Penang Hills and Trails - Forest Park Trail
Batu Ferringhi to Teluk Bahang

This is part of a series of pages on walking the hills of Penang. Click here for the index. This is a Grade 3-4 walk.

Please visit my Penang buses page for information on accessing the starting point.

This well signposted trail has been established by the Forestry Department. Knowing the first part from our stroll along the Batu Ferringhi Aqueducts, we started from the Bayview Beach Hotel and headed inland along the dirt road into what is known as the Chin Farm / Estate. It's important to turn right at the first junction (a small shrine is just a few metres up it) and follow the broken road as it climbs slightly above the valley. Where it turns slightly right, our trail continues straight on to a water tower, beneath which is a (Google Earth based) map of the system. Necessarily, the actual topography cannot be gleaned from it!

Along the initial trail we found this beautiful orchid. It is typically Malaysian for the left and right hands not to know what the other is doing. So while the PBA has erected a fence and threatening notices, the Forestry Department has opened a trail straight through it and 'someone' has ensured that there is a hole in the right place.

On arrival at the dam (the aqueducts are up the concrete road on the left as you approach), it was clear we would have to cross over to the west side, just how was another matter, nor was it immediately clear where the trail continued.

Solving the 'how' was the easy part and Yuehong carefully crossed over, but instead of quitting while she was ahead she went back for a quick splash and landed bottom first... After which I was summoned to console her with a Vladmir Putin moment.

Although it wasn't immediately apparent there was a sign some 50m below the dam into the forest. Almost immediately the path divided into three, but a quick check of each revealed that we wanted the one that crossed the small side stream. For the next hour there was a smile on Yuehong's face:

After a while, her body and her bad knee in particular started to complain and to be honest it was a bit of an ordeal on what was a much hotter afternoon than many as there was no cloud cover. Just how much was clear when I realised I was being cursed in a language I didn't understand. Put simply, she overheated. It wasn't helped when what I hoped would be the summit turned out to be anything but (we were counting down the stations having passed 5 some time earlier). Indeed, by the time we reached the nominal halfway point (2000m out of 4000m) we were over the top but progress was extremely slow and the camera was put away.

On and on the path went, the knee was on strike and when we had to traverse an unpleasant open area of ferns in full sun, the rest of the body went on strike too. I was not a little concerned that we might be sleeping out but there was nothing to do but wait. There were compensations like the forest walker who was making even slower progress than Yuehong and the less common form of pitcher plants in groups also right in the middle of the path. Look carefully and you can see their dinners:

Once the sun went down, the air cooled and the path improved as we approached the Rimba Rekreasi and I knew I would be sleeping in my own bed. The Forestry Department gate was locked against us and there was no hole in this fence but we found our way out around the back of the Butterfly Farm and trudged very tired down to Teluk Bahang just as it got dark. Average speed for the walk was well below 1kph.

However, there was plenty of food and fresh lime drink available at the 24 hour Nasi Kandar on the way to the bus stop. When we were offered 4 smallish durians for just MYR 10, life got much better again. And now a day later, Yuehong is laughing at herself and we are planning the next expedition. I suspect much of it will be on well graded concrete though!

The Forestry Department are to be commended on their initiative in setting up the trail and signposting it so well. However, while parts of it are well thought out, too much suggests it was cut by a small group armed with GPS and sharp parangs and very little experience of trail making. It is bad practice to lay trails in the jungle on slopes which are so steep that ropes are needed - inevitably these will erode badly. Similarly, traversing an open fern covered area, even with rope assistance, is not only an unpleasant experience but one which will damage an area which needs to be left to regenerate.