Guide to Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Welcome to the Rwenzori Tourist Information Centre, a point where you will get all the information you need to know about the Rwenzori Mountains National Park. This travel resource offers a complete detailed guide to hiking the Rwenzori Mountains, Western Uganda. Our aim is to provide free and inspiring advice to help you prepare for an amazing Rwenzori trekking experience. On this guide, we cover everything you need to know about the Rwenzori Mountains and how to prepare for your summit attempt.

So stick around and let’s get started with planning your next Rwenzori trek!

General Introduction to the Region

The Rwenzori region is found in Western Uganda and covers an area of approximately 13,970km2. It comprises the districts of Kasese, Kabarole, Kyenjojo, Bundibugyo, Kamwenge, Ntoroko, and Kyegegwa. The region is well known nationally and internationally for tourism because of the presence of four National Parks that border it including Mountain Rwenzori, Queen Elizabeth Kibale, and Semuliki National Parks. The presence of Snow-capped top of the mountain has attracted many tourists interested in mountain climbing.

Agriculture is the main income earner in the rural areas with coffee, maize, cocoa being the major cash crops. The region is endowed with rivers with some having their source in the Rwenzori mountain. The Rwenzori region has a fragile ecosystem as a result of a tropical bimodal climate with the greatest area being mountainous or hilly and the smallest area being semi arid. In addition there have been noticeable changes in reduction of water volumes in rivers and swamps, reduction of snow cap on Mountain Rwenzori which until now work as water catchments for most of the rivers in Rwenzori.

Experience the Rwenzoris

Since the rediscovery in modern times of the Rwenzori Mountains, people come to Uganda from all over the world to experience their wonder and mountaineering challenge. Whereas in the early part of the last century, there might have been just a few hundreds or less visitors per year, the number of visitors increased remarkably in the last 15 years before ADF insurgency.

In response to this trend, and motivated by a desire to preserve the mountain environment which provides their livelihood; in 1987, seventy Bakonzo people got together and founded the RMS. Many of them had served as mountain tourist guides and porters (escorts) for a long time before and after Uganda’s independence.

Rwenzori Mountains

In AD150, the Alexandrine geographer Ptolemy wrote of a snow capped mountain range, deep in the heart of Africa that, he claimed, was the source of the Nile and which he called the Mountains of the Moon. Over the centuries this curious notion of tropical snow faded into mythology and, when John Speke found the Nile’s exit from Lake Victoria, a place in fiction for the Mountains of the Moon seemed assured. But then, in 1889, Henry Stanley emerged from central Africa to announce that such a mountain did exist. He mapped it by its local name of Rwenjura – or ‘rainmaker’.
In due course mountaineers explored Ptolemy’s Mountains of the Moon. Though just miles north of the Equator, they found in the high Rwenzori glaciers and snow peaks whose meltwaters represent the highest springs ofthe Nile. These trickle downwards into U-shaped glacial valleys where, supplemented by up to 2500mm of rain/year, they saturate the broad valley floors to form great soggy bogs. Within these rain and mist-filled troughs, loom specimens of Africa’s bizarre high altitude vegetation and stunted trees enveloped by colourful mosses and draped with beards of lichen.

This remarkable landscape is bisected by the Uganda-Congo border which passes through Mt. Stanley the highest peak. The Ugandan Rwenzori is protected by the Rwenzori Mountains National Park and, in Congo by the Virunga National Park. The park can be explored along a 7 -day trail that meanders along the Mobuku and Bujuku valleys beneath the highest peaks. Though distances are short, the terrain, altitude and weather combine to create a tough trek, the difficulty of which should not be underestimated.

After its sighting by Stanley, the weather confounded several attempts to scale (or even observe) the mountain’s main peaks. In 1906, the Italian Duke of Abruzzi timed his expedition more carefully, making his attempt during June and July. He and his companions succeeded in scaling, mapping and photographing all of the main peaks and establishing the layout of the high Rwenzori.

