Gates to Queen Elizabeth national park

Gates to Queen Elizabeth national park are those entry points to the park and exit points from the park. Queen Elizabeth national park is large protected area covering 1978sq.km and it can be accessed using different gates. There are four main gates of Queen Elizabeth national park found in different sections of the park. These are Kabatoro gate, Katunguru gate, cater gate, and Ishasha gate.

Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the oldest protected areas in Uganda having been gazetted in 1952 by the government of Uganda to protect a wide range of wildlife. The national park is the second largest protected area in the country covering 1978 sq. km of savannah grassland vegetation. Queen Elizabeth national park extends to Kasese, Rukungiri, Rubirizi, and Kamwenge districts and tourists have got a variety of gates to use to access the park depending on where they are going to sleep or visit.

Access to Queen Elizabeth national park gives tourists an opportunity to see the different attractions that are said to be in the park. These are 95 mammals, 10 primates, 600 bird species, and water bodies such as Kazinga channel. To see these attractions of Queen Elizabeth national park, you will have to be part of different activities among which include game drives, birding watching, nature walks, chimpanzee trekking, boat cruise, and community tours among others.

Entering Queen Elizabeth national park gives tourists a chance to see park animals such as lions, giant forest hogs, sitatungas, warthogs, elephants, duikers, buffaloes, hippos, leopards, hyenas, Uganda kobs, bushbabies, crocodiles, red-tailed monkeys, vervet monkeys, black and while colobus monkeys, olive baboons, and much more during game drives, nature walks, and boat cruise activities. Chimpanzees are seen during chimpanzee trekking in Kyambura gorge.

Tourists into Queen Elizabeth national park will also see several birds during the birding exercise like the shoebill stork, African finfoot, African skimmer, African hobby, great white pelican, black bee-eater, Caspian plover, crab plover, great white pelican, collared pratincole, white-winged tern, spotted redshank, yellow-throated cuckoo, African emerald cuckoo, red-throated wryneck, and little stint among others.

To access Queen Elizabeth national park and see the different wildlife and other attractions in the park, there are a number of gates tourists can use and access the area for different park activities. Next are the different gates that give tourists access to Queen Elizabeth national park in western Uganda.

Katunguru gate

Katunguru gate is one of the entry and exit points Of Queen Elizabeth national park and it’s found in the northern side of the park. Katunguru gate is 40kms from Kasese, 116km from Fort Portal, and about 390 from Kampala. This gate is used mostly by tourists visiting Mweya peninsula, and those sleeping in the northern side of the park, for example, those staying at Mweya Safari Lodge.

Ishasha gate

Ishasha gate is another entry to and exit point from Queen Elizabeth national park and it’s situated on the southern side of the park. Ishasha gate is used by tourists that are coming from Buhoma sector of Bwindi and those visiting the Ishasha sector of the park which is famous for tree climbing lions. Ishasha gate is the second used gate in Queen Elizabeth national park after Katunguru gate in the north side of the park.

Kabatoro gate

Kabatoro gate is one of the entry and exit points of Queen Elizabeth national park and its found in the northwestern region of the park. This gate is used by tourists that are visiting Lake Katwe, Lake Munyanyange, and Kabatoro community. These lakes are good areas for birding watching activities, and nature walks where traditional salt mining is witnessed.

Carter gate

The crate gate is the last entry and exit point of Queen Elizabeth national park and this one is found in the northeastern part of the park. This gate is located near Equator crossing markers on Mbarara-Fort Portal highway and this means tourists from Mbarara or fort portal can use this gate to enter or exit the park.

The above are the main gates of Queen Elizabeth national park which tourists can use to exit and enter the park. To go through these gates, you must be checked by security personnel for safety purposes and you must also pay a certain amount of fees put in place by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

How much is park entrance fee to Queen Elizabeth national park?

Daily Park entrance fee 

Adults it’s $40 for foreign non-residents, $30 for foreign residents, and UGX20,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

Children it’s $20 for foreign non-residents, $10 for foreign residents, and UGX5,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

Annual part entrance fees 

Individuals it’s $350 for foreign residents and UGX350,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

Couple it’s $600 for foreign residents and UGX500,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

A family with a maximum of 4 children is $800 for foreign residents and UGX600,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

Annual cooperate pass is $1500 for foreign residents and UGX2,500,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

Vehicle entry fees in Queen Elizabeth national park 

Saloon cars foreign registered its $40 and UGX20,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

Minibusses and omnibuses foreign registered its $50 and UGX30,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

Pick-ups foreign registered its $50 and UGX30,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

Tour company vehicles and 4-wheel drive foreign registered its $150 and UGX30,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

Overlanders foreign registered its $150 and UGX100,000 for citizens of East African member states. 

Buses and lories foreign registered its $200 and UGX200,000 for East African citizens

School buses its UGX50,000 

Delivery vehicle per entry is UGX20,000