Ooty or Udhagamandalam is one of the most popular hill station and is also called as ‘the Queen of Nilgiris’. It is situated at an altitude of 2,240 meters above sea level. Ooty is easily accessible by road, air and train. Coimbatore is the nearest airport and it takes 3-4 hours by car to reach Ooty. By train one can directly reach Ooty from Chennai or else one can take a train from Chennai to Mettupalayam and then can drive down to Ooty from Mettupalayam station. The train journey is very enriching as one can enjoy the scenic beauty of the hill station. Most tourists drive to Ooty from Bangalore which is 284 kms. Ooty Boat House Lake better known as Ooty Lake is one of the most sought after attractions in Ooty. It is about 2 kms in length and is just behind the Main Bus Stand. Tourists enjoy boating in this lake. During the summers boat races and boat pageantries are organized which draws a lot of tourists. In the boat house premised is a deer park, children’s park and toy train. The entire lake is ensnared by a well laidout footpath. At the end of the bus stand is a mini garden. The whole area has been made attractive so that it can draw maximum tourists. The Rose Garden has more that 1000 variety of roses. It is laid on 10 acres of land and is located less than a km from Charing Cross. The Botanical Gardens has rare species of trees like the cork tree, paper bark tree, the monkey puzzle tree (monkeys cannot climb this tree; hence the name), a 20 year old fossilized tree and a wide range of ferns and orchids. Maintained by the Horticulture Depar6tment of the Government of Tamil Nadu, the garden also has a wide variety of plants like imported shrubs, different types of roses and rare flowering plants. The Summer Festival held in the month of May each year attracts a lot of tourists. Glen Morgan, located at a distance of 17 kms from Ooty is an important forest wherein rare species of trees can be seen. To the east of Ooty is the Tiger Hill. This is a favorite picnic spot. Located 25kms from Ooty is the Avalanche. It is one of the hot spots especially for trekkers. There is a dam here called Canada Dam. Dodda Betta, located 08 kms from Ooty is the highest point in the Nilgiri mountain ranges. It is situated at an altitude of 2636 metres above sea level.