Planning a Rwenzori Trek

While those with the inclination can scale the main peaks, most visitors are content to follow the Central Circuit trail to enjoy their magnificent setting. Time your ascent for the driest months which are July-August and December-February. Pack for an alpine expedition, taking a good quality sleeping bag and rain gear, and a supply of spare warm clothes, especially socks. There will be little opportunity to dry clothes and equipment. Strong boots capable of being fitted with crampons are essential for the peaks. A pair of cheap gumboots are better suited to the boggy conditions of the Central Circuit.

The Central Circuit hike is organised through the Rwenzori Mountaineering Services (RMS) and starts from Nyakalengija. RMS will provide a guide, cook, and sufficient porters to carry your heavy equipment and food, leaving you to carry a small pack with raingear, spare clothes, camera, water bottle and snacks. UWA will provide a ranger escort. You will be responsible for providing your own food, cooking equipment and fuel, first aid kit, and sleeping bag and mat. Some equipment, such as crampons, ice-axes, ropes and harnesses, can be rented from RMS. Food can be purchased in Kasese or Kampala but specialised, lightweight dried meals should be brought with you to Uganda. Note that park fees are paid separately to UWA.
Expeditions with technical mountaineering guides and quality equipment can also be arranged after contacting us.

Routes: The Central Circuit Trail, Kilembe Trail

Important: When to go, Costs, Packing list, Insurance, Training, Altitude sickness, Visas and vaccinations, COVID-19

More useful articles: Porter tips, Toilets on the mountain, Summit success rates, Getting to Rwenzoris, Climbing with Health Conditions

Add-on: Safari: Gorilla Safaris, Wildlife Safaris

When is the Best Time to Climb the Rwenzori Mountains?

Hiking safaris to The Rwenzori Mountains are excellently done during the dry season. The dry season is the best time to visit the Rwenzori ranges due to low or no rains but rains should be expect anytime even if it is the dry spell. The dry months go from June up to August and December till January.

In the dry season from June to August and from December to February is the perfect time to visit/climb/hike/trek Rwenzori Mountains National Park, otherwise, it can be visited throughout the year depending on the activity interested in, for mountaineers the climbing window from June to August is the best times to attempt an ascent to Margherita Peak of Mountain Rwenzori, wildlife viewing, nature lovers that is flora and fauna and many others.

How to Get to the Rwenzori Mountains National Park

Rwenzori Mountains National Park can be reached by two routes from Kampala to Kasese. The shortest route starts from Kampala to Fort portal via Mubende for a distance of 300km by a 4×4 vehicle, while the longest route begins from Kampala, via Masaka through Mbarara, Bushenyi to Kasese for 350km distance drive.

How is the Weather Like?

The weather on the Rwenzori Mountains is cold and extremely wet that is to say rainfall is heaviest sometimes reaching 300mm/month during wet season though even in the drier months some daily rain is common and daytime temperatures average 10OC, after dark they drop below freezing, wondering why the weather is like that and why Rwenzori Mountains not hot? Rwenzori mountain is majestically snowcapped throughout the year because the highest peak of the Rwenzori reaches up to 5,109 meters which is the highest point. Therefore, snow covers throughout the year. The snow-capped nature of the Rwenzori Mountains is due to air pressure that reduces with elevation. Whereas warm air increases, so does the rising air expands and cools.

Please note:

That Rwenzori Mountain National Park’s weather can be unpredictable be prepared with all the necessary safari gears that is;

• Waterproof gear
• Layers for changing temperatures like warm sweaters, soaks, long trousers and others
• Sleeping bag
• Good hiking boots
• Flexibility in your itinerary

Accommodation

The accommodation options for hikers to have overnight stay are available within Kasese, Fort Portal and around the Rwenzori Mountains National Park itself. The notable ones include among others the Trekkers Hostels, Hotel Margherita, Ruboni Community Camp, Equator Snow Lodge, Mihunga Safari Lodge and others.

The mountain’s Central Circuit is provided with basic mountain huts (you should take your own sleeping bags and sleeping mats). Camping and rooms are available at the Circuit’s Nyakalengija trailhead at Ruboni Campsite and RMS Guesthouse. The trailhead for the proposed Kilembe Trail is served by Rwenzori Backpackers Hostel. Other options exist in Kasese, Fort Portal and in nearby Queen Elizabeth National Park.