Located just a short drive from Arusha and Moshi, Arusha National Park is Tanzania’s most accessible national park, perfect for a day trip or as the first stop on a longer Tanzania safari. Despite its small size, the park offers a wealth of attractions, including the slopes, summit, and ash cone of Mt. Meru, Ngurdoto Crater, the Momella Lakes, and lush highland forests. Being the closest national park to northern Tanzania’s safari capital, Arusha, it is often overlooked by safari-goers despite its engaging diversity of habitats. After your Arusha National Park safari, you may want to explore other breathtaking national parks in Tanzania. Check out our guides to Tarangire National Park and Serengeti National Park for more options.

Arusha National Park Wildlife

Game viewing around the Momella Lakes is relaxed and quiet, with many visitors stopping to observe troupes of rare colobus monkeys playing in the canopy. While elephants are rare and lions are absent, leopards and spotted hyenas may be seen in the early morning and late afternoon. Giraffes glide across the grassy hills, mingling with grazing zebras, while pairs of wide-eyed dik-dik dart into the bush. The park provides excellent birding opportunities year-round, especially between November and April when migratory birds from Europe and North Africa are present, and local birds display their breeding plumage.

Beyond the entrance gate lies a shadowy montane forest inhabited by curious blue monkeys and colorful turacos and trogons—the only place on the northern safari circuit where you can easily see the acrobatic black-and-white colobus monkey. In the forest, you’ll find the spectacular Ngurdoto Crater, with its steep rocky cliffs enclosing a wide marshy floor where herds of warthog and buffalo roam.

Further north, rolling grassy hills enclose the tranquil beauty of the Momella Lakes, each with a different hue of green or blue. Sometimes there are shallows where you’ll see thousands of flamingos. The lakes support a large variety of migrant and native waterfowl, as well as waterbucks displaying their large lyre-shaped horns.

Activities in Arusha National Park

Climbing Arusha’s Mount Meru

Popular activities in Arusha National Park include climbing Mt. Meru or enjoying smaller trails on its lower slopes. The three-day trek to the crater’s summit is a quieter, and possibly more challenging, alternative to nearby Mount Kilimanjaro. Along the lower slopes, paths to rivers and waterfalls provide a relaxing day hike for visitors not attempting the summit. Among the park’s other attractions are ancient fig tree forests, crystal clear mountain streams, and opportunities to spot colobus monkeys.

At dusk and dawn, the eastern horizon often clears, revealing the majestic snow-capped peaks of Kilimanjaro, just 30 miles (50 km) away. But it’s Mount Meru, Kilimanjaro’s cousin—the fifth-highest mountain in Africa at 14,990 feet (4,566 meters)—that dominates the park’s horizon. With its peaks and eastern foot slopes protected inside the national park, Meru offers amazing views of its more famous neighbor and provides an excellent and rewarding hiking destination on its own.

Passing through wooded savannah where giraffes and buffaloes are often seen, the ascent of Meru leads into forests with red-hot pokers dripping with Spanish moss, then into open heath spiked with giant lobelias. Klipspringers mark the hike’s progress, and everlasting flowers cling to the alpine desert. Near the summit of Mount Meru, Kilimanjaro stands unveiled in the sunrise.

Canoeing the Momella Lakes

The Momella Lakes inside Arusha National Park are made up of seven shallow lakes: Big Momella, Small Momella, Lekandiro, Kusare, Tulusia, Rishateni, and El Kekhotoito. These alkaline lakes, with their large algae growth, each have a different shade of green or blue. While the water is not suitable for drinking, you can see a variety of birds (including flamingos) and animals such as waterbucks, giraffes, zebras, and dik-diks in the surrounding area. On Small Momella Lake, it’s possible to go on a canoeing safari.

Your Arusha Walking Safari

Arusha National Park is also ideal for walking safaris due to the low number of predators. This is a must for anyone wanting to get a closer look at the moss-covered trees and occasional red-hot pokers, as well as for those wanting to get close to wildlife. Common sightings during a walking safari include buffaloes, warthogs, giraffes, and various birds such as the silvery-cheeked hornbill, little bee-eater, and the occasional long-crested eagle. The walk takes you to the Tululusia Waterfalls and back to the Momella gate.