Map of Kenya › Migration
Wildebeest Migration Map: the Route, Month by Month
About 1.5 million wildebeest, plus hundreds of thousands of zebra and gazelle, walk a rough circle through the Serengeti and Maasai Mara every year. This wildebeest migration map animates that loop so you can see where the herds usually are in any given month, and why the famous river crossings happen where they do. The animated line is a guide, not a timetable; rain moves the herds, and every year runs a little different.
The migration route, animated
The moving gold line traces a typical year, counterclockwise: calving in the south from December, the long trek northwest from April, Grumeti crossings around June, Mara River crossings from July, then the return south in November. Month labels sit where the herds usually are at that time.
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You can still use the guide and tables below, or open the area on Google Maps.
Month by month: where the herds usually are
| Months | Where | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Dec – Mar | Ndutu and the southern Serengeti plains | Calving: around 400,000 calves in a few weeks, and the predators know it |
| Apr – May | Central and western Serengeti | Long columns trek northwest through the long rains |
| Jun | Western Corridor | First big test: crossing the crocodile-heavy Grumeti River |
| Jul – Aug | Northern Serengeti and the Mara River | The famous crossings; herds spill into Kenya’s Maasai Mara |
| Sep – Oct | Maasai Mara grasslands | Herds graze the Mara; crossings continue in both directions |
| Nov | Eastern Serengeti, heading south | Short rains pull the herds back toward the calving grounds |
The river crossings, honestly
Two rivers shape the drama. The Grumeti in June is the warm-up act, seen from the western Serengeti. The Mara River, from July into October, is the one on every wildlife film: steep banks, big crocodiles, and herds that can mass for hours before one animal finally jumps. From the Kenyan side, the crossing points sit inside the Maasai Mara reserve and the Mara Triangle, all within reach of the camps on our Maasai Mara map.
What no operator can promise is a crossing on demand. Herds cross when they cross. Give it three or more nights in August or September and your odds get genuinely good.
Planning around the migration
If your dates are fixed, pick the place to match the month above. If the place is fixed (say, a Kenya-only trip), late July to October is your Mara window; the best time to visit Kenya map shows how that window lines up with every other park. And if you can travel in February, calving season in the south is the most underrated spectacle of the whole cycle.
Migration map questions
When does the migration reach the Maasai Mara?
Most years the first big herds cross the Mara River in late July, and the Mara holds large numbers through October. The exact timing depends entirely on rain.
Where do the river crossings happen?
The Grumeti River in Tanzania’s Western Corridor around June, then the Mara River on the Kenya-Tanzania border from July to October. The best-known Mara crossing points are inside the reserve and the Mara Triangle.
Is the migration in Kenya or Tanzania?
Both. The herds spend roughly August to October in Kenya’s Maasai Mara and the rest of the year moving through Tanzania’s Serengeti. It is one ecosystem with a border through it.
Can I see the migration outside July to October?
Yes, somewhere on the loop the herds are always doing something. Calving in the southern Serengeti from December to March is spectacular and far less crowded than crossing season.
Chase the herds with people who track them weekly
We follow the crossing reports all season and place guests where the herds actually are, not where they were last year. Tell us your month and we will build the trip around it.
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