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Queen Elizabeth National Park
Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda’s most visited savannah park and one of the most biologically diverse protected areas on the continent. Gazetted in 1952 and named after Queen Elizabeth II, the park covers roughly 1,978 square kilometers across the floor of the western Rift Valley, stretching from the Rwenzori Mountains in the north to the Ishasha plains bordering Congo’s Virunga National Park in the south. Few parks in Africa pack in as much variety in one place: open savannah, dense forest, wetlands, volcanic crater lakes, and a channel teeming with wildlife, all within a single circuit. Murchison Falls Park Safari builds Queen Elizabeth into many of our Uganda itineraries, pairing it with Murchison Falls, Kibale Forest, or gorilla trekking in the southwest to create a complete safari experience.
Geography and Landscape
The park sits between Lake Edward and Lake George, joined by the 32-kilometer Kazinga Channel, and is scattered with over 70 volcanic explosion craters formed by ancient eruptions, many now filled with mineral-rich crater lakes. The Katwe crater area, in particular, has been mined for salt for centuries by local communities, and a visit to the Katwe Salt Lake villages offers a rare look at a traditional industry still active today. To the north, the Kyambura Gorge cuts a green scar through the savannah, sheltering a pocket of tropical forest and its own resident chimpanzee community. The Rwenzori Mountains, Africa’s fabled “Mountains of the Moon,” provide a dramatic snow-capped backdrop on clear days.
Wildlife
Queen Elizabeth is home to over 95 mammal species, more than any other park in Uganda, along with more than 600 recorded bird species, making it one of the top birding destinations in Africa. The Kasenyi Plains and Ishasha sector hold healthy populations of lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, and Uganda kob, while hippos are found in extraordinary numbers along the Kazinga Channel, one of the densest concentrations in Africa. Nile crocodiles bask along the channel’s banks, and the park’s forest patches shelter chimpanzees, along with eleven other primate species. Birders can expect to see African fish eagles, pelicans, kingfishers, martial eagles, and, with luck, the elusive shoebill stork in the wetland fringes.
Top Activities
Game Drives on the Kasenyi Plains and Ishasha Sector
Game drives are the heart of a Queen Elizabeth safari. The Kasenyi Plains, close to the Kazinga Channel, offer open grassland ideal for spotting lion prides, buffalo herds, and the park’s famous kob leks, where males gather to display for females each morning. Further south, the Ishasha sector rewards travelers with quieter game drives and a genuine sense of wilderness. Morning drives give the best chance of catching predators active before the day heats up, while evening drives often reveal nocturnal species beginning to stir.
Kazinga Channel Boat Cruise
A boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel is the park’s signature experience and one of the best wildlife-viewing activities in Uganda. The two-hour cruise brings you within meters of hundreds of hippos and basking crocodiles, elephants and buffalo coming down to drink at the water’s edge, and a constant procession of waterbirds along the shoreline. Because the channel concentrates so much wildlife into a narrow stretch of water, it consistently delivers some of the most reliable sightings in the entire park.
Tree-Climbing Lions of Ishasha
The southern Ishasha sector is famous throughout East Africa for lions that climb into the branches of fig trees to rest during the heat of the day, a behavior seen in only a handful of places on the continent. Spotting a lioness draped along a low branch, often with cubs nearby, is one of the most photographed sights in Uganda.
Chimpanzee Tracking in Kyambura Gorge
Known locally as the “Valley of Apes,” Kyambura Gorge is a steep-sided riverine forest tucked into the open savannah, home to a resident community of wild chimpanzees along with black-and-white colobus and red-tailed monkeys. Tracking here typically takes two to three hours and offers a convenient primate experience for travelers who want to see chimpanzees without traveling all the way to Kibale Forest.
Crater Lakes and the Katwe Salt Lake
The Kasenyi-Kikorongo crater field and Katwe Explosion Crater area make for a scenic detour, with viewpoints overlooking mineral lakes in shades of pink and green. At Katwe, local guides lead walking tours explaining the centuries-old tradition of hand-harvesting salt from the crater lake, offering cultural context alongside the park’s natural history.
Birdwatching
With over 600 species recorded, Queen Elizabeth is considered one of Africa’s premier birding destinations. The Maramagambo Forest, the Kazinga Channel shoreline, and the wetlands near Lake Munyanyange are particularly productive, and keen birders can realistically expect to log well over 100 species across a two-day visit.
Best Time to Visit
Queen Elizabeth National Park can be visited year-round. The dry seasons, from December to February and June to September, offer the easiest game viewing conditions and the best access along park roads, since wildlife tends to gather more predictably around water sources. The wetter months, March to May and October to November, bring lush green scenery, fewer vehicles on the tracks, and excellent conditions for birdwatching, though some roads can become harder to navigate after heavy rain.
How to Get There
Queen Elizabeth National Park is typically reached by road as part of a wider Uganda safari circuit, roughly five to six hours from Kampala, and is commonly combined with Kibale Forest to the north for chimpanzee tracking or Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to the south for gorilla trekking. Domestic flights to nearby airstrips, including Kasese and Mweya, are available for travelers who prefer to minimize road transfer time.
Accommodation
Accommodation options range from comfortable mid-range lodges to luxury tented camps, many positioned along the Kazinga Channel or overlooking the open plains for game viewing from the comfort of the property. We tailor your stay to match your preferred comfort level, budget, and the pace of your overall itinerary.
Safaris That Include Queen Elizabeth National Park
Queen Elizabeth features in several of our popular itineraries, including our 5 Days Murchison Falls and Queen Elizabeth Park Safari and our 7 Days Murchison Falls, Kibale Forest and Queen Elizabeth Safari. We can also build a custom itinerary centered entirely on Queen Elizabeth, combining game drives, the Kazinga Channel cruise, and chimpanzee tracking to match your travel dates and interests.
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