Awash National Park

Short description of Awash National Park

Awash was the first national park the country declared and sits where the Awash river drops into its own gorge before running north to die in the Afar salt lakes without ever reaching the sea. Acacia savannah covers the plains, with beisa oryx, kudu and gazelle on them and hamadryas baboons around the falls. The dormant volcano of Fantale rises over it with a wide crater on top and a bare lava flow down one flank. Palm ringed hot springs bubble up in the north. Grazing pressure has thinned the game, so the birding outclasses the mammals.

AI edited

Recommended length of stay

Travel seasons at a glance

Best time to visit: October – March

• Jan
• Feb
• Mar
• Apr
• May
• Jun
• Jul
• Aug
• Sep
• Oct
• Nov
• Dec

All highlights and sights

1. The Awash falls and the gorge below
2. A game drive on the Illala Sala plains
3. The palm fringed hot springs at Filwoha
4. The crater rim of Mount Fantale
5. Birding along the riverine forest
6. Beisa oryx and Soemmerring's gazelle
7. Greater and lesser kudu in the Kudu valley
8. Hamadryas baboon troops at the falls
9. The lava field from the eighteen twenty eruption
10. Lake Beseka beside the highway(Day trip)
11. Night skies over the acacia plain

Ways to get there and away

Airports nearby:

• ADD Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (Addis Ababa) · 134 km west(recommended)
• DIR Aba Tenna Dejazmach Yilma International Airport (Dire Dawa) · 219 km northeast

Nearest railway station:

Dire Dawa (Dire Dawa) · 219 km east

Map view

Distances

More travel destinations in Ethiopia

• Addis Ababa
• Aksum
• Lalibela
• Jinka
• Bahir Dar
• Gondar
• Simien Mountains
• Danakil Depression
• Harar
• Bale Mountains
• Arba Minch
• Bishoftu