Kibale National Park is 35km from Fort Portal town. Fort Portal lies 320km west of Kampala along a mostly surfaced direct road, or an hour's drive from Kasese (near QENP).
The 776 km2 Kibale National Park contains one of the loveliest and most varied tracks of tropical rain forests in Uganda and is the most accessible of Uganda's major rainforests. This is a home toto a host of forest wildlife, most famously 13 species of primate including the chimpanzee. Forest cover predominates in the northern and central parts of the park on the elevated Fort Portal plateau. Kibale is highest at the park’s northern tip which stands 1590m above sea level.
Southern Kibale adjoins Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) and together these protected areas maintain a 180km-long migration corridor for wildlife which extends from Ishasha, the remote southern sector of QENP, to the Sebitoli forest in the north of Kibale.
The Kibale Fort-portal area is one of Uganda’s most rewarding areas to explore. The park lies close to the tranquil; Nadali-Kasenda crater area and within a half day’s drive of the Queen Elizabeth, Rwenzori Mountains and Semliki National Parks, and the Toro - Semlki Wildlife Reserve.
Kibale’s varied altitude supports different types of habitat ranging from wet tropical forest (moist evergreen forest) on the fort portal plateau, . 351 tree species have been recorded in the park.
The diversity and density of primates in Kibale is the highest in Africa. The most famous of its 13 species of primates that include the rare l’Hoest monkey, and the largest population of the threatened red colubus monkey, is the Chimpanzee. The park is also home to black and white colubus, and blue monkey, grey cheeked mangabey, olive baboon, bush baby and potto.
Other animals include forest elephants, buffalos, leopard, bush pigs, and duiker. About 351 tree species, 325 bird species have 
been recorded including 6 that are endemic to the Albertine Rift region, namely: black-capped apalis, blue-headed sunbird, collared apalis, dusky crimsonwing, purple-breasted sunbird, and re-faced woodland warbler. Other Kibale specials include African pitta, Green –breasted Pitta, black bee-eater, yellow-spotted nicator, yellow-rumped tinkerbird, black-eared ground thrush, brown-chested alethe, blue-breasted kingfisher, Abyssinian ground thrush and the crowned eagle.