Hell's Gate National Park, about 25 kilometres south of Naivasha town, is unlike almost any other reserve in Kenya. You can walk freely, cycle hired bicycles through the game, and scramble down into a dramatic geothermal gorge without a guide — all activities that are impossible in most Kenyan parks. The landscape is genuinely strange: red-brown cliffs rising 120 metres above the valley floor, columns of steam rising from the earth, and wild animals grazing on the flat valley bottom with no fences.
Fischer's Tower and Central Tower are the two main volcanic plugs that give the park its distinctive profile. Cyclists can ride the main track through the valley, passing close to giraffe and zebra that are accustomed to non-motorised visitors. The gorge itself — reached by a scramble and, in places, a clamber — is the park's most dramatic feature: narrow slot canyons with smooth rock walls carved by geothermal water, with hot springs at the bottom.
The park entrance is at Elsa Gate. Bicycle hire is available near the gate. Allow a full day to do the cycling circuit and the gorge properly. Bring water — it gets hot in the gorge.