Covering an area of about 33.9 sqkm, Mgahinga National Park is the smallest national park in Uganda. It is also the second destination in Uganda that hosts the endangered mountain gorillas - around 30 individuals, split between two uninhabituated groups and one habituated group. Golden monkeys are also found within the park and complete a primate tracking safari experience.
The park is located in south-western Uganda within the northern side of three Virunga mountains; Mount Muhavura (4,127 masl), Mount Sabinyo (3,645 masl) and Mount Gahinga (3,474 masl). The park gets its name from the latter mountain and is additionally bordered to the west by the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and to the south by the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.
Wildlife in the park includes the mountain gorillas and golden monkeys, 76 mammal species including leopard, giant forest hog, leopard, black and white colobus monkey, buffalo, bush pig, rodents, bats, endemic birds including Rwenzori turaco, collared apalis, archer's ground robin, mountain masked apalis, Rwenzori batis, amongst others.
Other activities include hiking either of the 3 volcanoes. Day hikes for moderate hikers include the Gahinga trail which takes about 6 hours to climb to the base of Mount Gahinga. The Democratic Republic of Congo border trail can additionally be tackled in a day to the base of Mount Sabinyo. The cave trail is an additional alternative where hikers get to learn more about the Batwa people.
For hikes that run for more than a day, guests can tackle two trails between Mount Muhavura and Mount Sabinyo, that take 12km and 14km respectively. The terrain is more steeper to the top of each of these mountains but the rewards and the views are unbeatable. On the Sabinyo hike, you get to stand in Uganda, Rwanda and The Democratic Republic of Congo at the same time.
