Aberdares National park

The Aberdares are an isolated volcanic range that forms the eastern wall of the rift valley, running roughly 100km north south between Nairobi and Thomsons Falls. Soils are red and of volcanic origin, but rich in organic matter. There are two main peaks, Ol Donyo Lesatima (3,999m) and Kinangop (3,906m) separated by a long saddle of alpine moorland at over 3,000m. The topography is diverse with deep ravines that cut through the forested eastern and western slopes and there are many clear streams and waterfalls.

The Aberdares are an important water catchment area providing water to the Tana and Athi rivers and part of Central Rift and Northern drainage basins.The National Park lies mainly above the tree line running along the 10,000ft contour with some forest and scrub at lower altitude in the ‘salient’ area near Nyeri with the boundary running down to the 7000ft contourThe unusual vegetation, rugged terrain, streams and waterfalls combine to create an area of great scenic beauty in the National Park.

The park is surrounded by a predominantly indigenous forest, whose management is under an MoU between KWS and the Forest Department.Climate:Mist and rain occur throughout much of the year, with precipitation varying from around 1000mm yearly on the north western slopes to as much as 3000mm in the south east.  Heavy rainfall occurs through most of the year.

Park Roads

The park has 60km and 396km of primary and secondary roads respectively. The salient has an adequate road network. The central Aberdares is hardly accessible during the wet season and there are few motorable roads in Northern Aberdares which is also cut off from the central Aberdares. Most of the current road network is not accessible during the wet season.From Nyeri – Ruhuruini gate 20 km, Kiandongoro gate 30 km, Treetops gate 17 km, Ark gate 28 km, Wandare gate 47 km.

animals found in aberdares national park are,african elephant,black rhinos,olive bamboons spoted hyena

acccomodation in aberdares are,fishing lodge camp,and other public campsites,such as oribi camp