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A comprehensive guide to visiting Murchison Falls National Park independently and spotting the park’s most impressive wildlife.
As lanky Giraffe ambled across the crumbling dirt road, we took a moment to marvel at our surroundings. An expanse of grassland stretched for miles, scrubby Acacia bushes, and a few sausage trees provided the only shade. Murchison Falls National Park is the most famed wildlife destination in Uganda. For us, it landed as a close second to Queen Elizabeth. But still worth a visit for travelers on a self-drive safari. Here’s everything you need to know to make the most of your visit.
READ MORE: Your Guide to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Your Complete Self-Drive Murchison Falls National Park Guide
Self-driving in East Africa offers the freedom to explore at your own pace, seek out specific wildlife, and maximize your time within the parks. So download Maps.Me, make sure you have a full tank of gas & let’s get going.
Where to Rent Your Car?
This is the first question you’ll need to sort out when planning a road trip through Murchison Falls. If you only travel in Uganda, you’ll most likely rent a 4×4 vehicle in Entebbe or Kampala.
In that case, I can recommend two companies with different budgets and amenities.
Option 1: Road Trip Africa
This is the premiere car rental company in East Africa, and with this agency, you can be sure you’ll have a well-equipped kit, including chairs, a fridge, a coffee table, cook gear, sleeping bags, pillows, guidebooks, etc. We used Road Trip Africa during our time in Tanzania and completely understand why they are the best vehicle rental company in East Africa.
You can inquire about their current rates here. As of 2024, it was about $150 per day for a 4×4 Landcruiser.
Option 2: Active African Vacations.
They are a small, locally run company with a fleet of vehicles. The kit here is more haphazard and varies by vehicle, but rates with a pop-tent start at around $80 a day. We used this company while in Uganda, and we had no problems during our 40-day rental.
Definition of no problems: All cars in East Africa have “problems.” Even with excellent tires, you’ll get a flat, and sometimes the brakes or electrical need a tune-up. This happened to us during rentals with both companies. Fortunately, they responded quickly and got us to a mechanic right away. No time wasted.
Cost of Visiting Murchison Falls National Park
- Park Tickets: $45 per person for 24 hours within the park.
- $10 for self-drive permit (per day)
- $8 per Ugandan-plated vehicle entrance fee (per day)
This makes the total cost for two people self-driving $108 for 24 hours.
If you do not have a vehicle with Ugandan plates, then you must pay a $100 vehicle entrance fee. This is one of the reasons why it is SO important if you are doing a multi-country road trip in East Africa to rent a car from Uganda!
This will be paid on arrival at the entrance gate by credit card only. This can sometimes take 20 minutes or so as cell service is spotty in this area, but the ONLY way to pay is by credit card. This is to reduce any potential corruption.
For all park prices, you can check out the official Ugandan website. This is the tariff list for 2024.
READ MORE: Is a Self-Drive Safari ACTUALLY Cheaper— A Cost Comparison.
Should You Hire a Guide?
We do not feel like Murchison Falls NP requires a guide. The paths were well-maintained, and animals were relatively easy to spot as the park is so well-traveled.
If you do choose to hire a guide make sure you ONLY hire an official ranger guide at the Ugandan ticket office. It costs about $25 per car for 2-4 hours. Private guides not affiliated with the park in this area are poorly educated on the animals and not worth the cost. We had a poor experience with a hired guide one day in this park.
Quick Tips to Spotting Animals Without a Guide
- Follow a safari jeep from a tour company! You’ll come across them all the time in the park.
- During hot times of the day, head for the water sources.
- Do most of your game drives around sunrise and late afternoon.
- Learn the habits of the animals you’re searching for. Lions like the savannah, but leopards like the denser foliage.
Which Region of Murchison Falls NP is Best for Wildlife?
Take one look at this map, and you’ll notice that Murchison Falls is huge. In fact, it’s the largest national park in Uganda.
Where you go in the park matters. The best wildlife sightings happen in the Northern portion of the park, so you’ll want to enter at the Bugungu gate to access this portion of the park easily. You’ll want to focus all your game drives in the Mubako Gate to the Tangi Gate area.
Murchison Falls itself is quite a spectacle and sits in a completely different segment of the park about an hour’s drive from here. If you have the extra time or are interested in impressive sights and landscapes as much as wildlife, then it’s worth a visit.
