodachadri Chikmagalur Kemmangudi Madikeri Biligiriranga Hills
Kerala	Munnar Wayanad Vagamon Idukki Vythiri Nilambur Thenmala Ponmudi Nelliyampathy Gavi Devikulam Peermede Pathanamthitta Kalpetta
Madhya Pradesh	Amarkantak Pachmarhi Tamiya
Maharashtra	Amboli Panchgani Chikhaldara (Keechakadara) Bhandardara Matheran Mahabaleshwar Hemalkasa Igatpuri Khandala
Manipur	Kaina Hill Station Kangchup Hill Langthabal Maibam Lokpa
Meghalaya	Cherrapunjee Dawki Jowai Mawlynnong Mawsynram Shillong
Mizoram	Champhai Hmuifang Lunglei Mamit Reiek
Nagaland	Dzukou Valley Kohima Pfutsero
Odisha	Banigocha Daringbadi Deomali Taptapani Mahendragiri Dhenkanal Olasuni Hills Lulung
Punjab	Dhar Kalan
Rajasthan	Mount Abu Guru Shikhar Ranakpur Sajjangarh Achalgarh
Sikkim	Gangtok Lachen Lachung Pelling
Tamilnadu	Anamalai Kolli Hills Ooty/ Udagamandalam Kodaikanal Yelagiri Yercaud
Telangana	Ananthagiri Hills
Tripura	Jampui Hills
Uttarakhand	Almora Lansdowne Mussoorie Nainital
West Bengal	Darjeeling Kalimpong

Important Hill Stations in India (with few details)

GULMARG :

• A hill station in the Baramulla district of J&K
• 50 km from Srinagar at the elevation of 2690 m
• Hill stations of emperors like Yousuf and Jahangir
• Gulmarg Gondola – Asia’s highest cable car project

SONMARG :

• Situated along the left bank of the Sindh-Nala, a tributary of the Jhelum
• 84 km from Srinagar on the Srinagar-Leh Road, just 10 km from the Zozila Pass
• Pilgrimage to Amarnath via Baltal route proceeds through it
• A popular hill station and tourist place
• Thajwas Glacier is only 2 km away

DALHOUSIE :

• A popular hill station in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh
• Established in 1854 by the British as a summer retreat for its troops and bureaucrats
• Located on the western edge of the Dhauladhar Range
• Repository of ancient Hindu culture, art, temples and handicrafts

DHARMSHALA :

• City that is a popular hill station of Himachal Pradesh is the winter seat of the state government and also the district headquarters of the Kangra district
• Mcleod Ganj, a village within Dharmshala is the home of the Dalai Lama and the exiled Tibetan Government

SHIMLA :

• Capital and popular hill station of Himachal Pradesh in the Lesser Himalayas
• Built by the British as their summer capital of India
• Industries- handicrafts, artifacts and woodworks
• Kalka – Shimla Railway – World Heritage Site
• NH- 22 connects it with Kalka and Chandigarh

MUSSOORIE :

• Located 34 km from Dehradun in Uttarakhand
• Known as the Queen of the Hills
• A hill station at the height of 1880m
• The Dalai Lama established the Tibet government here in April 1959 before shifting to Dharmshala
• Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration is situated here

ALMORA :

• Lies to the southern side of the Nanda Devi in eastern Uttarakhand
• Important hill station
• Cultural capital of Kumaon where the Gorkhas built a fort in 1790
• It is a contonment town.
• It is the native place of Govind Ballabh Pant, Sumitranandan Pant, Rolland Ross.

NAINITAL :

• Located around the Naini Lake in eastern Uttarakhand
• Built by the British as the summer capital of Uttar Pradesh
• Divided into the upper and the lower parts locally known as Mallital and Tallital
• A famous hill station and tourist place

MT. ABU :

• Only hill station of Rajasthan, located in southern Aravallis
• Famous for the Dilwara Jain Temple
• Located near the Guru Shikhar
• It is referred as ‘an oasis in the desert‘.
• The Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary is established here.
• The Nakki lake and the Achalgarh Fort are located in the vicinity.
• It is the headqurters of the Brahma Kumari International.

