Rising above the plains of Chamarajanagar, the Biligiriranga Hills form a tiger reserve where the Eastern and Western Ghats meet, home to elephants, tigers and many birds. A temple to Biligiri Rangaswamy, a form of Vishnu, stands on a cliff at the top, and the Soliga tribal people live in the forests below.

In the forests of Chamarajanagar near the Tamil Nadu border, the Male Mahadeshwara temple honours a 15th-century saint revered as a form of Shiva. It is one of the most important pilgrim centres in southern Karnataka, especially during Shivaratri and Deepavali, when crowds trek through the hills.

Bandipur, in Chamarajanagar district, was once the private hunting reserve of the Mysore maharajas and became one of India's first tiger reserves under Project Tiger in 1973. Together with Nagarhole, Mudumalai and Wayanad it forms the largest protected forest block in southern India, a stronghold for elephants, tigers, leopards, gaur and dhole. Jeep and bus safaris run morning and evening from the main gate on the Mysuru-Ooty highway. Night traffic on that road through the park is banned to protect wildlife. The dry season from March to May gives the best sightings, though the forest is greenest just after the rains.

A hill within Bandipur National Park crowned with a 14th-century temple to Krishna as Venugopala, Gopalaswamy Betta is often wrapped in mist, giving it the name Himavad. From the top there are views over the forests of Bandipur, and elephants are often seen on the slopes.