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A person hiking at sunrise.
BROWSE KILIMANJARO CLIMBS

Kilimanjaro

Choosing the Best Route Up Kilimanjaro

With the many routes on Kilimanjaro, choosing which one is best for you can be a bit overwhelming.

Wilderness Travel has over 40 years of experience offering Kili climbs. We know this beautiful mountain well and have strong opinions of the best way to climb it. Below we provide information on our route as well as the most established alternate routes to help you make this important decision.

Take a look! We invite you to call us at 1-800-368-2794 or email kili@wildernesstravel.com with any questions you may have.

Kilimanjaro Northern Circuit best hiking route map

The Wilderness Travel Northern Circuit Route

Wilderness Travel has over 40 years of experience in offering Kili climbs. We know this beautiful mountain well and have strong opinions on the best way to climb it.

We consider the Northern Circuit Route the best route to the summit. Why? With seven days on the ascent (compared to as few as five on many other routes), this route provides you with optimal time for acclimatization and therefore the greatest chance of summit success. It is also considered by many to be the most scenic route given the variety of vistas/views you get circumnavigating the mountain—allowing you to take in panoramas of all of Kilimanjaro’s flanks and surrounding plains, while also giving you the full experience of the magnificent Shira Plateau, a World Heritage Site.

Our trip starts with two nights pre-climb at a gorgeous private camp in Arusha National Park at 6,500 feet. This gives our bodies a jump-start in the acclimatization process and time for optional warm-up hikes at this altitude. (Most other companies start in Arusha at 4,500 feet and must ascend at least 4,800 feet to Forest Camp.)

The climb begins on the west side of the Shira Plateau, with a camp at 9,150 feet in the upper heath zone in full view of the Western Breach. We then traverse the Shira Plateau, ascending out of the Moir Valley to Pofu Camp (13,200’), with views stretching out across Amboseli National Park as we hike through classic moorland and alpine desert to Third Cave Camp (13,000’). Reaching School Camp (15,600’) in the rock and ice zone, we are less than 3,000 vertical feet from the summit.

Crater Camp (18,800’) is our last campsite before we summit. The hike to Crater Camp on Day 9 is stunning but physically challenging as we ascend 3,361 feet on switchback trails through steep rocky terrain. We arrive at Crater Camp in the early afternoon, camping near the Furtwangler Glacier with time (for those still with energy) to explore the inner crater and make an optional side trip to the 400-foot-deep Ash Pit. At 18,800 feet, this camp is much higher than the others and very cold, but the spectacular setting and easy summit climb the next morning provide the once-in-a-lifetime experience that most are dreaming of when they think of climbing the highest mountain in Africa.

We descend the other side of the mountain via Barafu and go out the Mweka Gate. Descending by this route gets us down from high altitude quickly, and also shows firsthand the advantage of our Northern Circuit Route approach versus the heavily used routes.

We carry oxygen and Gamow bags on all our Kili climbs, our guides are highly trained in safety, and we have decades of experience on the mountain.

Two people hiking in Shira Plateau.
Two happy hikers in Kilimanjaro.

The advantages of Northern Circuit Route are many:

  • The acclimatization pattern it offers is optimal
  • The rate of summit success is over 95%
  • This is the only route that reasonably and safely allows you to experience the magnificent Furtwangler Glacier and the lunar landscape of the inner crater and Ash Pit up close
  • Sunset from Crater Camp looking out over seemingly all of Africa is stunning
  • Instead of hiking and camping with potentially one or two hundred other climbers, your group will likely have the crater rim and summit to yourself
  • You arrive on the summit rested and energized to enjoy it after a fairly easy 541′ pre-dawn climb that most accomplish in less than 2 hours
  • You’ll enjoy sunrise on the summit with expansive views before the daytime clouds that often circle Kilimanjaro have moved in
  • In comparison, the main other choices all come together at Barafu and climb together from there to Stella Point and then the Summit. This is over a 4,000′ climb. Many do not make it beyond Stella Point and all face the need to turn around that very same day to descend 9,000′ over the same route
  • Descent is via Barafu and the Mweka trailhead gate, so we will have ascended Kilimanjaro’s western flanks and come over the summit to descend on the southeastern side, having accomplished a full mountain traverse and experienced the full breadth of its ecological diversity

REVIEWS FROM OUR CLIENTS

Wilderness Travel’s route up Kilimanjaro was far better, more interesting than the major highways used by most trekkers. We were the only group at many campsites and felt like we were the only people on that magnificent mountain.

The following are alternate routes that Wilderness Travel does not offer (and we’ll tell you why!)

Learn More

Talk to an Expert

Our Africa Specialists know every detail about our Kilimanjaro trips. They will be happy to answer any questions and help make sure it’s the right adventure for you. Contact us to learn more or book your trip today!