Mount Elgon National Park

Fast Facts

Location:Located on the border of Uganda and Kenya, 140 km northeast of Lake Victoria, and 470 km away from Nairobi.
Attraction Type: National Park.
Significance: Wonderful national park known for its vast collection of diverse flora and fauna and also for its awesome natural beauty, caves and slopes.
Best time to Visit: December to March.
How to Reach: Form Nairobi — the capital of Kenya, take Tarmac road to Kitale and then reach at the Chorlim Gate.
Nearest Airport: JKIA Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO).

It is exactly the spot where beauty meets with fantasy. With unspoiled wet mountain forest and the fantasy of alpine moorlands — Mount Elgon National Park is a treat for the travelers. Named after an extinct volcano Mount Elgon, this national park, bisected by the border of Uganda and Kenya, is the fourth largest national park in Uganda. Known for its vast collection of diverse flora and fauna that includes over 200 elephants, leopards, blue monkeys, buffalo, colobus, waterbucks, and a number of antelope species, Mount Elgon National Park is equally popular for its awesome natural beauty, wonderful caves and slopes.

Located on the border of Uganda and Kenya, 140 km northeast of Lake Victoria, and 470 km away from Nairobi, Mount Elgon National Park, also locally known as Masaba, was established in the year 1968. Mount Elgon is the fourth highest mountain in Eastern Africa and an extinct volcano with crater covering more than 40 km at the top of the mountain, surrounded by a number of rugged peaks. The spectacular waterfalls on the rugged slopes along with some wonderful caves, hot springs and mountain vegetation add some more color to its attraction. No matter, whether you just want to explore the beauty of the park, or want to indulge yourself into some adventure activities, Mount Elgon National Park can thrill you in both ways.

Things to Do

You can explore Mount Elgon National Park in as many ways as you wish. There are four main gateways to the park viz. Chorlim main gate, Kiptogot, Kassawai and Kimothon. You need a vehicle to enter into the park. For all hikes, a ranger must accompany you. While exploring Mount Elgon National Park, you will see over 200 wildlife animals and more than 240 species of birds. The breathtaking scenery of wonderful cliffs, gorges, waterfalls, hot springs, calderas and mountain peaks are the other attractions here.

The rich collection of flora and fauna in Mount Elgon National Park include several endemic plant species like Giant lobelia and groundsels and a wide range of wildlife such as Blue Monkey, Black and White Colobus Monkey etc.

Mount Elgon National Park is also quite popular among the bird watchers as one can find a varied species of birds here including Golden Winged and Tacazze sunbirds, Black and White Casqued, Ross's and Hartlaubs Turacos and Crowned Hornbills etc.

One of the major attractions of this national park is surely the series of four caves viz. Kitum, Chepnyalil, Makingeni and Ngwarisha. The caves are also the places where you can spot a number of elephants, because, these are the favorite gathering places for them.

If you are the one who loves adventure, then how can you avoid the temptation of climbing and walking opportunities here? A journey to Koitobos at an altitude of 4,200 meter could be a really memorable one. On your way, you also have the opportunity to see a number of wonderful hot springs.

Accommodation

The best way to enjoy the essence of Mount Elgon National Park is to go for camping. There are several campsites offered in this national park where tourists can spend their nights amidst the true wilderness. Rongai Campsite, Nyati Campsite, Chorlim Campsite etc. are the ones where you can spend your nights. Besides these, you will also find a number of lodges, which can offer you fine accommodation options. Mt. Elgon Lodge is one of the known names, located just 0.5 km outside the park gate.