Osborne Dam Recreational Park

Osborne Dam Recreational Park is the largest lake in Manicaland Province and is one of the major inland lakes in Zimbabwe.

Osborne Dam plaque

The lake covers about 2600 hectares of land with a carrying capacity of over 400 million cubic metres of water. The lake stretches 16 kilometres along the Odzi River and 15 kilometres along its Nyatande tributary. The lake is over 6 kilometres wide and 66 metres deep. It is under Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority.

See Low End Guide.
See Wildlife, Zimbabwe.

Background

The Lake was built from 1991 up to 1993 and was commissioned by Robert Mugabe in 1994.

Osborne Dam

Directions

The Lake Osborne turnoff is about 38km to the north (on your left if coming from Harare) after Nyazura. It is well signposted.

Total distance from the main road to the dam on the dirt road is about 19km. The first 5km are very rough and full of pot holes so keep it slow. There are also a couple of sharp drop offs going into the bridges, so take those slow too.

4.3km on the dirt road veer right (east) at the V. Follow this section for about 14.4km, you will arrive at a small set of shops and huts, there is a small sign for Osborne, you will take the right turning after the shops. From there the entrance is 300m up on your left.