The Matobo National Park forms the core of the Matobo or Matopos Hills, an area of granite kopjes and wooded valleys commencing some 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Bulawayo, southern Zimbabwe. The granite rocks, inselbergslocally called 'dwala' or 'whaleback' and castle kopjes, with their intervening flat grassy plains and vleis, of the Matobo Hills also known locally as the Matopos lie 25 km south of Bulawayo. They stretch for 90 km from beyond Mangwe Pass in the west to Umzingwane Dam in the east, and for 30 km from Fort Usher in the north almost to the Mtshabezi Mission in the south. The catchment areas of 10 rivers are found in the hills, from the Mangwe and Simukwe in the west to the Chabezi and Lumani in the east.

These rivers all flow north - south, and have created the spectacular Lumani falls as well as, in some stretches, gorges. Due to the run-off from the rocks in the rainy season, some grasslands become marshy vleis and 'sponges', late into the dry season. The granitic sandy soils support three main vegetation-types: kopje woodlands (and other vegetation), flat woodlands, and grasslands. Water run-off from the dwalas results in forests and thickets at their bases, producing a wonderful diversity of flora. Cohabiting with the usual Afzelia, Commiphora, Kirkia and Pterocarpus are woody species of Zimbabwe's eastern forests.

The flat woodlands are open, consisting of sandveld woodland of Terminalia, Burkea, Pterocarpus and Acacia, with scattered smaller areas of mopane woodland and Brachystegia woodland. The grassland is composed of more than 100 plant species; sedges, reeds Phragmites and Pennisetum are dominant in wetter areas. Approximately half of the area is bare granite. The remainder is classified as suitable for grazing and cultivation. The National Park (424 km²) itself supports a thriving non-consumptive tourism, and allows neighbouring villagers to collect thatching grass. Cattle are grazed illegally in the park.

The Umzingwane Rural District Council on the east is trying to set up tourism initiatives. Most of the Matobo Hills fall within Communal Lands and a minority into commercial farmland. The beautiful hills are steeped in the country's history, and hold the highest density of San Bushman rock paintings in Africa. Historic sites and caves connected with the San, Rozwi, Kalanga, Matabele and Europeans abound in the hills, and many are National Monuments.

Matobo National Park contains the highest concentration of black eagles, and breeding pairs of these birds, worldwide.The national park and its immediate surrounds are world-famous among ornithologists for the raptor assemblage that uses them—59 species have been recorded so far including owls, of which 32 are known to breed, with a 1978 estimate of 76 pairs per 100 km². The combined richness of species and density of individuals is possibly the highest in the world, and includes 75 pairs of Aquila verreauxii.

Many of the raptors nest on rock-faces, as do c.20 pairs of Ciconianigra. The hills support a considerable population of Pinarornisplumosus, and a few other characteristic species of the Zambezian biome such as Cossyphahumeralis and Nectariniamanoensis. In 1975 Buphagusafricanus was successfully introduced to the park, and now B. erythrorhynchus is naturally expanding its range there.