Set in the southeastern highlands, the Bale Mountains are a walker's paradise, offering endless opportunities for casual rambling and serious hiking. Scenically, the highlight is the Afro-Alpine moorland of the Sanetti Plateau, which is studded with giant lobelias and chilly tarns and provides the most important existing stronghold for the Ethiopian wolf, a russet endemic that's regarded to be world's rarest canid.
The juniper forest on lower slopes is home to other Ethiopian endemics, the kudu-like mountain nyala and the jet-black Menelik's bushbuck. Bale is also the best site for spotting birds unique to Ethiopia and Eritrea, with almost half of the region's 32 endemics present, most very easily seen either at Sanetti or near the forested park headquarters at Dinsho, which is accessible by bus.
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