Bantang River Amenity Forest (Hutan Lipur Sungai Bantang)
Summary:
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Opening Hours: 7am – 6pm
Hutan Lipur Sungai Batang is a rainforest in Johor. It is not very big but expansive enough to offer Nature lovers a place to get out of the regular life and experience nature up-close. It is not a manmade garden and, therefore, the vegetation, streams and trails are natural. The rainforest is dense and features streams, pools and rocky trails. Its administration is completely under the government. The forest is of the kind called dipterocarp hill forest.
When you see the arch, it marks the beginning of a narrow road surrounded by thick vegetation.
At the end of the asphalt road is the car park, beyond which vehicles are disallowed. It is a broadened section of the road with a few shops selling drinks, floats and towels etc.
Hutan Lipur Sungai Batang is a natural ecosystem and every feature of the rainforest offers an opportunity for observation of the nature. Notably, strategic manmade constructions make the rainforest tourist-friendly.
The rainforest is not only for adventure sports and trekking. It is well-maintained to facilitate normal family picnics too. The rocky and sandy rims of pools as well as small expanses between trees are perfect for picnic.
After about 15 mins of trekking on a relatively easy path, you’ll see a small waterfall. It is small in terms of height but not in terms of volume of water. Swift flowing stream making its way through numerous big and small boulders form the waterfall.
There are more waterfalls in the upstream but the path becomes rocky after the first waterfall. Unless you are adventuring with the local people familiar with the jungle track, it is not advisable to go deeper into the rainforest beyond this point.
This place is 8 km from Bekok town. If you drive from Johor Bahru, exit the North-South Highway at Yong Peng. Then move north pass Chaah along Jalan Labis and when you see a sign board to Bekok, turn left and drive about 11km to the Bekok town. Then follow the sign and drive another 8km to reach the amenity forest.