Queen Elizabeth National Park spans the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri. It adjoins Kyambura Game Reserve to the east, which itself adjoins the Kigezi Game Reserve including the Maramagambo Forest and thus the Kibale National Park to the northeast. Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo lies across the border to the west. Together, these protected places completely encircle Lake Edward. The Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda lies not far to the northwest. During the 1970s and 1980s, Western conservationists usually referred to the park as Rwenzori National Park.