Hiking in Kenya

6 places

Nakuru County

Naivasha

A freshwater lake in the eastern arm of the Rift Valley and a Ramsar wetland of international importance, with Hell's Gate National Park to its south.

• lakes
• hiking
• wildlife
• family

Kenyan highlands, east of the Rift Valley

Mount Kenya

Africa's second-highest peak at 5,199 m, an extinct volcano about 193 km north-east of Nairobi. Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, first inscribed in 1997.

• hiking
• wildlife
• photography

Central Kenyan highlands

Aberdare National Park

A national park of about 766 km² in the Aberdare (Nyandarua) mountains, gazetted in 1950 and managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service, with moorland, bamboo forest and forested ravines.

• wildlife
• safari
• hiking
• photography

Lake Victoria catchment

Kakamega Forest

Kenya's only remnant of the tropical rainforest that once stretched across central Africa — a mid-altitude rainforest that is the easternmost outlier of the Congo Basin forests.

• wildlife
• hiking
• photography

Kwale County

Shimba Hills National Reserve

A national reserve of 192.5 km² in Kwale County, about 30 km south-west of Mombasa, where rolling hills meet one of Kenya's largest remaining coastal rainforests. It has been protected since 1903.

• wildlife
• hiking
• family
• photography

Western Kenya, on the Uganda border

Mount Elgon National Park

A mountain national park in western Kenya, gazetted on 5 April 1968, reached through Kitale town. Its highest point, Koitoboss Peak, rises to 4,222 metres.

• hiking
• wildlife
• photography

Guides

• Lake Naivasha and Hell's Gate

  A Rift Valley lake that is a Ramsar wetland, and Hell's Gate National Park next door — what sources confirm.

• Mount Kenya

  Africa's second-highest mountain: its forests, moorlands and glaciers, the Lewa extension of the World Heritage Site, and what to plan.

• Aberdare National Park: moorland, forest and rare wildlife

  Kenya's highland park of moorland and bamboo forest: elephants, black rhinos, bongo, over 250 bird species, trout fishing and camping.

• Kakamega Forest: Kenya's rainforest

  Kenya's only tropical rainforest remnant: hundreds of bird species, forest monkeys, butterflies and walking trails.

• Shimba Hills: rainforest and sable antelope near the coast

  A green, hilly reserve 30 km from Mombasa — Kenya's last breeding sable antelope, Sheldrick Falls and coastal rainforest.

• Mount Elgon: caves, salt-mining elephants and moorland

  A mountain park on the Uganda border — Kitum Cave, Koitoboss Peak, and reaching it from Kitale.