Located to the west of Kitale is Mount Elgon National Park, established in 1968 and covering 169 square kilometers (65 square miles). Mt. Elgon is the second largest extinct volcano in Kenya (second only to Mount Kenya). Called Ol Doinyo Ilgoon (Breast Mountain) by the Maasai, Mount Elgon straddles the Kenya/Uganda border. Wagagai, the highest peak at 4321 meters (14176 feet), and the warm springs by the Suam River are technically in Uganda, while Lower Elgon (4310 meters or 14140 feet), Koitoboss (4038 meters or 13248 feet), and Endebess Bluff (2563 meters or 8408 feet) are in Kenya (although I have also read that Koitoboss is in Uganda and is the highest peak).

While Elgon has beautiful scenery and wildlife, including buffalo, elephant, leopard, bushbuck, black-and-white colobus monkeys, and a large variety of birds, perhaps its most interesting feature is a series of caves located within the national park boundaries. Inhabited at one time and used as stock pens, the caves are now empty. Elephants have entered Kitum Cave for hundreds of years, and using their tusks to gouge the walls and knock loose the salty rock. Occasional elephants still make it into the caves, although less frequently than in the past. In front of Kitum Cave is a pool which was also used by the elephants. If you don't like bats then don't go in, because thousands live toward the back.