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Kenya Kenya forest

Karura Forest

Ninara · CC BY 2.0

69% trees around it and 707 species recorded.

61Forestyas Score

ForestMountain forestBirdsWildlife

  • trees within 3 km69%
  • wild within 10 km54%
  • species recorded707
  • Altitude1,688 m

The forest around

69% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 91%Shrubland 4%Grassland 2%Cropland 0%Built-up 2%Trees 66%Shrubland 6%Grassland 2%Bare ground 0%Cropland 1%Built-up 25%Trees 37%Shrubland 12%Grassland 6%Water 0%Bare ground 1%Cropland 4%Built-up 41%Trees 33%Shrubland 11%Grassland 6%Water 0%Bare ground 1%Cropland 4%Built-up 46%69%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km91%
  • 1–3 km66%
  • 3–6 km37%
  • 6–10 km33%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees66%
  • Shrubland6%
  • Grassland2%
  • Water0%
  • Bare ground0%
  • Cropland1%
  • Built-up25%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

707 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Earleaf nightshade
Earleaf nightshadeSolanum mauritianum44 recordsPeter Greenwell · CC BY-SA 3.0
Lantana
LantanaLantana camara28 recordsروتانا · CC BY 4.0
Broadleaf woodsorrel
Broadleaf woodsorrelOxalis latifolia24 recordsUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Black-eyed Susan vine
Black-eyed Susan vineThunbergia alata24 recordsForest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0
Solanum campylacanthum
Solanum campylacanthumSolanum campylacanthum23 recordsSAplants · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sky Flower
Sky FlowerDuranta erecta21 recordsGowrivemban · CC0
Marvel of Peru
Marvel of PeruMirabilis jalapa21 recordsKurt Stüber [1] · CC BY-SA 3.0
Greater Plantain
Greater PlantainPlantago major21 recordsEpgrande · CC BY 4.0
Bush nightfighter
Bush nightfighterDracaena steudneri20 recordsTon Rulkens from Mozambique · CC BY-SA 2.0
Dovyalis afra
Dovyalis afraDovyalis afra18 recordsRaasgat · Public domain
Southern Silky-oak
Southern Silky-oakGrevillea robusta18 recordsMargaretRDonald · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kidney bean
Kidney beanPhaseolus vulgaris18 recordsRasbak · CC BY-SA 3.0

Open records within 5 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

61out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 69%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 54%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 707Speciesrecorded more than once within 5 km
  • 1,688 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking from June to August.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan26°12°43 mm
  2. Feb27°13°30 mm
  3. Mar27°14°76 mm
  4. Apr25°14°153 mm
  5. May24°13°87 mm
  6. Jun23°12°34 mm
  7. Jul24°11°25 mm
  8. Aug24°11°32 mm
  9. Sep26°12°28 mm
  10. Oct26°13°77 mm
  11. Nov24°14°123 mm
  12. Dec24°13°80 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Karura Forest.

Urban forest in Nairobi, Kenya

Karura Forest is a forest in Kenya, 1,688 m above the sea.

Seen from space, 69% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 54% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

707 species have been recorded around it: 262 plants, 7 fungi, 375 birds and 63 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Earleaf nightshade, Lantana and Broadleaf woodsorrel.

The best time to walk is from June to August.

Karura Forest, Nairobi (53550853911)
Ninara · CC BY 2.0

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at NBO airport (Nairobi)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Karura Forest seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 11named and notable trees within 6 kmTree Near Road, Tree near the SQ, Coner tree-lenana hse and 8 more
  • 3picnic sites within 4 km
  • 33shelters and huts within 6 km
  • 2viewpoints within 5 kmBench
  • 1visitor centres within 6 kmCommunity Chief's Office
  • 84car parks within 3 km
  • 5campsites within 10 kmCDF chiefs camp, Paradise Lost Campsite, Nairobi East church and 2 more
  • 584places to stay within 10 kmChina Garden, Southern Sun Mayfair, Insomnia Bar and lounge and 581 more
  • 167restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • marked trails within 5 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Karura Forest.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas5 mountains within 25 km
Getathuru10 kmWhite Grass Ridge12 kmSongora Ridge14 kmSomali Ridge16 kmMiddle Ridge17 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The forest, as people saw it.

Amani Garden, Karura Forest, Nairobi
Ninaras · CC BY 4.0
Karura Forest Nairobi 03
Ninaras · CC BY 4.0
Stream of water at Karura Forest
Brihaspati · CC BY 4.0

Other forests nearby.

Karura Forest

Kenya

  • 61Forestyas Score
  • 69%Trees
  • 54%Wild
  • 707Species

Menengai Forest

Kenya · 137 km

  • 60Forestyas Score
  • 68%Trees
  • 63%Wild
  • 223Species

See the guide

Kakamega Forest

Kenya · 272 km

  • 83Forestyas Score
  • 97%Trees
  • 91%Wild
  • 580Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q6373728) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species105,232 open records within 5 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here