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Gazetted from two game reserves in 1991, the Gashaka-Gumti is Nigeria’s largest national park. Located in the eastern provinces of Taraba and Adamawa states to the border with Cameroon, the total area covers about 6,402 km2, much of the northern GGNP is savannah grassland, while the southern GGNP sector of the park has a rugged terrain characterized by very mountainous, steep slopes as well as deep valleys and gorges, and is home to montane forests.
Altitude ranges from about 457 metres (1,499 ft.) in the northern flatter corner of the park, up to 2,419 metres (7,936 ft) at Chappal Waddi, Nigeria’s highest mountain in the park’s southern sections. It’s an important water catchment area for the Benue River and there’s abundant river flow even during the markedly dry season.
It rises in the Adamawa Plateau of northern Cameroon, from where it flows west, and through the town of Garoua and Lagdo Reservoir, into Nigeria south of the Mandara mountains, and through Jimeta, Ibi and Makurdi before meeting the Niger at Lokoja.
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Large tributaries are the Faro River, the Gongola River and the Mayo Kébbi, which connects it with the Logone River (part of the Lake Chad system) during floods. Other tributaries are Taraba River and River Katsina Ala.
Enclaves for local Fulani pastoralists exist within the park boundary that allow for farming and grazing. But if you are in love with nature, this is a place to visit.
