Hell's Gate National Park lies south of Lake Naivasha in Kenya, north west of Nairobi. Hell's Gate National Park is named after a narrow break in the cliffs, once a tributary of a prehistoric lake that fed early humans in the Rift Valley. It was established in 1984. A small national park, it is known for its wide variety of wildlife and for its scenery. This includes the Fischer's Tower and Central Tower columns and Hell's Gate Gorge. The national park is also home to five geothermal power stations at Olkaria. The park is equipped with three basic campsites and includes a Maasai Cultural Center, providing education about the Maasai tribe's culture and traditions.

Hell's Gate National Park is named after a narrow break in the cliffs, once a tributary of a prehistoric lake that fed early humans in the Rift Valley. It received the name "Hell's Gate" by explorers Fisher and Thomson in 1883.

In the early 1900s, Mount Longonot erupted, and ash can still be felt around Hell's Gate. The park was officially established in 1984.

Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is situated in the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name ɛnaɨpɔ́sha , meaning "that which heaves," a common Maasai word for bodies of water large enough to have wave action when it is windy or stormy. Naivasha arose from a British attempt to pronounce the Maasai name. Literally, Lake Naivasha means "Lake Lake."

Lake Naivasha is at the highest elevation of the Kenyan Rift valley at 1,884 metres (6,181 ft) in a complex geological combination of volcanic rocks and sedimentary deposits from a larger Pleistocene Era lake. Apart from transient streams, the lake is fed by the perennial Malewa and Gilgil rivers. There is no visible outlet, but since the lake water is relatively fresh it is assumed to have an underground outflow.

The lake had a normal surface area of 139 square kilometres (54 sq mi) before 2010 and had increased to 198 square kilometres (76 sq mi) by 2020. It is surrounded by a swamp which covers an area of 64 square kilometres (25 sq mi), but this can vary largely depending on rainfall. Situated at an altitude of 1,884 metres (6,181 ft), the lake has an average depth of 6 metres (20 ft), with the deepest area being at Crescent Island, with a maximum depth of 30 metres (98 ft). Njorowa Gorge once formed the lake's outlet, but it is now high above the lake and forms the entrance to Hell's Gate National Park. The town of Naivasha (formerly East Nakuru) lies on the north-east edge of the lake.

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