By Karen Bong
Lambir Hills National Park in Miri hides a beautiful waterfall that drops 25-metres down to a large, deep emerald pool with a broad, white sandy beach in the serenity of a lush green forest.
The Latak Waterfall is the easiest to reach of the six secluded waterfalls nestled within this nearly 7,000 hectares of lowland dipterocarp and heath forests that rises to a height of 450 metres.
What better way to get away from it all and enjoy a little adventure, get a good workout, connect with nature, melt away stress, restore your calm and soak up nature’s goodness than a walk or a hike in the forest.
An easy 20-minute nature walk for one kilometre from the park information office leads to the base of the Latak Waterfall. The trail begins with a short walk on a raised wooden plank boardwalk before quickly slipping into the forest.
Continue on the well-marked trail with thick foliage on both sides and shaded by canopy of tall trees, past a wet trail and then proceed to cross two bridges and there you will find a hanging bridge and a wooden foot bridge where you can stop to enjoy the sights and sounds of the slow running clear stream below.
Stroll along the nature-made winding jungle trails until you see a sign pointing towards the falls. In a moment, you will be greeted by a spacious sandy beach with a tree sitting in the middle and as you go in, you will begin to hear the gentle sounds of the waterfall before it comes into view.
The small clearing makes for a great spot for a picnic and a dip in the natural pool on a warm day. Don’t worry about getting wet because there are a few huts, toilets and a changing room in the area.
Visitors are reminded to exercise caution when splashing in the pool, especially after heavy rainfall which can send water gushing down the mountain and increase the flow of the waterfall.
While D’Drifters did not have the luxury of time to enjoy a picnic, this breathtaking sight has surely left us mesmerised.
If you have the time and stamina, there are five other waterfalls to explore, namely the Nibong Waterfall which is accessible by hiking about 1.2km, Pantu Waterfall (1.8km) Dinding Waterfall (4.7km), Tengkorong Waterfall (5.4km) and Pancur Waterfall (7.1km).
So don’t stop just there because Lambir Hills National Park has so much more to offer and seek out.
The 99 steps forest staircase will leave you breathless
Now that you have done your warm-up, lace up those hiking shoes and get ready to burn those glutes and quads with a climb up a long, steep flight of stairs featuring 99-steps.
Earlier, after crossing the wooden foot bridge heading to the Latak Waterfall, if you wander left there is a flight of forest staircase that connects to many other trails in the park including the Pantu Trail.
After visiting the Latak Waterfall, we traced our steps back to the entrance of the forest stairs and started our ascent of what feels like torture as you stare up from the bottom of the stairs which seem to go on forever into the forest canopy.
But it is not that bad. The climb is not difficult nor the steps too many to scale, but we did have to stop and rest our legs and take a breather every nice in a while.
What a good cardio workout. So just keep your eye on the finish line, but don’t forget to enjoy the journey and take in as much fresh forest air as you can.
The tree tower
Shortly after the forest staircase along the Pantu Trail, you will come across an abandoned tree tower, which stands at about 22 metres tall, that was designed to give visitors a glimpse of the forest canopy, bird watching and spot the many different kinds of insects, epiphytes, ferns and orchids that are not seen at ground level.
The Kapur tree, according to our park guide, could easily reach up to 50 metres in height, and is one of the giants in this rainforest.
Unfortunately, the high wooden structure with platforms and staircases is now dilapidated and the facility has been closed for many years.
This park is a bird watchers’ paradise as it is home to an amazingly rich diversity of birds including the Bornean Bristlehead, Garnet Pitta, Rufous-tailed Shama, Crested Goshawk, Rhinoceros Hornbill, Green Broadbill, Dusky Broadbill, Rufous-collared Kingfisher, Banded Kingfisher, Rufous-backed Kingfisher, Hook-billed Bulbul, Dark-throated Oriole, Yellow-rumped Flowerpecker, Large-tailed Nightjar, Brown Hawk Owl and many more.
Continuing into the wilds
We continued to venture through the rugged terrain of Pantu Trail which mostly involves gentle and flat walks as we learned about some of the giant beautiful trees in the park, including the Magris tree with a reddish brown centre.
Our park guide shared that in the olden days, this hard wood is used for making axe handles because they are strong and produce long, straight staves.
Be ready as the hike forking into the 1.25km Inoue Trail would zig-zag uphill and downhill at certain sections to take you back to the park headquarters. On your way down, you will pass an abundance of wildflowers, patches of mosses, wild mushrooms, vines, ferns and other native plants that survive in this dense forest.
All in all, we completed a 5.65-km loop trail that took nearly three hours.
The vast network of hiking trails are the centre of attraction at Lambir Hills National Park. You will find everything from family-friendly nature or forest walks to strenuous, full-day adventurous hikes that lead to the summit.
The trail system is categorised as primary, secondary and tertiary trails. There are four primary trails, which consist of Main (0.84km), Pantu (1.390km), Lepoh-Ridan (distance not recorded but about 1 hour 45 minutes one way) and Bakam (2 hour 40 minutes one way).
The seven secondary trails are Latak (0.182km), Nibong (1.2km), Bukit Pantu (2.9km), Pantu Waterfall (1.8km), Summit (6.3km), Tengkorong (5.4km)and Pancur (7.1km) whereas the Dinding Waterfall trail (4.7km) is the only tertiary train in the park.
According to the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), not many visitors would proceed beyond the Pantu Waterfall turnoff as the hike to the highest peak of 465m entails an arduous 14km round trip that would require a minimum of seven hours.
Those fit enough should definitely attempt the Summit Trail to observe the sudden transition from dipterocarp forest to health forest and the profusion of wild orchids. You will be rewarded with a superb view on top and later on treat yourself to a cool dip in the pool below the Dinding Waterfall on the way down.
Lambir Hills National Park
Lambir Hills National Park, encompassing 52 hectares of greenness, is reputable for being one of the world’s most complex and diverse forest ecosystems where dozens of international research scientists have carried out work in it.
The famed park has been open to public access from 1975 when it was incorporated as a national park by the government.
The Lambir Hills is buzzing with a bountiful 1,200 species of trees which play hosts to thousands of insects. It is also home to 237 different species of birds, flying squirrels, wild pigs, gibbons, many different types of monkey, various species of deer, and other invertebrates.
Getting there and other facilities
Lambir Hill National Park is located along the Miri-Bintulu road, about 35km south of Miri town. The drive from Miri is between 30 to 40 minutes.
From Miri, you can also take the local bus that provides frequent service to Batu Niah, Bakong and Bekenu junctions, where the buses would stop directly opposite the park’s headquarters. Note that the bus marked ‘Lambir’ does not go to the national park.
There will be admission charges to enter the park with tickets for non-Malaysian adults priced at RM20, non-Malaysian children aged 6 to 17 (RM7), Malaysian adults (RM10) and Malaysian children aged 6 to 17 (RM3).
The park also offers accommodations for exploration beyond a day trip. There are a number of basic wooden chalets as well as camp sites available for bookings through https://ebooking.sarawak.gov.my/eBooking/public/home.htm?lg=en.
The park opens from 8am to 5pm daily including public holidays.
For more information, visitors can contact +6011-6572 9433 or 011-65730144. — DayakDaily
