Volcanoes National Park Rwanda

Volcanoes National Park: Gorilla Trekking in the Virunga Mountains

Volcanoes National Park occupies 160 square kilometres of the Virunga mountain range in northwest Rwanda, bordering Congo and Uganda. It is the primary destination for mountain gorilla trekking in Rwanda and one of only three places in the world - alongside Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Congo’s Virunga National Park - where mountain gorillas can be observed in the wild. The current mountain gorilla population across all three sites is around 1,000 individuals.

The gorilla permit

Rwanda Development Board issues 96 gorilla trekking permits per day (eight groups of eight people, each spending one hour with a habituated gorilla family). The permit costs USD 1,500 per person (2024 pricing). That is not a misprint. The fee is a deliberate tool for limiting visitor numbers while generating conservation funding - Rwanda’s gorilla tourism revenue funds park operations, anti-poaching efforts, and community benefit programmes.

Permits sell out months in advance for peak season (June-September, December-January). Book through the Rwanda Development Board website or through a licensed tour operator. Most operators build the permit into a broader safari package; booking direct through the RDB website is possible but requires navigating logistics independently.

The trek itself

Treks depart from the Kinigi ranger station at 07:00 after a briefing. Groups are assigned to different gorilla families at varying distances and altitudes from the trailhead. Some treks reach the gorillas in under an hour; others require 4-5 hours of hiking through bamboo forest and steep terrain at 2,500-4,500m elevation. There is no way to predict which group you will be assigned to. The one guaranteed hour with the gorillas does not vary.

The gorillas are habituated to human presence over years of supervised contact. Silverback males weigh up to 200kg. The hour passes quickly. Guides enforce the 7-metre minimum distance rule, but the gorillas themselves sometimes do not observe it and approach closer. Camera settings should be prepared in advance; the forest canopy makes light conditions variable and sometimes dim.

Golden monkey trekking

A second trekking experience in the park targets golden monkeys (Cercopithecus kandti), endemic to the Albertine Rift forests. The permit costs USD 100 per person - a fraction of the gorilla fee - and the trek is typically shorter. The monkeys are less predictable in their movements than the gorillas but more numerous and, in the bamboo zones, often visible in large groups.

Dian Fossey’s camp and tomb

Karisoke Research Center, established by Dian Fossey in 1967 at 3,000m on the slopes of Mount Karisimbi, is now primarily a research facility. A guided hike to the site and to Fossey’s grave is available from the park (approximately USD 75). The hike takes 3-4 hours return. Fossey was murdered at the camp in 1985; the case was never conclusively solved.

Staying near the park

The base town is Musanze (formerly Ruhengeri), 15km from the park gate. The high-end lodges - Bisate Lodge, One&Only Gorilla’s Nest, Singita Kwitonda Lodge - sit at various points around the park perimeter and charge USD 500-1,000+ per person per night all-inclusive. For mid-range accommodation, Mountain Gorilla View Lodge and Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel in Musanze are solid options at USD 150-300 per night.

Kigali International Airport is 110km southeast of Musanze (about 2 hours by road). Rwanda is considered one of the safest and most orderly countries in sub-Saharan Africa for tourism. The dry seasons (June-September and December-February) are the most reliable for clear trails and drier forest conditions, but treks operate year-round.