RWANDA · NATIONAL PARK GUIDE
A guide to the Rwandan side of the Virunga volcanoes: how trek day works in Kinigi, the gorilla families, Dian Fossey's legacy and the hikes beyond the gorillas.
Quick answer: Volcanoes National Park protects the Rwandan slopes of the Virunga volcanoes in northwest Rwanda, about 3 hours by road from Kigali. It's where Dian Fossey studied mountain gorillas, and today it has around a dozen habituated gorilla families, plus golden monkeys and some of East Africa's best volcano hikes.
Northwest Rwanda, bordering Uganda's Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and the DRC's Virunga National Park. About 3 hours by road from Kigali.
About 62 square miles (160 km²) of bamboo and montane forest. Its origins go back to 1925, when Africa's first national park was created to protect the Virunga gorillas.
Five of the eight Virunga volcanoes rise inside the park: Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. Karisimbi is Rwanda's highest point, at 14,787 feet (4,507 meters).
Kinigi, at the foot of the volcanoes. Every gorilla trek and hike starts here with a 7am briefing.
Around a dozen habituated gorilla families, golden monkeys and 178 recorded bird species, including birds found only in the Albertine Rift mountains.
Every trek starts at the park headquarters in Kinigi, where visitors gather for a 7am briefing, often welcomed by traditional dancers. Wardens divide everyone into groups of up to eight and assign each group a gorilla family.
Families aren't assigned in advance. Wardens consider where trackers left each family the evening before, the weather and the fitness of each group. Your driver-guide can speak to the wardens before the briefing, so if you'd prefer a shorter, gentler trek, tell us when you book.
Treks range from about an hour each way to six hours or more for families that range high on Karisimbi. Once you reach the gorillas, you have one hour with them before walking back.
Around a dozen families are habituated for visitors, each visited by up to eight people a day. Some of the best known:
✓ Susa: the group Dian Fossey studied, which ranges high on Karisimbi and is usually one of the toughest treks
✓ Igisha: also ranges high on Karisimbi, with a similarly demanding trek
✓ Sabyinyo: often on the lower slopes of Sabyinyo and Gahinga, usually a moderate trek
✓ Agashya and Kwitonda: often on the lower slopes, and generally gentler treks
✓ Amahoro, Umubano and Hirwa: other well-known families
Gorillas move every day, so how hard your trek is depends on where your family is that morning, not just which family you're given.
American primatologist Dian Fossey arrived in the Virungas in 1967 and set up the Karisoke Research Center between Karisimbi and Bisoke. Her research and her fight against poaching helped save the mountain gorilla. She is buried in the park, beside the gorillas she studied, and the hike to her grave is one of the park's most moving experiences.
Today the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund continues her work from the Ellen DeGeneres Campus near the park, where visitors can learn how gorillas are studied and protected. A visit to the campus is included on our Gorillas Rwanda trek.
Track playful golden monkeys through the bamboo on the park's lower slopes. It's an easier trek than the gorillas, and permits cost US$100.
A steep hike through bamboo and Hagenia forest to the site of the Karisoke Research Center and Fossey's grave, beside her gorilla graveyard.
A full-day climb to the crater lake at the summit of Bisoke, 12,175 feet (3,711 meters), with views across the Virungas on a clear day.
A two-day climb with a night camped on the mountain, to the summit of Rwanda's highest peak. For fit, well-prepared hikers.
Explore the Musanze Caves, a lava tube system formed by the volcanoes, take a boat on the twin lakes of Burera and Ruhondo, or visit the Gorilla Guardians Village near Kinigi, a community project with dance, crafts and traditional food.
Every year Rwanda celebrates its newborn gorillas at Kwita Izina, a naming ceremony held in Kinigi at the foot of the volcanoes. Conservationists, rangers, community members and international guests each name a baby gorilla. The 21st ceremony, on September 4, 2026, named 22 babies, bringing the total to more than 430 since the first ceremony in 2005. If you're trekking in late August or September, ask us about timing your trip around it.
Rwanda is expanding Volcanoes National Park to give its growing gorilla population more room. The plan adds about 9,200 acres (3,740 hectares) of new habitat, plus a buffer zone managed for conservation-friendly farming, as part of a 10-year community resilience program estimated at about US$300 million. In August 2026, work began on a new village in Kinigi for the first 547 households moving out of the expansion area.
Lodges cluster around Kinigi, close to the park headquarters, from comfortable eco-lodges to some of Africa's most luxurious. See our handpicked lodges on the Rwanda gorilla trekking page.
About 3 hours by road. Most visitors drive up the day before their trek and stay near Kinigi, so they're close to the 7am briefing.
It's possible with a very early start, but we don't recommend it. The briefing starts at 7am and treks can take most of the day, so staying a night or two near Kinigi is far more relaxed.
Not directly. Wardens assign families on the morning of the trek, but they take fitness into account, so let us know if you'd like a gentler trek and your guide will pass it on.
Golden monkey trekking. Of the hikes, the walk to Dian Fossey's grave is shorter than the Bisoke or Karisimbi climbs, though it's still steep.
US$1,500 per person for international visitors. Our gorilla permits guide covers what's included and how to book.
Gorilla family names change as groups split and new families are habituated. Figures from the Rwanda Development Board, IUCN and park sources. Correct as of November 2026.
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