Kenya

Mount Kenya

WHS Score 2.93
rate
Votes 20 Average 3.38
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Votes for Mount Kenya

0.5

  • Joyce van Soest

2.0

  • Solivagant
  • Stanislaw Warwas

2.5

  • Timothy C Easton

3.0

  • Els Slots
  • PabloNorte
  • Richardleesa
  • Yongcheng Liu

3.5

  • Ask Gudmundsen
  • Carlos Garrido
  • Richard Stone
  • shoaibmnagi

4.0

  • Andrea Gormley
  • Ludvan
  • Randi Thomsen
  • Svein Elias
  • Zoë Sheng

4.5

  • Naim Y

5.0

  • John Smaranda
  • Paul Schofield

Mount Kenya National Park / Natural Forest protects the afro-alpine region surrounding Mount Kenya, the second-highest mountain in Africa at 5,199 m.

The mountain is an extinct volcano with 12 remnant glaciers on its slopes, which are retreating rapidly. Also, there are several small lakes and it is the main water catchment area for two large rivers in Kenya; the Tana and the Ewaso Ng'iso North. The site also comprises the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and Ngare Ndare Forest Reserve in the foothills, which are within the African elephant migration route.

Community Perspective: Els has covered Ngare Ndare Forest, while Randi did a worthwhile day hike in Mount Kenya NP.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Mount Kenya National Park / Natural Forest (ID: 800)
Country
Kenya
Status
Inscribed 1997 Site history
History of Mount Kenya
2013: Extended
To include Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and Ngare Ndare Forest Reserve
1997: Inscribed
Inscribed
WHS Type
Natural
Criteria
  • vii
  • ix
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article
  • Dec. 8, 2023 scmp.com — Why Africa’s Mount Kenya risks becoming as polluted as Kilimanjaro, as access to its peaks is made easier for visitors
  • March 5, 2019 whc.unesco.org — For more than a week, devastating fires have raged in Mount Kenya National Park
  • Sept. 8, 2012 bbc.co.uk — Mt Kenya to get electric fence to stop wildlife straying
  • March 20, 2012 washingtonpost.com — Elephants, wildlife flee as fire spreads across Mount Kenya

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Natural landscape: Mountain
Travel Information
High entrance fees
Recent Connections
View all (44) .
Connections of Mount Kenya
Individual People
  • Sir Wilfred Thesiger
    1970

    See prmprints.com

  • Charles Darwin
    The Darwin Glacier was named by the geologist John Walter Gregory - the first person to reach the icefields of Mt Kenya in 1892/3.In his book "The Great Rift Valley" he describes that this "was so named as we owe to Darwin the first precise description of a glacial valley in England"
  • Leakey Family
    Gray Leakey, a cousin of Louis Leakey, was taken captive and led into the forests of Mount Kenya, high up on the mountain, where "he was buried alive and upside down in deep red soil" (during the Mau Mau insurgency 1952-1960)

    See www.codesria.org

Geography
Trivia
Ecology
  • Somalia-Masai regional centre of endemism
    "the area lies at the interface of the Afromontane and Somali biomes and within the Somali – Maasai Center of Endemism" (AB ev)
  • African Wild Dog
    Known to use the (elephant) wildlife corridor (IUCN Outlook 2020)
  • Elephants
    African elephant
  • Rhino habitat
    black rhinoceros
  • Stratovolcanoes
    "Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano that was active in the Plio-Pleistocene." (wiki)
  • Big Five
    Lewa Wildlife Conservancy: It ... includes the big five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and African Buffalo) (wiki)
  • Critically endangered fauna species
    (Eastern) Black Rhino: "Lewa holds over 12% of Kenya's eastern black rhinoceros population" (wiki)

    See www.iucnredlist.org

  • Eagles
    Ayres hawk eagle (Official description)
  • Lions
    Lewa Wildlife Conservancy : "There are currently 44 lions acros the Lewa-Borana Landscape."

