Despite its small size, Aberdare National Park presents a completely different safari experience from Kenya’s more celebrated savannah reserves, like the Masai Mara. Its unique wildlife, stunning scenery, cool climate and excellent year-round game viewing opportunities make it a distinct highland escape and also the best place to appreciate mother nature.
Located in Nyandarua and Nyeri, this park boasts awe-inspiring mountain peaks, steep forested ravines, open moorland, rivers, and thundering waterfalls. It spans 767 square kilometers east of the East African Rift Valley in the Aberdare Mountain Range, at elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 meters.
Established in 1950, Aberdare National Park protects the mountain range’s vital ecosystem and forms a portion of the Great Rift Valley’s eastern rim in central Kenya.
What is Aberdare National Park Famous For?
The Aberdares is an important water catchment area that feeds two of Kenya’s largest rivers, the Tana and Athi Rivers. Besides the natural beauty, it is home to Treetops Hotel, a rustic game-viewing lodge where Princess Elizabeth learned she had become Queen of the United Kingdom in 1952 after her father’s death (King George VI).
Why should I include Aberdare National Park in my Kenya Safari itinerary?
Aberdare National Park offers a unique blend of diversity, exclusivity, historical significance, and low visitor numbers, all of which ensure a more intimate, uninterrupted safari experience, making it a great destination for first-time visitors and seasoned travelers alike.
Aberdare National Park Safari Highlights
- Visitors can enjoy excellent game viewing particularly in the salient area – the eastern forested section.
- Unique lodges, including the iconic Treetops Lodge, which has been popular with tourists on safari in Kenya.
- Explore the Kimathi or Mau Mau hideout caves where freedom fighters Dedan Kimathi and Field Marshal Muthoni wa Kirima led the 1950s uprising against British colonial rule.
- Unique and spectacular landscapes featuring dramatic waterfalls plunging down steep ravines, including Karuru Waterfall, Chania Falls, and Gura Falls, as well as Queen’s Cave and Kereita Cave.
- Guided forest walk and hiking
- High-quality bird-watching opportunities with a rich variety of birdlife
- Photographic safaris
Wildlife in Aberdare National Park
Aberdare National Park is one of the best places in East Africa to spot the elusive bongo antelope, which lives in the bamboo forests. Visitors can also spot the Big Five: elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion, and leopard.
Other wildlife includes the melanistic (black) serval and leopard, black rhinos, eland, and the elusive giant forest hog. Primates such as Sykes’s monkey, black-and-white colobus, and olive baboons are commonly seen.
Avid birders have more than 250 species to look out for, including the endangered Aberdare cisticola, Jackson’s francolin, sunbird, and plover. The abundance of reptiles and insects completes the picture.
Best Time to visit Aberdare National Park
The best time to visit Aberdare National Park for safari is during the drier months from June to September and December to February when hiking trails are more accessible and wildlife is easier to spot. June to September is the most rewarding with the best wildlife viewing opportunities.
While Aberdare National Park experiences heavy rainfall between March and May and in October, the park still offers excellent wildlife viewing throughout the year.
Getting to Aberdare National Park
Aberdare National Park is located about 100 km north of Nairobi, roughly a 3–4 hour drive accessible via tarmac roads from Nairobi through Nyeri or Naivasha. 4×4 vehicles are highly recommended.
Daily flights are available from Wilson Airport (WIL) in Nairobi, 6 km/4 mi south of the city, to nearby airstrips at Mweiga or Nanyuki.
Accommodation in Aberdare National Park
Accommodations in Aberdare National Park are moderately priced, set in superb locations with abundant wildlife. They range from classic, four-star lodge establishments to more modest accommodations. While there is no luxury accommodation in the park, proximity to Nairobi makes it an overall value-for-money safari experience.
- The Ark Lodge is an iconic, quirky facility set in the heart of the park, 6 miles from the Wandare Gate. It overlooks a floodlit waterhole and salt lick, which allows for excellent wildlife viewing from the comfort of the lounges and multi-level decks.
- Treetops Lodge is a world-renowned rustic tree house set 0.5 miles from Treetop Gate. It is famous for being the place where the then-Princess Elizabeth ascended to the British throne in 1952.
- Aberdare Country Club: Nestled just outside the park, 6 miles from Treetop Gate, the Aberdare Country Club is a captivating former colonial homestead and national heritage site, offering beautiful accommodation with the charm of a relaxed family residence.
Sample Trips
