Piswa Trail Mount Elgon Trailhead
Piswa trail is one of Mount Elgon trekking trailheads endowed for the towering podocarpus forest, an excellent place for wildlife viewing. In contrast Sipi and Piswa trials start at much higher elevations with a longer more gradual climb to the peaks. The Piswa trail can take you to the hot springs inside. After visiting the peaks you can either return using the same trials or descend via different route. Each trail or route has camping stages with nearby water source as well as tent pads and latrines. The park is developing a trekkers hut at Mude cave on Sasa trail.
Sasa Trail – One of Mount Elgon Trekking Trailheads
This route starts at Budadiri town and is the most easily accessible, since it provides the most direct route to Wagagai Peak. At Bumasola is where you start your mountain hike using the Sasa trail. It is here that you can organize your permit and start from. You may take a boda-boda (motorbike) with your guide from here to the start of the hike up the escarpment into the Mount Elgon National Park, to save a few hours walk along the road.
You’ll start off early in the morning to avoid the heat of midday while you’re still down at low altitude. On the first day of climbing the Sasa trail it may be a hard slog as you gain about 2,000m by the time you arrive at Mude Cave Camp at 3,500m. Here the first walk is through community gardens with lots of cabbages, passion fruits, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and bananas. Don’t miss to see how amazing the flowers are in the tropical rainforest and also in the alpine forest.
The large trees are nowhere near as big as those in the forest and will take you almost one and half hours to the boundary. From the boundary you will walk some distance and come to the wall of death after which you will hike up and down several hills where the climb is over 1,600m before coming up to Sasa River.
Sipi Trail Mount Elgon Trailhead
Sipi trail is the route that starts at the forest exploration center at Kapkwai, a few kilometers upstream from Sipi falls which lie just outside the park. The trail visit the spectacular Tatum cave hidden within extensive forest. There is greater diversity of flora and fauna, so you will also see more primates, such as the blue monkeys, black-and-white colobus monkeys and baboons, on this trail. The exploration center is also the starting point for day hikes which penetrate the dense montane forest to visit Chebonet falls, Kapkwai cave and a spectacular viewpoint overlooking the plains
Suam Trail – One of Mount Elgon Trekking Trailheads
Suam trail is the longest and rarely used trail among Mount Elgon trekking trailheads. The trail starts at Suam Trading center on the Uganda – Kenya border. It follows the Suam river through the steep and spectacular Suam Gorge to the hot springs on the eastern side of the Kapkwata caldera Trail. It is a scenic route running through the bamboo, heath and moor land, arriving at the Piswa Camp at 2,850 meters
The full trekking circuit to the peaks takes 4-5 days to complete. All visitors are encouraged to discuss options with an Information Clerk at the Mbale, Budadiri or Kapkwata Visitors’ Centre.
All these trails are unique in their nature and they have everything – which is wonderful scenery, amazing diversity, challenging terrain, abundant wildlife, plants and flowers. They are unspoilt by tourism and best of all, you have the experience all to yourself for 99% of the time.
After visiting Mount Elgon National Park, Uganda is such a blessed destination that you can explore as a beautiful garden. You can make your way to Murchison Falls National Park, one of Uganda’s spectacular wildlife safari park, to encounter the big five on your lucky day. Don’t miss the amazing boat cruise amidst the aquatic life and countless bird species. Further west, you can’t afford to miss the lifetime gorilla trekking safari in Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Parks.