Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located in the south western part of Uganda and the park covers about 33.7 square kilo meters at high altitude range. It is about 10 km south of Kisoro and also boarded by the virunga ranges and the virunga national park in the Drc and the volcanoes national park in Rwanda to the south.

Mgahinga national park covers the forest northern slopes of the virunga volcanoes with the 3 volcanoes of Muhavura at a height of 4127 M, Mount Gahinga at 3474 and mount sabinyo at 3645 m.  Mgahinga National Park also lies between an altitude of 2227 m to 4127 m and the 3 virunga conservation area covers 434 square kilometers

The park is home to about 76 mammals such as elephants, Buffalos, giant forest hog, bushbucks and the rare cats such as the leopard, hyena’s duikers and a number of butter flies

It’s also home to the mountain gorillas and the golden monkeys that have become an interesting primate species to tourists

The birds in the park are about 76 different bird species have been recorded and for the virunga conservation area has over 290 bird species.

How to get to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Mgahinga National Park can be accessed both by air and road transport

A drive from Kampala to Mgahinga is 9 to 10 hours

If you wish to drive a short distance we recommend a drive from Kigali which is 6 hours.

It also takes us a distance of 14 km from Kisoro to the park entrance at Ntebeko

Best time to visit Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

The park can be visited throughout the year but the year but the best time is during the dry season from June to August as well as December to January

The park experiences 2 rainy seasons that is between March to May & September to November. 

Activities in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park 

Gorilla Tracking Experience

The activity is a memorable experience on your visit to Uganda it all starts in the morning by 7:00 am so that 8:00 am finds you at Ntebeko gate and then to the parks information center for briefing by the park ranger and then embark on the gorilla tracking experience which will take approximately 2- 4 hours tracking / walking and tracking the gorilla’s amidst a serenity of nature in the jungle. This also depends on the location of the gorillas because sometimes they move deep into the jungle in search for food. On reaching the gorillas we are only allowed to observe them for 1 hour and this makes the end of our gorilla experience. We then walk back to the information center to be awarded our tracking certificates.

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park has one habituated gorilla family (Nyakagezi) with 14 gorillas and while tracking the gorilla we walk into the forest, hike some steep slopes and across some valleys on this amazing gorilla tracking experience.

Golden Monkey Tracking

Just like gorilla tracking Golden Monkey Tracking is also an interesting activity to engage in while on your visit to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Golden monkey can either be done both in the morning and afternoon, and it happens to be the only park with the highest number of golden monkeys.

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is home to 6 habituated golden monkey families and we shall get to observe them just like the gorillas.

Bird Watching

The park is also a good biding haven with 79 common birds recorded sofar with in the park. For the Virunga Conservation Area as a whole, over 295 species in the Virungas are endemic to the Albertine Rift Afromontane region representing 59% of the total of known endemic species.

Batwa Cultural Encounter / Trial

At the foot of the virunga forest amidst the dense forest was home to the batwa people sometimes called pygmies’. They are famously known for being hunters, warriors and gatherers. They are believed to have lived under the trees in the dense forest.

As centuries passed by the area was gazetted into Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, this saw the batwa being evicted from the dense forest of Mgahinga. And while on this encounter / trial we shall get to learn the batwa ancient ways of living when they still lived in the forest.

Hunting skills, the kind of plants they used to eat and thing they used, cultural performances and visit to the sacred Ngarama Cave that used to be home to their ancient kings.

Mountain Climbing / Virunga Volcanoes

This hiking experience is so adventurous since we shall view a number of attraction as we ascend to the top of the peaks while you hike the trinity volcanoes. We consider a full day if one chooses to hike one of the 3 volcanoes.

Mount Muhavura (4127 Meters)

The muhavura can be seen from any point while in Kisoro district, the mountain being cone shaped offers serene scenic views hence also attracting to climb. If one picks on to climb Mt. Muhavura we shall go through the rocky surface which is also covered by shrubs and short grass.

It’s astonishing while at the top of the peak, it offers you scenic views of the Virunga volcanoes , Lake Edward in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the Peaks of the Mountains of the Moon.

It will take us about 8 hours (12 km) to hike the Muhavura Mountain.

Mount Sabinyo (3,645 Meters)

It’s also known as the “old man’s teeth” and it also happens to be the most challenging to climb among the 3 volcanoes and this is because of its mushy vegetation. This involves climbing up along the ridges with steep drops into the gorges of Uganda and Rwanda.  Sabinyo gives you an opportunity to stand in 3 countries without actually moving a step that is Uganda, Rwanda and DRC (Congo) this experience is sometimes called the trinity scenic view.

The hike takes about 8 hours covering 14 km

Mount. Gahinga (3474 Meters)

It’s the third volcanoe and it covers 8 km that are hiked in about 6 hours through the bamboo forest to reach the top and here you find swamps and stone piles. Gahinga is quite bigger but it’s over shadowed by mount Mahavura.

Canoeing at Lake Mutanda

Lake Mutanda is a small freshwater lake in Uganda that is located in the Kisoro District in southwestern Uganda. It is approximately 20 km north of the town Kisoro and nestled in the foothills of the Virunga Mountain Range, at an altitude of 1800 metres

On your visit to Mgahinga a boat ride on a canoe is also adventurous with scenic views of the communities and the land scape around Lake Mutanda. You will be able to see some water birds around the shores of the lake.

Nature Walks/ Hiking

As we engage in nature walks, we may either have them inside or outside the park. The park nature walks are always in company of a park ranger. Here at the edges of Mgahinga and the surrounding communities, through the bamboo forests, Rugezi swamp giving you sight of the communities, Lake Mutanda and sighting a number of birds while on the walk.

The park has a number of accommodation ranging from Budget, Midrange and Luxury lodges that give us a warm welcome.

Gahinga Rest Camp, Nkuringo Safari Lodge, Virunga Hotel, Travelers Rest

LaKe Mutanda Resort, Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge, Chameleon Hill Lodge

Mucha Hotel & Guest House

Sample Trips for Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

 4 Days Gorilla Tracing and Volcanoe Hiking

 3 Day Mgahinga Gorilla Tracking Experience