Barpeta Road is a city and a municipal board in Barpeta district in the state of Assam, India. It is one of the most important business places of Assam. The town is 165 feet (50 meters) above the sea level and lies beside National Highway 31. The town is at a distance of 135 kilometers by road from Guwahati, the main city of the northeast India. By railway, the distance is 113 kilometers. The distance can be covered in two to three hours depending on the service availed. The nearest airport is Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati, which is also at a distance of 135 kilometers. The town is well connected through regular buses and trains to all the part of the country. Direct train service connects the town to Trivandrum, Ernakulam, Bangalore, Chennai (In the South India) Mumbai, Barmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner (In the West India), New Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow (In the Central India) and Kolkata, Puri, Dibrugarh (In the East India). The town is at a distance of 21 kilometers from the district headquarter of Barpeta district. The town is also the gateway to Manas National Park. The town is one of the most important place of Western Assam and is an ideal place for trade and commerce. The town is also referred to be the commercial capital of Western Assam. Declared as a national park in 1990, Manas National Park is located at Himalayan foothills where its having a unique biodiversity and scenic landscapes. It is one of the first reserves included in the tiger reserve network under project tiger in 1973. Covering an area of 2837 km2. Manas river flows through the park with unique blending of dense jungles and grass-land, harbours the largest number of protected species of India including tiger, leopard, civet, elephants, buffalo, pygmy hog, golden langoor, Assam roof turtle, and the Bengal florican. This park is included as a site of international importance under UNESCO's world heritage convention in 1988 as well as Biosphere Reserve in 1989. There are as many as 60 species of mammals, 312 birds, 42 reptiles, 7 amphibians, 54 fishes and more than 100 species of insects. The park has the unique feature of having most number of endangered species found in India. The place can be reached by road from Barpeta Road (20 km) connecting National highway No-31 that connects rest of India. The forest lodges are situated inside the park at Mathanguri which lies at a distance of 40 km from Barpeta Road. Visitors are to obtain necessary permission for entry into park at the office of Field Director Manas Tiger Reserve, Barpeta Road. The best time to visit the park is from November to April.