Semuliki National Park
PARK AT A GLANCESize: 220km² with an altitude of 670-760m above sea level. Semuliki Forest Reserve was created in 1932 and upgraded to national park status in 1993. It is the only tract of true lowland tropical forest in East Africa, hosting 441 recorded bird species and 53 mammals.Large areas of this low-lying park may […]
Queen Elizabeth National Park
PARK AT A GLANCESize: 1,978km² Queen Elizabeth spans the equator line; monuments on either side of the road mark the exact spot where it crosses latitude 00. The park was founded in 1952 as Kazinga National Park and renamed two years later to commemorate a visit by Queen Elizabeth II. The park is home to […]
Murchison Falls National Park
PARK AT A GLANCESize: 3,840km2 Murchison Falls became one of Uganda’s first national parks in 1952At Murchison Falls, the Nile squeezes through an 8m wide gorge and plunges with a thunderous roar into the “Devil’s Cauldron”, creating a trademark rainbow The northern section of the park contains savanna and borassus palms, acacia trees, and riverine […]
Mount Elgon National Park
PARK AT A GLANCESize: 1,121km² This extinct volcano is one of Uganda’s oldest physical features, first erupting around 24 million years ago.Mt Elgon was once Africa’s highest mountain, far exceeding Kilimanjaro’s current 5,895m. Millennia of erosion have reduced its height to 4,321m, relegating it to the 4th highest peak in East Africa and 8th on […]
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
PARK AT A GLANCESize: 33.7km2, making it Uganda’s smallest National Park. The park takes its name from “Gahinga” – the local word for the piles of volcanic stones cleared from farmland at the foot of the volcanoes. The British administration declared the area a game sanctuary in 1930; it was gazetted as a National Park […]
Lake Mburo National Park
PARK AT A GLANCESize: 370km2Altitude: 1,220m – 1,828m above sea level Wetland habitats comprise 20% of the park’s surface The parks’ precarious past has seen wildlife virtually eliminated several times: firstly, in various attempts to rid the region of tsetse flies, then to make way for ranches, and finally as a result of subsistence poaching. […]
Kidepo Valley National Park
PARK AT A GLANCESize: 1,442km2The park’s altitude ranges between 914m and 2,750m above sea level. The park contains two rivers – Kidepo and Narus – which disappear in the dry season, leaving just pools for the wildlife. The local communities around the park include pastoral Karamojong people, similar to the Maasai of Kenya, and the […]
Kibale National Park
PARK AT A GLANCESize: 795km2 Kibale is highest at the park’s northern tip, which stands 1,590m above sea level. The lowest point is 1,100m on the floor of the Albertine Rift Valley to the south. 351 tree species have been recorded in the park, some rise to over 55m and are over 200 years old. […]
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
PARK AT A GLANCESize: 321km2Altitude: 1,160m – 2,607m above sea level. Bwindi was gazetted as a National Park in 1991 and declared a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in1994. The Mubare gorilla group was the first to become available for tourism in Uganda in April 1993. Nine groups are now habituated for tourism, and one […]
Rwenzori Mountains National Park
PARK AT A GLANCESize: 996km2 The Park was gazetted in 1991 and was recognized as a World Heritage site in 1994 and Ramsar site in 2008.Highest point: 5,109m above sea level on Mt Stanley’s Margherita Peak. Mt. Stanley is bisected by the border with DR Congo. The Rwenzori is not volcanic like East Africa’s other […]