Hell’s Gate National Park

Expert Reviews (5)

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Expert

Philip Briggs –

Visited: Multiple times

Philip is an acclaimed travel writer and author of many guidebooks, including the Bradt guides to Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.

4 people found this review helpful.

Hike Or Bicycle Through A Valley Full Of Wildlife

Overall rating

4/5

Wildlife:

Bush Vibe:

Scenery:

Birding:

Protecting a long, scenic gorge hemmed in by tall burnished cliffs, this small park near Lake Naivasha stands out as the one place in Kenya where visitors can walk, run or cycle unguided in the presence of an exciting variety of large mammals. True, Hell’s Gate doesn’t offer a full-blown Big Five experience, but pedestrians are still likely to encounter buffalo, giraffe, zebra, warthog, baboon and a wide variety of antelope – a far more thrilling experience when you’re on foot than it is from a vehicle. The birdlife is also quite impressive, a particular highlight being the colony of Rüppell’s vulture that breeds on the cliffs (look out for the telltale white streaks on the rocks below their nesting sites). But it is the volcanic Rift Valley landscape that most impresses – ancient volcanic plugs, fuming hot springs and glassy obsidian rocks, all overlooked by the perfect cone of dormant Mount Longonot.

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Expert

Stuart Butler –

Visited: Multiple times

Stuart is a travel writer and author of numerous Lonely Planet guidebooks, including 'Kenya', 'Rwanda' and 'Tanzania'.

3 people found this review helpful.

Walk with Giants

Overall rating

4/5

Wildlife:

Bush Vibe:

Scenery:

Birding:

Hell’s Gate National Park is one of the more overlooked of Kenyan parks. On a standard two week safari it might, at best, be quickly tacked onto the end of a trip if time allows. This is a real shame because there are plenty of plains game (antelope, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, baboons and vervet monkeys and others), the scenery, a mix of classic savannah landscapes hemmed by impressive cliffs and volcanic plugs, is beautiful and access is quick and easy from Naivasha.

Unfortunately (but sensibly!), in most national parks you’re not allowed to get out of the vehicle and, if you’ve never been on safari before, you might be surprised to hear that spending days in a jeep on bad roads looking at animals can quickly get very tiring. What makes Hell’s Gate special is that this is one of the few parks that allows you to dump the jeep and walk or, better, cycle, with African megafauna. It’s an opportunity not to miss. The first time I went to Hell’s Gate was some twenty years ago. I’d only been in Africa a couple of weeks and so far had only seen animals from the safety of a vehicle. Suddenly here I was on a clanky old bicycle gingerly cycling past buffalo and wondering whether it was safe to cycle through the middle of a group of baboons who were blocking the road. I still recall the excitement and exhilaration of feeling that I was now a part of the food chain (there are very few large predators in the park so it’s highly unlikely that you really will become somebodies lunch). Today I still prefer to walk in the bush rather than view it from a car and so on every Kenyan trip I will always try to make time to visit Hell’s Gate. Other plus points for the park are that it’s an ideal family-friendly park and it’s considerably cheaper than many other parks.

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