Six main routes lead up Kilimanjaro. They differ in length, scenery, how crowded they are, whether you sleep in tents or huts, which side of the mountain you approach from, and (most importantly) how well they let you acclimatize. There is no single “best” route; there is the route that best fits your priorities, your budget and, above all, the number of days you are willing to spend. A wildfire in the park closed the Lemosho and Londorosi routes from 28 September 2026 and Rongai from 5 October; TANAPA reopened all three on 8 October 2026. Fires do break out in the dry season, so check with your operator shortly before you climb.
The comparison below is a starting point. The days shown are the number of days we recommend walking on the mountain (one more than the nights you camp) for the well-acclimatized version of each route, not the aggressive minimum (see How many days do you need?). Each route has its own hub and stage-by-stage chapters later in this guide.
| Route | Days on the mountain (recommended) | Sleep | Approach | Character | Summit via |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machame | 7 (6 minimum) | Camping | South | The most popular route; scenic, good “walk high, sleep low” profile | Stella Point |
| Lemosho | 8 (7 minimum; 9–10 via Crater Camp) | Camping | West | Remote, beautiful start; excellent acclimatization; high success | Stella Point |
| Marangu | 6 (5 is a bare minimum we don’t recommend) | Huts | South-east | The only hut route; same trail up and down; shortest days | Gilman’s Point |
| Rongai | 7 (6 minimum) | Camping | North | The only northern approach; drier, quieter, gentler grade | Gilman’s Point |
| Umbwe | 6–7 | Camping | South | Steepest and most direct; quiet and hard; for the fit and acclimatized | Stella Point |
| Northern Circuit | 9 | Camping | West then north | Longest route; best acclimatization; quietest; near-360° of the mountain | Gilman’s Point |
Which route suits you?
Machame (the “Whiskey route”) is the most popular for good reason: it is scenic, camping-based and has a natural walk-high-sleep-low shape that helps you acclimatize. It is also busy in high season. Lemosho starts remotely on the western side, is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and successful routes, and shares Machame’s upper trail; its longer variations add a night at Crater Camp just below the summit.
Marangu, the “Coca-Cola route”, is the only route with hut accommodation and follows the same trail up and down. It is often sold as the cheapest and easiest option, but its standard schedule is short, which makes it one of the harder routes on which to acclimatize well, we recommend the longer version with an extra night. Rongai is the only route to approach from the drier northern side; it is quieter and has a gentle grade, and it joins the Marangu side for the summit and descent.
Umbwe is the steepest and most direct line, short, quiet and demanding, best suited to people who are already fit and, ideally, already acclimatized. The Northern Circuit is the longest route of all: it loops around the quiet northern slopes for a near-complete circuit of the mountain and gives the strongest acclimatization profile, at the cost of more days and a higher price.
We have deliberately not quoted summit-success percentages for each route. The figures published by operators vary wildly and are not independently verifiable, and they mostly reflect how many days a route is sold with rather than the trail itself. The honest, verifiable rule is simpler: on any of these routes, more days on the mountain means better acclimatization and a better, safer climb.
See also: How many days do you need?
Maps & profiles
Routes that are closed
The Western Breach, also called the Arrow Glacier route after the camp at its foot, is not one of the six. It is the steep way through the gap in Kibo's western crater wall, a scar left by a landslide about 100,000 years ago, and it leads straight onto the crater floor beside the Furtwängler Glacier, a short walk from Uhuru Peak. It never had a gate of its own: an ascent "via the Western Breach" started on Machame, Lemosho or Umbwe and left the shared trail at Lava Tower.
Nothing is loaded from YouTube until you press play.
A short highlights film from a Western Breach climb that pauses at Crater Camp, giving a direct look at Kibo's crater floor, its ash pit and the ice that still clings to the rim.
Is it open?
No. The park closed it after a rockfall in January 2006, reopened it in December 2007, and closed it again in 2024. As of 2026 it is still closed, with no reopening date given, and only a few operators say they hold special permission from the park to take climbers up it.
That is why you can still find it for sale. Some companies list Western Breach departures for 2027, and many local websites never took their old Western Breach pages down. An advert is not a permit. If a company offers it, ask to see the park's written permission for your dates, and ask what happens if that permission does not come or the breach is not safe on the day. The usual answer is that the group switches to the standard summit route from Barafu Camp; get that in writing before you pay.
The route
From Lava Tower (4,630 m15,190 ft) a path climbs about 2.5 km up a stony valley to Arrow Glacier Camp, at about 4,870 m15,978 ft, right under the breach. Groups sleep there. The next day gains about 850 m2,789 ft in 2 km: a steep rib of loose rock and scree up to the crater rim at about 5,730 m18,799 ft, then a short, flat walk across the crater floor to Crater Camp beside the glacier. Teams leave Arrow Glacier Camp in the dark or at first light, to be off the steep ground before the sun warms the rock above them. Uhuru Peak, under 200 m656 ft higher, is climbed the next morning, and the way down is over the rim at Stella Point and on down the Mweka trail.
Why it is dangerous
Rock. The breach is a set of gullies below cliffs and a shrinking glacier, and whatever comes loose above is funnelled down the same narrow line that climbers use. In January 2006 a rockslide from high on the wall killed three American climbers just above Arrow Glacier Camp and injured several more people, porters and a guide among them. In September 2015 a falling boulder killed a climber on the way up from the camp. The ice that once held the loose rock in place keeps melting, so the hazard is growing rather than settling down, and that is the reason the park gives for the closure.
Altitude is the second danger. You sleep at about 4,870 m15,978 ft and then at about 5,730 m18,799 ft in the crater, higher than any other camp on the mountain, after a day of hard scrambling. Someone who falls ill in the crater has no quick way off: the way down runs over the rim at Stella Point to Barafu Camp, hours away, and nobody descends the breach.
What it asks of you
No roped climbing, but real scrambling: hands on the rock, on steep and loose ground with a drop below, in the cold and often in the dark, above 5,000 m16,404 ft. Operators who run it ask for recent scrambling experience. In American terms it is mostly class 3 with a few class 4 steps, which means using your hands most of the way and a few moves where a slip could turn into a fall. After fresh snow the rock can be icy, and guides carry an ice axe and a rope for those sections. A helmet is not optional, and the climb should be eight days or more, so that you reach Arrow Glacier Camp already well acclimatized.
The ascents on our finishers' list that were made this way keep the route as the climber wrote it.
The Mweka trail, through the forest above Mweka village, is a descent only: Machame, Lemosho, Umbwe and the Northern Circuit all come down it, and the park allows no ascent on it. See Descent via Mweka.