Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located in south western Uganda. It is perched on the border of Uganda with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
WHERE IS MGAHINGA NATIONAL PARK
Mgahinga National Park is situated in Kisoro District, Virunga Area, Southwestern Uganda. It is the smallest park in the whole of Uganda, spanning on land area of 33.7 sq.km. Mgahinga is one of the 3 parks that is lying within the Virunga Conservation Area. It encompasses 3 of the 8 Virunga Massifs: Sabyinyo, Muhabura and Gahinga volcanoes.
Rising up at an altitude of 2227 to 4127 meters, Mgahinga NP is geographically bordered by the Virunga National Park to the South and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. From Kisoro, Mgahinga is 15 km and Kabale, about 55km.
Getting There
The park can be reached by both road and air.
By Road
You can reach Mgahinga National Park from Kampala, Kigali of Rwanda or Goma of Eastern Congo. The closest town to the park is Kisoro Town.
The Drive from Kampala is through Masaka-Mbarara-Kisoro route to Mgahinga NP, about 9-10 hours’ drive or 4-5 hours’ drive from Kigali via Katuna/Chanika border. When you take a flight, expect to spend 2 hours from Entebbe airport to Kisoro airstrip.
Ntebeko is the only entrance gate open from 07am to 06pm all year round. From Kampala it takes 8-10 hours driving on good tarmac roads up to kabala or Kisoro towns covering about 482 km. From Kisoro towns, dirt road covers 14 km to the park and another route goes along the shorelines of Lake Bunyonyi.
By air, charter scheduled flights depart Entebbe air port or kajjansi air field in Kampala and land in kisoro airstrip. It takes one hour drive from there to the park.
Distance of Mgahinga Park from Kampala city
Mgahinga National Park is lying far in the Southwestern part of Uganda and takes 9-10 hours for one to drive from Kampala city center to the park.
From Kigali
Visitors from Kigali can also connect to Mgahinga Park via Chanika border, 4 to 5 hours’ drive. There is public transport from Kigali Bus Park.