Map of Kenya › Where is the Mara

Where Is the Maasai Mara? Location, Map and How to Reach It

Short answer: the Maasai Mara sits in the far southwest of Kenya, in Narok County, about 270 km from Nairobi, pressed against the Tanzanian border. The longer answer on this page explains what the map shows: the Mara is simply the Kenyan end of the Serengeti ecosystem, one unbroken sweep of grassland with an international border and two names laid over it.

The Mara on the map

The gold shape is the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya; the green mass below it is Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. No fence separates them, only the Sand River and a change of country. The dark pin is Narok, the gateway town.

Placing the Mara

The reserve sits at about 1,500-1,900 m above sea level, which surprises people expecting tropical heat: mornings are cold enough for fleeces most of the year.

One ecosystem, two names

Draw the wildlife’s map instead of the political one and the Mara-Serengeti is a single system of about 25,000 km². The wildebeest cross the border twice a year without paperwork. Travellers cannot: there is no tourist border post between the parks, so combining both means flying between them or driving around through the Isebania crossing. Many guests simply pick the Kenyan side; the migration months of August to October are the Mara’s turn to hold the herds, as our migration map shows month by month.

Getting there

Practical detail, gates and airstrips live on the dedicated pages: the drive is broken down leg by leg on Nairobi to Maasai Mara, and the reserve’s own layout, conservancies included, is on the Maasai Mara map. For where the Mara sits among all of Kenya’s parks, start at the Map of Kenya.

Where is the Mara: questions

Which country is the Maasai Mara in?

Kenya. It occupies the country’s southwest corner in Narok County, directly against the Tanzanian border, where the same grassland continues as the Serengeti.

Is the Maasai Mara part of the Serengeti?

Ecologically yes: one continuous ecosystem of about 25,000 km2. Administratively no: the Mara is a Kenyan national reserve, the Serengeti a Tanzanian national park.

What is the nearest town to the Maasai Mara?

Narok, about 130 km from Sekenani Gate, is the gateway town with the last major fuel, banks and supplies. Small trading centres like Talek sit right at the gates.

Can you cross from the Mara into the Serengeti?

Not directly; there is no tourist border crossing inside the protected areas. You fly between them or drive around via the Isebania border post.

Park and reserve boundaries © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under ODbL. Basemap © OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Satellite imagery © Esri. Terrain tiles by Mapzen and AWS Open Data.