Hiking trails in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Hiking trails in Bwindi impenetrable national park: Bwindi Impenetrable national park is a famous destination for gorilla trekking safaris in Uganda the pearl of Africa but guess what! It as well offers the best hiking trails to different adventurous attractions within the forest itself and beyond. These trails are used during guided nature walks or hiking safaris on a Uganda safari to Bwindi. These hikes range from a few hours to several hours or even days depending on the length of the trail. Hiking / guided nature walks in Bwindi impenetrable national park enables tourists to explore the best of the park on foot. The trails normally start from the Northern part of the park to the southern part of the park.

For the shorter trails, you can use them for the few hours while for the longer ones, one can spend an overnight along the hike and proceed the next day.

Below are some of the used hiking trails in Bwindi impenetrable national park and they include;

Kashasha River Trail: This is about 4-5 hours walk to complete a 600M trail via a steep incline taking you from Nkuringo sector to Buhoma sector. While on this walk, you pass via 2 joining rivers, look out for various wildlife species including primates, mammals, birds, butterflies, reptiles and a scenic view of different plant species like ferns, flowers, plants and many more. This River trail can as well start from Buhoma park headquarters to Nkuringo lasting about 7 hours. This is the best scenic trail used by adventurous travelers who wish to explore the best of Bwindi impenetrable national park.

Mubwindi Swamp trail: This is another breath taking hiking trail in Bwindi impenetrable national park that lasts about 4-5 hours where tourists descend through the jungles in the rainforest while viewing lots of fascinating attraction that thrill along the trail including primates like monkeys, mammals like forest elephants, bush pigs, and abundant of birdlife. This Mubwindi Swamp trail is as well the best trail used by birders in Bwindi impenetrable national park and it is authorized by the Uganda Wildlife Authority as one of the best birding trail thus to use it, one must first obtain permission from UWA.

The Bamboo trail: This is a 7 hours hiking trail in Bwindi impenetrable national park and it rewards hikers with a stunning view of the peak of Rwamunyonyi hills standing at 2607M above the sea level as well as a view of Lake Bunyonyi and different volcanos in Virunga massif among others. The bamboo trail takes you through a bamboo forest with an opportunity of encountering with primates, mammals, birds and over 14 species of pants and ascend via different types of vegetation that thrill in Bwindi impenetrable national park up to Afro montane vegetation. The Bamboo trail is enjoyed in Ruhija sector of Bwindi impenetrable national park thus tourists who wish to explore the park via the bamboo trail are advised to book their accommodations in Ruhija though it is also possible to connect from Buhoma with in 1 hour.

Muzabajiro Loop Trail: This is a 3-4 hours forest walk taking tourists through Rukubira hill where you will be rewarded with a breath taking view of the virunga mountain ranges and the rift valley areas among others.

Ivy River Trail: This takes a full day to cover up a 14km walk via the wilderness of Bwindi impenetrable national park on an old road with a breath taking encounter with lots mammals like bush pigs, lots of birds, butterflies and many other without forgetting a visit to the local communities to interacts with locals in their farms, markets and homesteads. This Ivi River trail can as well as be conducted along Buhoma- Nkuringo route which takes about 4 -6 hours to get to the river and back, 2-3 hours from Nkuringo to the river and 4 hours from Buhoma. This Ivi River trail is in most cases used by the locals to and from the market. Along this trail, you can as well encounter with duikers, monkeys, butterflies and many other wildlife species that thrill in the Bwindi impenetrable national park.

The Habinyanja Trail: This is a 5-6 hours trail taking tourists via River Munyanga and slop down to the ridge of Riyoyi and Habigorogoro overlooking River Buhoma. Along this Habinyanja trail, hikers are rewarded with a view of the African corner that is a rock in a shape of map of Africa. The trail as states leads to the Habinyanja swamp the Gorilla family Habinyanja was first spotted. This trail is as well a fascinating trail for the bird lovers as it thrills with several bird species including bee-eaters, ducks, pelicans and many more.

Rushura Hill trail: This hiking trail in Bwindi impenetrable national park runs through gardens offering stunning viewing points up to the top of Rushura hill which is the highest viewing point in Buhoma sector of Bwindi impenetrable national park at 1915M high above the sea level bordering Uganda the pearl of Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo. This trail rewards tourists with stunning views of a lot of fauna and flora species in Bwindi impenetrable national park and the neighboring Congo.
Munyanga Waterfall Trail: This trail takes tourists to 3 beautiful waterfalls situated along the Buhoma- Nkuringo route via river Ivy trail. Along the trail, you will be able to view lots of stunning attractions including fauna and flora species
The Buhoma – Nkuringo Trail: This is a 3-4 hours hiking trail in Bwindi impenetrable national park setting off from Buhoma sector through the park to Nkuringo sector. Most travelers complete this trail with River Ivy trail since the river lies along this route.
The Ruizi River Trail: This is one of the most beautiful trails used by birders as is the longest trail in Bwindi impenetrable national park taking a full day to complete.

Packing list for hiking in Bwindi impenetrable national park include;

Enough drinking water
Enough snacks
And sometimes packed lunchbox if the trail is long.