Ayubia National Park is a small national park in the Murree hills. The initial area of the park was 1684 ha, expanded through a northern extension in 1998 to make a total of 3312 ha. The park supports one of the best remaining examples of moist Himalayan temperate forest in Pakistan and is surrounded by seven major villages and three small towns (Nathiagali, Ayubia and Khanspur). The national park consists entirely of reserve forests, which spill out of the park area on the west and south sides. The scenery is superb with huge pine forests covering the hills and providing shelter to the larger and smaller mammals. Ayubia National Park is a major recreation area visited by large numbers of local tourists, mostly from Islamabad and Abottabad. No official figures are available, but local estimates suggest that there are about 100,000 visitors per year.