Taman Negara, the lush tropical jungle is blessed with 130 million years old virgin forest has many wonderful activities awaiting for her visitors to explore her pride heritage.
Taman Negara National Park is the perfect place if you love rainforest and outdoor activities. Experience walking on the world’s longest canopy walkway, visiting the aborigine village, trekking under rainforest canopy, climbing the highest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia, caving, fishing, camping, observing wildlife, and many more.
Canopy Walk
See and feel the real different experience. Walk on the world’s longest canopy walkway, 530 m long and 40 m above the ground level. This is a must do activity in Taman Negara and one of the most memorable memories for you to bring home. Enjoy the magnificent panoramic view of flora and fauna along the walkway.
The canopy walkway was initially built for research purposes, turned out to be, main attractions for local and international tourists to Taman Negara. The Wildlife Department supervise on safety aspect and manage the daily operation. The canopy walkway is about 1.2 km from Wildlife HQ and can be reached by boat or trekking.
Jungle Trekking
Taman Negara Kuala Tahan is one of the best places to do trekking in Malaysia. There are a few floor board trails in Kuala Tahan, and one of the most popular trails is to Bukit Teresek. Trekking under the high density rainforest canopy about 1.7 km from Wildlife HQ to Bukit Teresek.
It takes about 30 – 45 minutes to reach its peak. From the top of 334 m height, enjoy the magnificent panoramic view of Gunung Tahan (can be seen on clear weather) and fabulous rainforest canopy throughout the hills and valleys. The floor board trails also lead you to Canopy walkway.
Real Inner Jungle Trekking
This trekking activity is suitable if you are physical fit and healthy. You need to go for longer trekking distance on nature trails, acceding & descending hills or crossing the rivers. If you want to experience sleeping in the jungle, you can overnight either in the cave or hide or Orang Asli village.
Among those popular trails are to Chegar Anjing, Lata Berkoh, Kuala Teranggan, Kumbang Hide and Kepayang Besar Caves. To see the locations and trails.
Night Jungle Walk
The Night Jungle Walk is the best way for you to observe and discover the nocturnal creatures in Taman Negara. At night, the side of the jungle comes alive. Bring your own touch light that help you to find the nocturnal, and insects along the trail. Please be quite when you trek along the trail, just to make sure you do not scared the creatures away.
Start your Night Jungle Walk from The Wildlife Office to Bumbun Tahan (Tahan Hide). From the hide, if you are lucky, you might see the wild animals come to the salt lick for their mineral nutrient supplies. Among those always being spotted including reindeer, tapir, wild boar and etc.
Visit Kg. Orang Asli (Aborigine Settlement)
Visiting Kampung Orang Asli or the aborigine settlement is one of main attractions to Taman Negara. See how these tribes live in remote area which is far from modernization. The settlements can be found alongside the trail and river. There are two ethnics of Orang Asli in Taman Negara, Batek and Semokberi. In general, they are gentle folks with dark skin, and tight curly hair who live a nomadic lifestyle in Taman Negara.
During your visit to their village, they will share with you how to use their bamboo hunting blow pipe and making fire. They speak their own language however our nature will help to translate and explain in English. Orang asli are friendly and know how to respect outsider and people like us. In return, please do the same to them. Respect their individual and family privacy. To take their photo, please ask for permission.
Rapid Shooting
Rapid shooting is one of the best activities in Taman Negara. In a wooden boat, you are going to ride through seven (7) rapids along Sungai Tembeling. This full of excitement and fun activity starts from Kuala Tahan jetty to Kuala Terenggan vice versa.
For your safety reason, please follow the boatman and your guide instructions. And you are required to put on your life jacket throughout this activities. You are advisable not to bring along your electronic devices such as mobile phone, digital camera and etc unless you put them in your dry bag. Be prepared to get wet!
Boat Cruise to Lata Berkoh & Kelah Fish Feeding
Cruise upstream of Sungai Tahan to Lata Berkoh and relish the riverside flora and fauna. Lata Berkoh is one of the jewels in Taman Negara and favorite spots for visitors to the park. You can see and photograph the natural beauty of Taman Negara as what have you seen the most promotion photographs were taken.
On your way, stop by at Kelah Sanctuary, Lubuk Tenor, Sungai Tahan. Kelah or Red Mahseer is the king of freshwater fish in Malaysia. Watch them come to you for the pallets and feed them. Feel the bites and test your skills to touch and hold the fish with your bare hands. Truly an extraordinary nature experience.
