Uganda National Parks

It's easy to get overwhelmed by Uganda's 10 national parks, its status as one of Africa’s most popular Tourist destinations (with around 1,050 species—50% of those on the continent and 11% in the world), its 18 primate species and its impressive panoply of outdoor activities, including fishing, mountaineering, rafting, community-based ecotourism, cultural tourism and more.

1. Queen Elizabeth National Park

Located in the southwest about 400 km from Kampala, Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda's second-largest and most popular conservation area.The park's popularity is principally due to its breathtaking biodiversity.

2. Murchison Falls National Park

The sprawling 3,840 square kilometers of Murchison Falls National Park, found 300-plus kilometers northwest of Kampala, make it Uganda's largest protected natural area. It is also the oldest, originally established in 1952. Famous as the location of Murchison Falls—the thunderous cataract where the Nile River squeezes through a six-meter gap and then plunges 43 meters

3. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Preserved on the edge of the Rift Valley in southwest Uganda, Bwindi was established in 1991.Although small—just 321 square kilometers—Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is of crucial importance as home to the world's largest population of critically endangered mountain gorillas

4. Kidepo Valley National Park

The semi-arid valleys and savanna of Uganda's far north is the setting of Kidepo Valley National Park, the country's most isolated national park and home to some of Africa's most stunning wilderness.The park's 1,442 square kilometers are divided across two river valleys, the Kidepo and the Narus.

5. Kibale National Park

A medium-size park (795 square kilometers) contiguous with Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kibale is a rare expanse containing both lowland and mountain forests. Kibale is especially popular with visitors seeking out its habituated chimpanzees

6. Lake Mburo National Park

Covering just 370 square kilometres of wetlands and woodlands. Once a controlled hunting area and then a game reserve, it became Uganda's smallest savanna national park in 1983. It is now the protected home of 350 bird species and 69 animal species

7. Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Rwenzori Mountains National Park was gazetted in 1991 and recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site three years later, in light of its mountain flora biodiversity. Its 996 square kilometres in western Uganda are flush against the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo

8. Semuliki National Park

Semuliki National Park is the country's newest park, which was confirmed in 1993. Semuliki sits in a wide, flat valley to the west of the Rwenzori Mountains, right along the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

9. Mount Elgon National Park

At 4,321 meters, Mount Elgon is now the eighth tallest in Africa, with a base that is still the largest in the world. Located in eastern Uganda on the border with Kenya, Mount Elgon National Park's 1,279 square kilometers fall across both countries, though most (1,121 square kilometers) are in Uganda.

10. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

At a mere 33.7 square kilometers, Mgahinga is Uganda's smallest national park, pushed up against the international border in the far southwest. This high-elevation park was established primarily to protect freedom of movement by the area's endangered, forest-dwelling Mountain Gorillas and Golden Monkeys.