Top 3 National Parks in Uganda

Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda
Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda. Photo by Sam Balye on Unsplash

Uganda is one of the most underrated tourist destinations, but the East African country has a diverse landscape and abundant wildlife that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. The natural attractions are world-class and they shouldn’t be missed. Here are three national parks in Uganda for your next adventure.

Queen Elizabeth National Park

This park is super diverse with savannas, crater lakes, dense forests, and wetlands. There are nearly 100 mammal species that call the park their home and it contains four of the Big Five animals. Highlights include the tree-climbing lions in southerly Ishasha, languid boar tours along the Kazinga Channel where you’ll see elephants, buffalos, and hippos coexist, and the Kyambura Gorge a sunken forest where nearly 30 endangered chimpanzees live.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

This UNSESCO park has half of the world’s gorilla population and people go on steep hikes to see the primates. The Batwa Cultural Experience in the neighboring Nkuringo is a must to learn about how indigenous people lived in the park.

Murchison Falls National Park

Out of all of Uganda’s national parks, this one is the most well-known and it’s the largest. There’s safari wildlife, endangered Rothschild’s giraffe, 450 bird species, and hippos. The most popular attraction is the Victoria Nile which squeezes through a bottlenecked gorge and creates the world’s most powerful waterfall.