Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is Uganda's main mountain gorilla trekking destination. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, with habituated families, can be reached from four different trailheads, namely Buhoma sector, Ruhija sector, Rushaga sector, and Nkuringo sector. Each gorilla trekking trailhead has its own traits, gorilla families, and levels of difficulty. Click here to see mountain gorilla trekking safaris.

 Departing from any of the four Gorilla trekking trailheads on the perimeters of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, travelers join a group of other mountain gorilla trekkers (with a maximum group size of 8 travelers) for a guided nature hike into the dense forest while searching for one of the habituated mountain gorilla families. Click here to view our recommended mountain gorilla trekking tour. 

 Gorilla trekking is led by professional Uganda Wildlife Authority guides. Travelers are introduced to the ecology of this dense tropical rainforest and the challenging landscape as they trek with mountain gorillas. Your gorilla trekking guides could be communicating with other teams of trackers who could be shadowing the mountain gorillas since daybreak. The team of trackers directs your guides to bring travelers to the gorilla’s hideout. 

Gorilla trekking takes from one to six hours daily from the base camp. Usually, gorilla trekking lasts from 09:00 to 14:15, and gorilla trekking is limited to a small group of eight travelers. The limit on the group size of the travelers is to maintain the mountain gorilla’s safety from any airborne diseases and to increase the chance of viewing mountain gorillas.

 From the onset, the imposing southwestern Uganda slopes and interlocking terraced volcanoes have proven a formidable adversary. The mountain gorilla territory is accessible only through the thick vegetation, muddy slopes, hills, and valleys. Western Uganda's high altitude makes the journey tiresome but the most rewarding experience.

 Make Contact with a Mountain Gorilla

Once contact is made with the mountain gorillas, there is usually a silent moment, deep in the dense tropical foliage, as you get closer to the gorilla’s edge. When the gorillas emerge, viewed in their natural environment, the verdant forest offers the perfect backdrop and a breathtaking experience.

Once the gorillas break the silence with the rustling of leaves, you can watch mountain gorillas wander, play, breastfeed young ones, whistle, and get an opportunity to see other thousands of animal species around Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.

Once the gorillas are seen, travelers can only spend an hour with the gorillas. If a traveler is interested in spending more time with the gorillas, they can take part in a mountain gorilla habituation experience, where travelers can spend up to four hours with these gentle apes.

Gorilla-habituated families can be trekked from four different trailheads, such as Buhoma sector, Ruhija sector, Rushaga sector, and Nkuringo sector. Each trailhead has its own gorilla family, characteristics, and trekking levels of difficulty.

 Bwindi's impenetrable forest trailheads all serve as launch points for gorilla treks, standard Gorilla trekking departs early in the morning and involves an hour of observing mountain gorillas from a close distance of about seven meters. Gorilla trekking can be challenging, so travelers need to be ready for the trek, which takes between one and six hours depending on the location of the gorillas.