Mount Elgon National Park;

The Park is found 140 km North East of Lake Victoria. The park covers an area of 1279 km and its bisected by the border of Kenya and Uganda. The Ugandan part of the park covers 1110 km while the Kenyan part covers 169 km The Kenyan part of the park was in 1968, the Ugandan part in 1992.

Location;

The Park is located on the border of Kenya and Uganda. 140km North East of Lake Victoria. It is uniquely split down the middle by the Kenyan-Ugandan border. Mount Elgon is important water catchments for the Nona River which flows to Lake Victoria and for the Turkwel River

Attractions and Activities;

Together with the fauna and flora, the park has a variety of scenery; this includes cliffs, caves, waterfalls, gorges, mesas, calderas, hot springs, and the mountain peaks. The most popular areas are the four explorable, vast caves where frequent night visitors such as elephants and buffaloes come to lick the natural salt found on the cave walls. Kitum cave, with overhanging crystalline walls, enters 200 m into the side of Mt. Elgon.

At the Endebess bluff there a panoramic view of the areas’ escarpments, gorges, mesas, and rivers. The highest peak of Mt. Elgon on the Kenya side, Koitoboss, measures 13,852 ft (4,155 m), and is easily reached by hikers in about two hours from the road’s end. Activities include;

• Vehicle circuits leading to animal viewing areas, the caves and Koitoboss peak.
• Self-guided walking trails (Ask for the Kitum Cave guide book at the gate)
• Hiking to Endebess Bluff and Koitoboss Peak
• Primate and bird watching
• Cave explorations
• Camping photography

Recent studies have shown that elephants and other mammals are major contributors to the development of this unique scenery.  The animals frequently visit at night to ‘mine’ the natural salt by licking it from the cave walls. The caves are mapped and Kite, Chepnyali, and Mackingeny can be explored by visitors to the park

Access;

By road, there is ample road Network. Mt. Elgon is located 470 kms from Nairobi. Access is via tarmac road to Kitale and then to the Chorlim Gate. Two routes to the gate can be used, either via Endebess or take the tarmac road 11km past Kitale and turn left onto a murram road leading to the gate, Airstrips are at the park head quarters

Accommodation facilities include;

Bandas :    ( Kapkuro Bandas), Campsites (Public: Rongai Campsite; Nyati Campsite; Chorlim Campsite.
Special: Salt lick Campsite), Lodges :    ( Mt. Elgon Lodge, 28 beds. Situated 0.5 km. outside the park gate).Picnic Sites: There is one picnic site at the Elephant platform with no facilities.