Murchison falls National Park is the largest park in Uganda covering an area of 3,840 km². It is located in the north western part of Uganda in the district of Buliisa in the West and Nwoya in the North. The park can also be located by road North West of Kampala approximately 300km by road. By grid reference the Park is found in: 02 15N, 31 48E.

Murchison Falls is also known as Kabalega Falls and is found on the Nile. This is one of the powerful waterfalls which were discovered by Sir Samuel Baker a British explorer. He later named the Falls Murchison after Sir Roderick Murchison the President of Royal Geographical society. At the top of the falls, the Nile forces its way through a narrow gorge in the rocks about 7 metres wide and 43metres deep. The water flows down in to Lake Albert.

During the Idi Amin’s regime in 1970, the name Murchison Falls was changed to Kabalega Falls, after the Kabelega Omukama of Bunyoro. Later after his over throw, the name was return back to Murchison Falls.

Tourist Activities in Murchison Falls National Park Uganda

BOAT CRUISE

Boat cruise also known as launch trip is one of the major activities tourists on their safaris to Uganda engage in. the trip involve a journey from Paraa to the bottom of the falls where the beautiful water flows gloriously in a narrow gorge.  The major attraction in this trip is the mighty Murchison Falls however, along the away school of hippos and various water bird species are seen. The activity is at 9:00am and 2:00pm daily and takes about 3 hours.

GAME DRIVES in Murchison Falls National Park Uganda

Game drives are one of the exciting activity tourists always engage in while on their safari to Uganda. Game drives include driving tourists around the park in order to have the chances of seeing the wild games. This activity is done from the northern side of the Park in Paraa. The game drives are done in many tracks as below.

The tracks were game drives are done in Murchison Falls National Park Uganda

Main track

• Buligi track

This track branches off the left and about 3km further, the passes fenced airstrip. This track passes through a scenic area of rolling grassland studded with tall borassus palms. There are a lot of game concentrations in this area especially in rainy season.

After 2km from the airstrip, the road divides twice in the space of a kilometer then giving the option of following three different tracks (Queen Track, Albert track, Victoria Nile track) which heads west towards the delta.

Other tracks

• Queen track

The queen track is about 10km and it is the smoothest and shortest route which is mostly loved by those with limited time and mostly productive in terms of games.

• Albert track

Albert track is about 12km and it is relatively poor with a lot of patches of dense acacia woodland mostly attracting tsetse flies.

• Victoria Nile track

Victoria Nile track is about 25km to the south. It far longer but with little game concentration. It is located at the delta region. It is a one hour drive from Paraa ferry. The Victoria Nile delta is formed by approximately 20km2 of grassland fringing the delta region. This Track is very important for viewing games. It can be reached by using the rutted Pakwach road North West form the jetty about 7km and after turning left at the junction for the airstrip. Approximately 3 km past the junction, the road passes through a patch of whistling thorns, a type of acacia.

Getting There; How to get to Murchison Falls National Park Uganda