Mount Elgon National Reserve

Mount Elgon is a large, extinct volcano and was formed during the volcanic eruptions that created the Great Rift Valley. The mountain makes a natural border between Kenya and Uganda. Reaching a height of 4,320 meters and extending over 100 km in diameter, Mount Elgon is the largest, although not the highest of Kenya's mountains. The park is known as one of Kenya's most beautiful parks.

On the Kenyan side of the border, 340 square km of the mountain was opened 1968 as a national park, preserving a wide range of natural vegetation in an otherwise intensively cultivated area.
There are a wide variety of walking trails and mountain climbing opportunities. Park guides accompany visitors on the hike (no technical skills required) up Mount Elgon and the peak Koitobos at 4,200m, which is the highest peak on the Kenya side of the park. An exceptionally beautiful experience with a landscape of giant Groundsels and giant Lobelias. There are four rivers - Nzoia, Suam, Kerio and Turkwell - which flow into Lake Turkana. Fishing is allowed in the Suam River. Visitors can also observe animals like elephant (an estimated 400 elephants are present in the park), buffalo, leopard, the protected black and white colobus, blue monkey, giant forest hog, red forest duiker, waterbuck and antelope. While there are over 240 species of birds for the ornithologists, including the rare forest francolin.

Another attraction for visitors is the four explorable caves Kitum, Makingeni, Chepnyalil and Ngwarisha. Kitum, meaning place of ceremonies in Masai, is the largest of the caves and extends 200m horizontally into the mountain. The minerals contained in the rocks of the caves are vital to the well being of cattle and other grazing animals. Every night, long lines of elephants enter the caves to feed on the salt rich deposits. This has led the animals to be dubbed "underground elephants."