Situated at an altitude of 1,100 feet and covering an area of ​​715 square kilometers, Mount Kenya National Park is one of the best national parks in Kenya. The locals believe that the mountain is the home of their Supreme Being, their creator and provider. Furthermore, it was in this national park that Queen Elizabeth of England first learned of her ascension to the throne from her during a vacation in Kenya.

Established in December 1949, Mount Kenya is home to one of the world’s most magnificent plants that changes with altitude, creating a ring of magnificence around the equatorial mountain. Initially, the reserve was created to protect the large forest vegetation from human encroachment. The park was then established within the boundaries of the reserves and is there to this day. In 1997, the area in and around the park became a UNESCO world heritage site. This mountain is an extinct volcano with three very beautiful peaks, the most famous being Lenana Peak.

Tourists can expect to see a very large and imposing extinct mountain with snow and icy glaciers on the peaks. The beauty of the mountain is in the fact that it is covered with snow, and yet it is located on the equator. The varied vegetation is a spectacle in itself. The sparkling streams of water that seep through the rocks and form clear rivers and icy pools are lovely. They flow down the slopes and form beautiful waterfalls where the rock is hard and the drop is steep. This water is the result of melting glaciers and swamps, and the rivers that flow from this park are a treasure for the farming communities that live below.

The animals in this park are also quite different from those in the savannah. For carnivores here, they have to adapt to hunting animals from rocks and very rough terrain. Vegetarians, on the other hand, are better able to survive in this evergreen national park. The vegetation is made up of up to 11 different species of endemic plants and the virgin nature on which lies the bare rock.

As with most of Kenya’s national parks, accessibility is not an issue. Mount Kenya National Park is accessible via the Nanyuki Airstrip from Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. By road, the park is about 175 kilometers from Nairobi, the capital. The two main routes are via the Nanyuki-Isiolo highway or via the Nyeri-Nanyuki highway through the city of Naru-Moru. However, there is another route through the Embu-Meru highway about 150 kilometers from Nairobi.

Being one of the oldest national parks in the country, there are established hotels, resorts and camping areas within the park and in the surrounding towns that provide affordable accommodation throughout the year.