Quick facts: Gorge width: 7 metres · Drop height: 43 metres · Flow: roughly 300 cubic metres per second · Also known as Kabalega Falls
Murchison Falls is the point where the entire Victoria Nile — one of the world's great rivers — is forced through a gorge just 7 metres wide before plunging 43 metres into the plains below. It isn't the tallest waterfall in the world, but by the force of water moving through such a narrow gap, it's often described as the most powerful. The roar is audible well before the falls come into view, and the ground itself trembles faintly near the top viewpoint.
At the base, the water crashes into a churning plunge pool locally known as the Devil's Cauldron — the turbulent, foaming basin visible from the boat cruise.
The falls were named by explorer Samuel Baker in 1864 after Roderick Murchison, then president of the Royal Geographical Society. Locally, the falls are also known as Kabalega Falls, after the historic Bunyoro kingdom that once ruled the surrounding region — a name that also lent itself to the park's earlier name, Kabalega National Park.
There are two genuinely different ways to experience the falls, and most visitors do both:
A helicopter flight offers a third perspective entirely — see the full gorge and surrounding landscape from above. See the Helicopter Flight guide.
Top of the Falls Hike · Nile Boat Cruise · Private Helicopter Flight · Victoria Nile · Paraa
