Mt. Longonot
Mt. Longonot National parks
Longonot is a stratovolcano which 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. The mountain has several parasitic cones and effusive lava eruptions occur on the flanks and within the caldera floor. Periodic geodetic activity recorded at Longonot in 2004–2006 demonstrated the presence of active magmatic systems beneath this volcano.
Mount Longonot is a stratovolcano located southeast of Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, Africa. It is thought to have last erupted in the 1860s.Â
Its name is derived from the Maasai word Oloonong’ot, meaning “mountains of many spurs” or “steep ridges”. Mount Longonot is protected by Kenya Wildlife Service as part of Mount Longonot National Park. A 3.1 km trail runs from the park entrance up to the crater rim, and continues in a 7.2 km loop encircling the crater. The whole tour (gate-around the rim-gate) of 13.5 km takes about 4–5 hours allowing for necessary rest breaks – parts of the trail are heavily eroded and very steep. The gate elevation is around 2150 m and the peak at 2776 m but following the jagged rim involves substantially more than the 630 m vertical difference.
Mount Longonot is 60 kilometres northwest of Nairobi and may be reached from there by a tarmac road. A nearby town is also named Longonot. The Longonot satellite earth station is located south of the mountain.
Mt. Longonot Hiking
Mount Longonot being such a unique mountain is a top attraction in Nakuru, and lots of people visit the mountain throughout the year to experience this mountain. Visitors to the Longonot Mountain are excited to take on the 2 to 3 hour hike up the mountain’s crater rim
Up at the crater you also have beautiful viewpoints for bird watching – watching birds on Lake Naivasha and birds roaming around Mt Longonot National Park. You will also see numerous wild animals from the top moving through the park and the small forest at the crater floor.
A visit to mount Longonot is definitely a visit to Mt Longonot National Park, so on top of the hiking experience you will have on mount Longonot, you will enjoy several other activities in Mount Longonot National Park that include:-
- Game viewing: enjoy the several animals that stay in the park from the mountain top and from walk or drive in the park.Â
- Rocking climbing: climb the lava rocks that have formed from the mount Longonot’s earlier eruptionsÂ
- Biking: Bike through the park and around the mountain; enjoy the mountain breeze as you take in the beautiful nature around the park.
- Birding: watching several birds that make their life in the park vegetation and surrounding.Â
- Forest walk: Take a walk in the surrounding forest of small trees.Â