Palani Hills National Park - Kodaikanal

Kodaikanal is near the center of the proposed 736.87 Sq Km Palani Hills National Park

The Palani Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park is a proposed Protected area in Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu State South India. The Park will be an upgrade and expansion of the Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary being established in 2008. Area is 736.87 Km'. The park includes about 36% of the 2,068 Sq. Km in the Palani Hills. The park is located between Latitude 10'7' - 10'28' N and Longitude 77'16' - 77'46' E. Central location 10'17.5'N, 77'31'E is 0.7 Km west of the Aeon centre of Cosmology and 7.4 Km N X NE of Kodaikanal.

The Palani Hills are formed of pre-Cambrian gneisses, charnockites and schists; they are among the oldest mountain ranges in India. The Park is an eastward extension of the Western Ghats hills formed by separation of the India-Madagascar-Seychelles blocks of East Gondwana in the Early Cretaceous period about 120 million years ago.

It is surrounded to the north, east and south by the Deccan Plateau formed later in the massive Deccan Traps eruption 65 million years ago.

The Palani hills are most accentuated towards the west, ranging from 1,800 m to 2,553 m (5,906 ft - 8,376 ft). Prominent peaks are: Vandaravu 2,553 m (8,376 ft), Vembadi Shola 2,505 m (8,219 ft), Gundar 2,461 m (8,219 ft), Karunmakadu 2,451 m (8,041 ft), Sandana Parai 2,404 m (7,887 ft) Venkombu 2,327 m (7,635 ft), Tina Vardi 2,270 m (7,448 ft), Perumalai 2,236 m (7,336 ft) and Velori Malai 2,229 m (7,313 ft), The hill station of Kodaikanal stands in a 2,195 m (7,202 ft) high basin at the southern edge of the central part. The eastern end of the park is made of hills 1000-1500 m (3,281 ft - 4,921 ft) high.[12] The Tamil Nadu Department of Geology and Mining has completed detailed Geo-Technical Studies of the Palani Hills determining moderate to high landslide danger in much of the area.

There are many waterfalls throughout the Park which are popular tourist attractions. Some of the prominent falls associated with the park are: Anju Veedu (27 Km from Kodaikanal), Bamen, Bear Shola (2 Km from Kodaikanal), Fairy (5 Km from Kodaikanal), Glen, Neptune rapids, Pambar (also called Vatakanal) (4 Km from Kodaikanal), Silver Cascade (55 m (180 ft) high, 8 Km from Kodaikanal), Skamba (8 Km from Kodaikanal), Snake and Thalaiyar Falls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palni_Hills_National_Park