Animals Observation
To observe the animals, you need to do it from the hides which are available in Taman Negara. They are accessible from Kuala Tahan, namely Tahan Hide, Tabing Hide, Cegar Anjing Hide, Blau Hide, Yong Hide and Kumbang Hide. Most of the hides are accessible by trekking on Tenor and Keniam trails. Tahan Hide is the most visited hide because of it location, just 200 m away from the Wildlife HQ.
The hides are built structurally sound, safe and located at strategic position to face the salt lick where many animals regularly visit to consume clay, supplementing their diet with nutrient and minerals. Among those animals always being spotted including reindeer, tapir, wild boar and etc. Too see other wild animals, you are required to trek to the hides which are deeper in the jungle and stay overnight in the hide.
Fishing
Taman Negara is a fishing paradise for anglers. The park authority permits Sungai Tembeling and Sungai Keniam for fishing. Fish netting, poisoning, electric current and etc. are strictly prohibited and illegal. Among the popular catches in Taman Negara are Kelah, Patin, Baung, Gohok, Tenggalan, Lampam, Krai and Tapah. The best fishing months are during drier months in February to September of the year.
If you are a serious angler, fishing spots along Sungai Keniam which deep in Taman Negara are good choice. There are a few popular spots such as Kuala Perkai, Rincing, Rawa and Lata Said. It takes 2.5 – 5 hrs to reach the fishing spots from the departure point at Kuala Tahan jetty. For the amateur, Sungai Tembeling is good enough for you to experience the Taman Negara fishing.
Cave Exploration
Limestones cave exploration guarantees of fun and excitement. Gua Telinga is located 2.6 km from Wildlife HQ is popular for a 1/2 day activities. Your excitement begin with your safety briefing. And the adventure start when you put on your equipment such as caving helmet, lamp, battery pack, etc and emerge through the chamber, crawl and climb.
Gua Telinga is home for various bats, racer snakes and many fascinating insects. They will be around you, when you are exploring the cave. If you want to experience a larger chamber cave in Taman Negara, Gua Kepayang Besar will be the best cave for you to explore. Trek for a few hours via real inner jungle trail to the the cave. Discover and spend your night in this magnificent cave.
Gunung Tahan Climbing
Trekking to Gunung Tahan is one of toughest and adventurous activities in Taman Negara. Hiking to the highest peak in Peninsular Malaysia (2187 m) is for you if you are physically and mentally fit. The trail is well known as one of the most challenging routes to trek in Malaysia. If you have enough courage to ascend and descend mountains, cross the rivers, long distance trekking, and camp for a few nights in the jungle, this is might be the best hiking experience you will ever make in your hiking life experience.
You have a few optional routes to Gunung Tahan. Kuala Tahan – Gunung Tahan – Kuala Tahan is the first route, open to public for hiking. This classic trail is 53 km from Kuala Tahan and normally, groups take 7 days 6 nights to complete the route. Since 1999, Kuala Juram – Gunung Tahan – Kuala Juram route is open to public. This route is now getting more popular among climbers. It shorten your hiking distance to 32 km only and you just need 4 days 3 nights hiking.
Four Steps Water Fall Explorations
The eastern flanks of Gunung Tahan and Gunung Gedong drop off very sharply into the headwaters of Sungai Tahan. One of the tributaries in the Ulu Tahan plunges and cascades spectacularly down the mountainside in what is known as the Four Steps Waterfall.
Some hikers detour to this unique water fall on their Gunung Tahan hiking. This is the toughest trail in Taman Negara and therefore, the amateur hikers are not recommended to participate in this activity.
Bird Watching
With about 380 bird species, the park arguably has the highest number of birds of any forest area in Peninsular Malaysia.
Habitats range from montane to lowland forests with most of the birds found in the lowland forest around the main bird watching areas of Kuala Tahan and Kuala Terenggan. During the fruit season, usually from May to August, many bird species can be found feeding on fig trees around the park headquarters. They include the Thick-billed Pigeon, Rhinoceros Hornbills, Blue-eared Barbet, Asian Fairy bluebird, Blue-winged Leafbirds, Green Boardbill and the Yellow-vented Flowerpecker. The six species of pheasants are found here include the Crested and Crestless Fireback Pheasants, Malaysian Peacock as well as the Crested Argus Pheasants.
The months of June and July are ideal to search for majestic Great Argus Pheasant along the trail to Teresek Hill. As you drift down the pristine Tahan River, you might spot the much sought after Masked Finfoot, one of the only three species found in the world or the Stork-billed, Blue-banded, Blue-eared and Rufous-collared Kingfishers that might also be found along the river trails to the Lata Berkoh cascades. Taman Negara is a treasure trove for hornbills and nine species can be found around the Kuala Tahan and Kuala Terenggan areas.
For more information, please visit http://www.tamannegara.asia