PACHMARHI :

• A hill station of central India located in the Satpura Range in the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh
• Located near to the Dhupgarh Peak
• Has an army cantonment
• Has Pachmarhi NP near to it which has been declared Biosphere Reserve

DARJEELING :

• Important hill station in the northern part of West Bengal
• Established by the Britishers as a military sanatorium
• Famous for the Darjeeling Tea
• Mahakal Temple on the Observatory Hill is sacred to Hindus and Buddhists

KALIMPONG :

• A hill station of West Bengal, located in the Darjeeling district
• The Indian Army’s Mountain Division is located on the outskirts of the town
• Located on a ridge overlooking the Teesta
• Was a gateway for the trade with Tibet before the Sino-Indian War of 1962

TURA :

• Located in western Meghalaya in the West Garo Hills, right below the Tura Peak
• Cultural and administrative centre of the Garo tribes
• Tourist places around – Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, Balpakram, Siju Cave
• In 1973, the town was made the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tura

MATHERAN :

• Hill station of Maharashtra on the Western Ghats in the Raigarh district
• Smallest hill station of India
• 90 km from Mumbai and 120 km from Pune
• One of the few places in the world where vehicles are not allowed
• Developed by the British
• Connected by a toy train to the mainline rail route at Neral junction

LONAVALA :

• Hill station in the Pune district (64 km away) on the Western Ghats
• Known for hard candy sweet known as ‘Chikki’
• Comes to life during the monsoon season
• Along with Khandala, forms a twin hill station

MAHABALESHWAR :

• Hill resort and the source of the Krishna River in the Satara district of Maharashtra, on the Western Ghats
• Situated at a height of 1372m, has historical association with Shivaji

OOTY :

• Beautiful, health promoting hill station in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu
• Also called as ‘Ootacamund’ or Udhagamandalam
• Headquarters of the Nilgiri district
• Served as the summer capital of the Madras Presidency and other small kingdoms around it
• British named it ‘Queen of Hill Stations’

KODAIKANAL :

• Important hill station located in the Palani Hills in Tamil Nadu.
• Kodai Lake- an artificial lake is very famous
• Open for tourism throughout the year
• Located in the Dindigul district
• Referred as ‘the Princess of Hill Stations’
• Meadows, grasslands, Eucalyptus and shola forests cover the hill

MAINPAT :

• It is located in the western Chhatisgarh in the Sarguja district.
• The Tibeten refugees are living here for the last four-five decades.
• It has Dhakpo Monastery.
• There are there waterfall, notably the Fish Fall and the Tiger Points water fall.

NETARHAT :

• It is located in the Latehar district of Jharkhand.
• It is referred as the “Queen of Chhotanagpur”.
• It is famous for its glorious sunries and sunsets during the summer months.
• It has Netarhat Vidyalaya set up in 1954

PALAMPUR :

• It is located in the Kangra Valley in Himachal Pradesh.
• It is often referred as “the tea capital of northwest India”.
• The town has desired its name from the local word ‘pulum’, meaning lots of water.
• The combination of greenery and water gives Palampur a distinctive look.

PAVAGARH :

• It is located in the Panchmahal district in the eastern Gujarat.
• It is known for famous Mahakali Temple.
• The Champaner- Pavagarh Archeo logical Park was inscripted by UNESCO as a world Heritage site in 2004.

PATNITOP:

• It is located in the Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir.
• It is located near the Chenab River.
• The name, is derived from ‘Patan da Talab’ meaning ‘Pond of the princes’.

PAMPORE:

• Pampore is one of the few places in the world where saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, grows.
• Pampore, known as Pampar, or Panpar is a historical town situated on the eastern side of river Jehlum on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Jammu and Kashmir. Pampore was originally called Padampur.
• Pampore has three lakes as well which have been entitled as wetlands. One of the lakes is known as Sarbal Lake.

Minor Hill Stations	District	State
Along	West Siang	Arunachal Pradesh
Khonsa	Tirap	Arunachal Pradesh
Ziro	Lower Subansiri	Arunachal Pradesh
Haflong	North Cachar Hills	Assam
Maibong	Dima Harao	Assam
Saputara	Dang	Gujarat
Kasauli	Solan	Himachal Pradesh
Kufri	Shimla	Himachal Pradesh
Solan	Solan	Himachal Pradesh
Yusonarg	Badgam	Jammu & Kashmir
Agumbe	Shimoga	Karnataka
Madikeri	Kodagu	Karnataka
Charalkunau	Pathanan thitta	Kerala
Kapletta	Waynad	Kerala
Kunily	Idukki	Kerala
Munnar	Idukki	Kerala
Nelliampathi	Palakkad	Kerala
Peeronade	Idukki	Kerala
Ponmudi	Thiruvanathapuram	Kerala
Ranipuram	Kasargod	Kerala
Sultan Bathery	Wayanad	Kerala
Vagamon	Idukki	Kerala
Panchgani	Satara	Maharashtra
Amboli	Sindhudurg	Maharashtra
Panhala	Kolhapur	Maharashtra
Taranonal	Nardurbar	Maharashtra
Igatpuri	Nashik	Maharashtra
Karjat	Raigarh	Maharashtra
Jowai	Joyantia Hills	Meghalaya
Daringibadi	Kandhamal	Odisha
Coonoar	Nilgiris	Tamil Nadu
Yercaud	Salem	Tamil Nadu
Kalinpong	Darjeeling	West Bengal