Valparai is a Taluk and hill station in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is located 3,500 feet (1,100 m) above sea level on the Anaimalai Hills range of the Western Ghats, at a distance of 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Coimbatore and 65 kilometres (40 mi) from Pollachi. There are 40 hairpin bends on the way up to Valparai from Azhiyar.

Earliest records of this area are from the year 1846 when Ramasamy Mudaliyar started coffee plantation here. In 1864, the Karnatic Coffee Company began their coffee plantation here but they could not make it profitable, hence they sold part of their land. In 1875, the roads and guest houses were built by soldiers for the visit of England’s Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. Soldiers were posted here and horses and elephants were used for this purpose.

• Wintil deforested the area and planted tea and coffee.
• He was assisted by Carwer Marsh, an experienced planter for a salary of 250 rupees.
• Thekkady is located about 257 km (160 mi) from Trivandrum, 114 km from Madurai City and Madurai Airport, 145 km from Cochin International Airport and 114 km from Kottayam railway station.

• Valparai is a mid-elevation hill station (Ootacamund is considerably higher). The tea plantations are surrounded by evergreen forest.
• The region is also a rich elephant tract and is known to have many leopards.
• The area is also rich in birds, including the great hornbill.
• Valparai receives among the highest rainfall in the region during the monsoons (around June).
• The Valparai range is also habitat to the Nilgiri tahr, an endemic wild ungulate.