Maps and navigation
Gonarezhou National Park map
An interactive map, approximate coordinates for the gates and camps worth planning your trip around, and how to navigate a very large park with almost no mobile signal.
Download the official park map
The Gonarezhou Conservation Trust's website is the authoritative reference for the camp network and access routes, and ZimParks hosts the official tariff sheet. For self-drive navigation the commercial Tracks4Africa mapping covers the park's internal tracks better than any free source.
Key coordinates
Save these before you go. Mobile coverage inside the park is patchy at best, and a set of waypoints in an offline app will get you out of trouble faster than anything else.
| Place | What it is | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|
| Chipinda Pools | Main northern gate, Trust office, campsites and airstrip | -21.29, 31.92 |
| Chilojo Cliffs | The park's iconic sandstone cliffs above the Runde River | -21.55, 32.02 |
| Mabalauta | Southern office on the Mwenezi; Sango and Boli arrivals report here | -21.95, 31.48 |
| Chiredzi | Last reliable fuel, shops and mobile signal before the park | -21.05, 31.67 |
| Buffalo Range Airport (BFO) | Regional airport at Chiredzi, scheduled and charter flights | -21.01, 31.58 |
| Save-Runde confluence | Where the two rivers meet: the lowest point in Zimbabwe, ±162 m | -21.25, 32.32 |
Navigating Gonarezhou
- Coordinates above are approximate, for orientation and offline-app planning; confirm exact camp locations with the Trust when you book.
- Tracks4Africa covers the park's internal tracks, river crossings and campsites; worth the money for a self-drive trip of this kind.
- Download the Zimbabwe region in OsmAnd or Organic Maps as a free backup before leaving Chiredzi, where the signal ends.
- Plan drives around the rivers rather than distance: in the dry season the Runde and Mwenezi frontage produce more than any amount of transiting.
- The park is big and the roads are slow; the three transit campsites exist precisely so you do not have to cross it in a day.
The rules that catch people out
Gate hours are not published by ZimParks or the Trust, which is unusual and worth taking seriously: confirm times when you book, plan conservatively around daylight, and arrive at unfenced camps with enough light to set up. Visitors entering at the Sango or Boli gates must report to the Mabalauta office first.
Assume total self-sufficiency: no fuel, no shops and no treated drinking water anywhere inside the park. Chiredzi, about an hour from the Chipinda Pools gate, is the last place to fix any of that.