Which Kenyan national park inspired the setting of The Lion King?

Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya inspired the setting and landscapes of The Lion King. Disney’s artists visited the park to study its dramatic cliffs, gorges, plains, and wildlife before developing the film’s African world.

Several lead crew members traveled to Hell’s Gate in October 1991 during production of the original animated film. The park lies in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley near Lake Naivasha, and its Ol Njorowa Gorge and towering rock formations helped provide visual inspiration for the Pride Lands and Pride Rock.

The film does not take place in a real Kenyan park, however. The Pride Lands are a fictional kingdom, and the movie combines observations from East Africa with broader artistic design. Hell’s Gate is also not the same as the Serengeti or Masai Mara, although those famous ecosystems can resemble the film’s savannah landscapes. The park is unusual among Kenyan reserves because visitors can hike and cycle through much of it.