A fault-bounded range at the top of the conservation area
The Gol Mountains stand at the northern end of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, rising out of open short-grass plains. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority describes them as an example of a fault-bounded mountain range, formed when continuous faulting lowered the rocks to the east and left those to the west standing. It gives their height as 915 metres above their own base rather than above sea level, which is the figure most often quoted onward without that qualification.
The rock is highly fractured metamorphic quartzite, which the NCAA notes is virtually identical to that of the Soitoo Hills. Nasera Rock, the large inselberg in the south-western part of the range, is made of the same material.
The plains below, and why they matter
The Gol range is inseparable from the ground around it. The NCAA describes the plains as fertilised by dust blown from volcanic eruptions, which is what makes the grass here so nutritious after rain, and it is that grass rather than the mountains that draws the animals. The Sale Plains lie immediately nearby.
The authority’s seasonal description is unusually blunt for tourism copy: the area teems with wildlife during the rainy season from March to June, as opposed to the dry months, when the vegetation turns dusty brown. Wildebeest, zebra and gazelle concentrate here when the plains are at their best and are largely absent when they are not. Anyone visiting the Gol country in September should not expect the photographs taken in April.
What there is to do
The NCAA lists game drives and hiking, and names migratory wild animals as what there is to see. It publishes no trails, no summit, no route and no duration for the hiking, which is a fair signal of how this place is actually used: it is passed through, camped in, and walked across, rather than climbed.
Olkarien Gorge, a gorge cutting into the range that is well known among birders as a raptor breeding site, sits in the same country — the NCAA gives it as 59 kilometres from the Mary Leakey museum at Olduvai. As with every walk in the conservation area, an armed ranger is required and arrangements are made in advance. See camping safaris, day hiking and bird watching.
Getting there
This is the remote end of the conservation area, north of Olduvai Gorge and a long way from the crater rim. There is no through route that takes it in casually. Trips that reach the Gol Mountains are generally either dedicated walking and camping trips, multi-day walks heading on towards Lake Natron, or itineraries built around the calving season on the southern plains that push north from Ndutu.
For the great majority of northern circuit itineraries, the Gol Mountains are a name on a map that will not be visited, and knowing that in advance is more useful than a description of a view nobody will see.
Common questions
How high are the Gol Mountains?
The NCAA gives 915 metres above their base. That is a relief figure, not an elevation above sea level, and it is frequently quoted as though it were the latter.
When is there wildlife there?
The NCAA puts it in the rainy season, March to June, when the plains carry nutritious grazing. In the dry months the same country is brown and largely empty.
Can you hike in the Gol Mountains?
The NCAA lists hiking among the activities but publishes no trails or durations. Any walking in the conservation area must be accompanied by an armed ranger and arranged in advance.