    See www.lewa.org

  • Megaherbs
    giant groundsels

    See en.wikipedia.org

  • Mammal Migrations
    "Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and Ngare Ndare Forest Reserve also lie within the traditional migration route of the African elephant population of the Mount Kenya – Somali/Maasai ecosystem and has always been the traditional dry season feeding area for elephants." (OUV)
Damaged
  • Poaching
    Subsistence hunting is carried out in the forested lower slopes, and to a lesser extent at higher elevations where its impact is limited due to the extremely rugged terrain and difficulty of capturing prey species. The few remaining critically endangered mountain bongo antelopes are at high risk to subsistence hunting. The African elephant remain also at high risk due to ivory poaching.
  • Wildfires
    2019: "fires have already destroyed more than 80,000 hectares of forest and grassland, which represents almost half the area of the World Heritage site"

    See whc.unesco.org

World Heritage Process
Religion and Belief
Human Activity
Constructions
  • Via Ferrata
    "In July 2012 a new via ferrata developed by the Kenyan Wildlife Services (KWS), opened on Mount Kenya" (Wiki)
WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
  • Pliocene
    Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano that was active in the Plio-Pleistocene (wiki) / It is an ancient extinct volcano, which during its period of activity (3.1-2.6 million years ago) is thought to have risen to 6,500 m (AB ev)
Visiting conditions
WHS Names
  • Named after a Mountain
    Mt Kenya 5199m
  • Country named after them
    The mountain was named by Krapf as both Kenia and Kegnia when he first sited it in 1849 apparently using a native word which he recorded (possibly Kikuyu Kirinyaga?). The colony in which it stands was originally known just as "British East Africa Protectorate" but the growing number of white settlers led to a change of status in 1920 when the "Kenya Colony" was created - named after the mountain. Because of their indiginous origins the names of both the mountian and the country were carried forward unaltered into the post colonial era.
News
scmp.com 12/08/2023
Why Africa’s Mount Kenya risks bec…
whc.unesco.org 03/05/2019
For more than a week, devastating …
bbc.co.uk 09/08/2012
Mt Kenya to get electric fence to …

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 06/07/25.

Randi Thomsen

Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya (Inscribed)

Mount Kenya by Randi Thomsen

As Els pointed out, there aren’t many reviews out there to help plan a visit to Mount Kenya. This is Africa’s second-highest mountain, reaching 5,199 meters, and most people associate it with demanding multi-day climbs. But what about a day hike? Is it even possible—and is it worth the steep $50 park entry fee?

We decided to find out for ourselves.

We sorted out the e-ticket the night before. Entry to Kenyan national parks now has to be booked and paid online through the E-Citizen platform, which isn’t exactly suited for foreigners. And because we also have to pay for a car, the payment has to be done twice, one for the car in KES, and for us in US$. But with a bit of effort—and using Edge browser on a PC—we got it to work this time. It feels good to have the E-ticket on hand when we arrived at the gate. 

We left Naro Moru Lodge on a clear, beautiful morning around 8:30 AM, and could even see the summit of the mountain from afar. It’s about a 30-minute drive to the Naro Moru Gate where we were warmly welcomed by a friendly ranger. She asked whether we were planning to hike or just drive up to the Meteorological Station. That answered one big question—we could drive to Met Station! We were not sure about that. The station is located at around 3,000 meters and about 8 km from the gate. If you want to …

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First published: 14/06/25.

Els Slots

Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya (Inscribed)

Mount Kenya by Els Slots

I have always wondered how a site that has been ticked by 63 members so far has only had one, tiny review dating back to 2006. I would guess that 90% of the “visits” here were drive-by ones. Even then, the mountain, with its characteristic rugged, glaciated peaks, isn’t always easy to see, as it is often covered in clouds. The best I could get was a silhouette at 7 in the morning from the pool area of my lodge.

Mount Kenya is known for its several vegetation bands with Afro-alpine flora from the base to the peak. I stayed for 3 nights at the Naro Moru River Lodge, a little oasis outside of the park borders, where you can experience the vegetation and wildlife of the lower regions of the mountain at 1,970m altitude. At night, you may hear the screaming of the tree hyraxes, and during the day, you’ll find many birds typical for the region (the lodge’s bird list includes a significant number of 399 species). The Cinnamon-chested bee-eaters put on a good show, but my favourite was the White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher with its distinctive white ring around the eyes (pictured).

To enter the core zone of the WHS, there are three options: Mount Kenya National Park, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, and Ngare Ndare Forest. The latter two were extensions and also include the Elephant corridor, where African elephants migrate with the season, away from the mountain when it gets too cold, and back when it gets …

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First published: 04/03/06.

Zack Culvert

Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya (Inscribed)

Mount Kenya range from Ngare Ndare

There is a drought now all over Kenya, as the mini rainy season of Nov 2005 did not come. So the Masai bring their cattle and sheep up to the tourist area. This drove away the animals. The cows meanwhile are dying from the altitude and new germs which they have no resistence to. Seeing a lot of dead and dying cows being butchered was not fun.

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