Mount Elgon National Park

The national park straddles the Western border of Kenya and Uganda. Located in the Trans-Nzoia District of Rift Valley Province, it covers an area of 169km2.

Mt. Elgon National Park is located on the North Eastern side of the mountain, which is also Kenya's second highest mountain. It lies right on the Ugandan border. Uganda has participated in protecting the side of the mountain which lies in Uganda.

Wildlife and Vegetation
Elgon's slopes support a rich variety of vegetation ranging from Montane Forest to high open moorland studded with the giant lobelia and groundsel plants.

Elephants and buffalo can be found on the lower slopes. The park is also home to a variety of small antelope and forest monkeys, including the Black-and-white Colobus and Blue Monkey. Over 300 birds can also be found in the area, including the endangered Lammergeier, African Goshawk, and Baglafecht Weaver.

Attractions
Together with the fauna and flora, the park is endowed with variety and breathtaking scenery of 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.

The breathtaking natural beauty of the park can be best appreciated from the Endebess Bluff where one gets 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

 Bird watching in the thick scrub, forests and near River Chabonet