The Bale Mountains National Park is located 400 km southeast of Addis Ababa in Oromia National Regional State in south-eastern Ethiopia. It was established in 1970; this park covers about 2,200 square kilometers of the Bale Mountains to the west and southwest of Goba in the Bale Zone. It belongs to the Bale-Arsi massif, which forms the western section of the south - eastern Ethiopian highlands, which is Ethiopia's second largest mountain complex and the largest area of Afro-alpine habitat in the whole of the continent. It is a home for various flora and fauna species. The park which comprises reverie plains, woodlands and bush land, is a home for several endemic species like Mountain Nyala and Semien Fox, and the park is believed to be established to protect these two animals.

A visit is rewarded by the opportunity to site many endemic mammals and birds including the rarest canid in the world - the Ethiopian wolf. It is quite memorable to be driving on the highest road in Africa and then descend down to one of Ethiopia's most remarkable forested reserves - the Harenna Forest.