The Forest Rest House (FRH) at Mahesh Khan is located near Bhowali on the Ramgarh-Mukhteshwar Road and is actually 5 kms inside a forested motorable road. On your way you will be surprised to find Shyamkhet Tea Gardens!

This place is hardly ever mentioned in Tourists books or guided by the Locals yet those who know how to travel the offbeat track or take the road less traveled find their way to this little forest heaven.
Mahesh Khan’s Forest Rest House was originally a bungalow built in the year 1911 and is still a modest looking structure still holding quiet well. The ridge where the Rest House is located is called ‘Tagore Top’ as this is the same place which was visited by Rabindranath Tagore in the year 1914 (a few months after the death of his wife) with his ailing daughter Renuka and son Samindranath and got inspired to write the globally acclaimed ‘Geetanjali’. And you can see the proof of his stay here in one othe old log books that were used for visitors. Interestingly, in was here in the forests of Mahesh Khan, Nainital thatJim Corbett killed his first ever Man-Eater Tiger. Today too there is an abundance of wildlife in the thick forest Jungle surrounding the Forest Guest House and includes a regular spotting of Deer, Sambhar, Black Bear and even leopards along with numerous species of Birds. There are plenty of fresh water streams during the monsoons and that welcomes a lot of wildlife too.
No wonder then the Mahesh Khan is soon gaining popularity and attracts Photographers and Wildlife enthusiasts every year. After Kilbury and Pangot, Mahesh Khan is definitely making its marks on wildlife & adventure especially for an interesting ‘Bird watching’ experience. Infact Mahesh Khan has tie ups with WWF, Wildlife Institute of India, Uttarakhand Council for Science and Technology, Jungle Lore Bird Lodge, Nature Science Initiative among other NGO’s and government enterprises and aims to expand the Bird-watching tourism.

For the past few years, the Eco-Tourism wing of the Forest Department of Uttarakhand conducts regular camps with an aim to generate awareness about birds amongst forest personnel and rural tourism practitioners and to develop bird watching skills.