Best Routes for Wildlife Sightings
Below is a screenshot of our Maps.Me map that lays out this area nicely. You’ll want to drive the Queen’s Track Albert Track, and Victoria Track near the Pakuba Airfield repeatedly for the best chance of seeing lions, elephants, leopards, and giraffes. We had some luck with the Buligi Track when it comes to elephants, and it’s much less traversed. These names are searchable on Maps.me.
Pro Tip: The best times to spot large wildlife are early morning and late evening, just before dark.
We had some luck driving the main paved road here at sunrise and the route to the right pictured here. But the left side loops I mentioned above had the best wildlife by far.
READ MORE: Best National Parks in Uganda for Wildlife Sightings
Wildlife to See in Murchison Falls National Park
Using this Murchison Falls National Park guide, these are the most commonly sighted wildlife within the park.
- Lion
- Leopard
- Giraffe
- Elephant
- Ugandan Kob
- Jackson’s Hartbeest
- Spotted Hyena
- Black-backed Jackal
- Oribi
- Warthog
You’ll notice this is very similar to the offerings at Queen Elizabeth National Park, except here you get Giraffe.
READ MORE: Your Self-Driver’s Guide to Queen Elizabeth National Park
Best Things to Do in Murchison Falls National Park
Obviously, a game drive is at the top of the list, but there are several other attractions worth considering in Murchison Falls.
- Night Safari. It costs $30 per person and you should do one while in Uganda.
- Boat Trip to Murchison Falls: $35 per person and 100% recommended. Rather than driving the 1 hour road to the falls you can take a scenic boat ride up the Nile with lots of wildlife. The falls are most impressive from this vantage point.
- Hike at Murchison Falls: $10 per person. If you’re not keen on a boat ride, then you can drive to the fall’s top and hike down to the base for some exercise and two incredible viewpoints. I recommend this if you have two days to spend in the park.
READ MORE: Our full 3-week Ugandan Self-Drive Itinerary
How Long to Stay in Murchison Falls NP
You should stay 1-2 days in the park for the full experience. With one day, you can focus on the wildlife loops, and with an extra day, you can explore the falls area.
Pro Tip: If you need petrol or cold water/soda, you can visit the Shell station and Ranger camp in Paraa. You have to prepay the fuel at the nearby hotel (Paraa Safari Lodge), and it comes at a premium price, but it’s the only gas around.
Where to Stay in Murchison Falls NP
Red Chili Rest Camp is the best place to stay in Murchison Falls National Park. While it can be crowded with campers, it has cheap beer, good amenities, an excellent location, a beautiful fire pit with a view, and hippos that regularly venture into camp. It’s also very affordable at $8 per person. Usually, I would recommend a public campsite, but the sites in Murchison are not great in terms of views or experience. In this case, convenience is better.
If you really want a more rugged campsite and are staying in the park for two nights, you should spend one at the public campsite on Murchison Falls. It won’t be the best for wildlife, but you’ll have the falls to yourself at sunset, and then you can head over to the other side of the park for wildlife the day after. Keep in mind it takes about an hour between the two areas.
Why I Liked Queen Elizabeth National Park More
Time to spill the beans. If Murchison Falls has ALL this to offer and we saw an abundance of wildlife— why didn’t I like it more?
READ MORE: Our full guide to self-driving Queen Elizabeth National Park
It’s not that we didn’t like it. We just liked it less. If I were going to pick one park, I would pick Queen for a few reasons.
1. The wildlife encounters were further away.
Wildlife in Murchison Falls while abundant, is more skiddish than in Queen Elizabeth National Park. You won’t get nearly as close to predators.
2. Uganda has allowed mining to happen within the park.
This is just super disappointing and took away from the experience. It’s likely why the animals are more nervous and can only bring more poaching to the park as its natural resources are harvested.
3. It’s more crowded.
Especially at the campsites. This is the more popular park, after all. Even “more crowded” here in Uganda is nothing when compared to Tanzania or nearby Kenya.
READ MORE: Our Favorite Parks to Self-Drive in East Africa
With all that in mind, we spent an excellent two full days in Murchison Falls National Park and saw an abundance of wildlife!! I highly recommend anyone thinking of self-driving in East Africa to plan to add the Ugandan national parks to their itineraries. It was easily my favorite of the four East African nations we road-tripped in terms of a well-rounded travel destination.
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