City Forest, Ghaziabad

City Forest is Ghaziabad's largest green lung and favourite weekend day-out — a sprawling 175-acre eco-park developed by the Ghaziabad Development Authority on the banks of the Hindon River near Karheda village.

• Conceived as a planned recreational and environmental asset for the fast-growing city, it was greened with around two lakh saplings of neem, bamboo, amla, jamun and arjun, and is organised into nine themed blocks (A to I), each with its own facilities.
• For visitors it packs a lot of variety into one leafy expanse.
• Two lakes — of roughly five and three acres — offer boating; forested nature and cycling trails thread between the blocks; and there is a deer park, a bamboo park, an open gypsy/jeep safari through the woods, horse and camel rides, a children's play zone with a toy train, and adventure activities.
• Birders come for the species along the Hindon riverbank, and families come simply to walk, cycle and picnic in green surroundings that are a welcome contrast to the surrounding NCR sprawl.
• For vegetarian travellers the RDC and Raj Nagar Extension area nearby has reliable pure-veg options — Bikanervala, the South Indian Shree Rathnam, and Haldiram's.