Gangani Gorge

Open: all daylight hours
Entry: no fee, but small charges apply for parking
Locally known as Gangani Danga or Gangani Khola (danga meaning the high ground, khola the open expanse), this is the headline draw. A modest car park and a couple of tea shops mark the rim; from there a flight of steps drops you down to the riverbed, and that's where the place opens up. What looks from above like a single cliff face turns out to be a labyrinth of eroded fins, narrow slot-passages and miniature side canyons, all in shades that run from oxblood to mustard depending on the hour. The Shilabati threads through the bottom (a ribbon in the dry season, a proper river in the monsoon) and you can walk along it for a kilometre or so in either direction without seeing the same view twice.
There are no fences, no marked trails, and almost no warning signs. Wear closed shoes, watch your footing on the loose laterite, and don't try to scramble up the cliff faces, as the rock is far softer than it looks and breaks off in your hand.
The local origin story has the gorge being formed during the wrestling match between Bheem and the demon Bakasura from the Mahabharata, a tale linked to the area's old name Bakdihi (“the place of Bak”). The geological version, involving wind, water, and several thousand monsoons working on a soft, iron-rich substrate, is less colourful but easier to verify.