Day Trip to Longonot is only about 9 km long but steep. A round trip to the park gate via Ngamia summit takes around 4 hrs of hiking.
1-Day Hiking Adventure at Mount Longonot from Nairobi
Mount Longonot is 70 kilometres northwest of Nairobi. It is a stratovolcano thought to have last erupted in the 1860s. It is a stratovolcano that contains a large 8 x 12 km caldera formed by vast eruptions of trachytic lava some 21,000 years ago. The current summit cone was developed within the earlier caldera. This cone itself is capped by a 1.8 km crater.
It rises from 2,150m to a height of 2,780m, Mount Longonot has a forest of small trees that covers the crater floor, and small steam vents are found spaced around the walls of the crater. A trail runs from the park entrance up to the crater rim subsequently looping encircling the crater. The whole tour is only about 9 km long but very steep so the round trip to the park gate – Longonot Peak – park gate takes around 4 hrs hiking. The mountain is home to various species of wildlife, notably zebra, giraffe, buffaloes and elands.
Below is a standard day trip itinerary for Longonot. Keep in mind this climb can be an addition to a longer safari tour depending on your preference.
Program:
Pick up from your residence at 7:00 am. Departure at 7:30 towards Kikuyu agricultural highlands. A short break to view the spectacular Great Rift Valley before descending the escarpment. After approximately an hour and a half, we check in at the gate for registration and park fees payments.
After all, is set, we get ready for the hike. We start a 3km gentle hike to the base as the slopes get steeper climbing to the rim to have a view of the crater. Along the crested rim, we reach Ngamia summit point, 2,780m asl. We do a complete circuit of 7.5km having occasional rest and water/ snacks breaks. The approximate distance covered from the gate and back is about 14km. We drive back drive to Nairobi and drop back at your residence after a successful day’s activity.
Options are of course many and varied and in many cases, we can be flexible about the itinerary for accommodation facilities and the extension of the safari destinations.