Hiking Sg Pisang via Highway Route

My very first hike for the year 2021. Glad to finally break my 4 months hiking hiatus with this short & refreshing hike @ Sg Pisang. 

The view of Sg Pisang falls - beautiful, innit?

Sg Pisang is located at the fringe of Selangor, just a short half an hour drive from KL, which makes it a popular hiking spot/day trip destination for folks living in the Klang Valley. Further, the trail leading into the waterfall is relatively easy (flat terrain 85% of the time), which makes it very beginner friendly. I was debating whether to call this a "hike" or a "trek" but decided to stick with "hike" since there are certain parts where it feels like a "hike". I did the entire hike with my flip-flops, simply because I didn't want to deal with wet shoe. The hike is doable but you might get a few scratches here and there on your feet.

Due to its close proximity to KL, and (possibly) with the travel restriction and lockdown, Sg Pisang seems to have been surging in popularity - it gets crazily crowded during the weekends and/or public holidays.  Try to get there early in the morning or later in the evening to beat the crowd. 

The signature photo at Sg Pisang - this tunnel :D You might've seen a photo of this on your social media

My friends and I decided to start hiking at 3pm on a Sunday evening and the crowd seems manageable. However, bear in mind that hiking in the evening = less daylight time at the waterfall. Plus, if you're not familiar with the route, there might be not many people around you who could ask for direction (this was the case for us!) so this might not be the best choice. 

And hence, I'm putting together this blog post which I hope will help other first-timer who would like to hike Sg Pisang :) 

Getting to the Trailhead & Parking

Be careful as the Sg Pisang location marked on maps is the entrance via Karak highway. There is NO PROPER PARKING SPOT at that location. I repeat, NO PROPER PARKING SPOT. I really don't recommend parking your car next to Karak Highway. 

Refer to the pin below for the actual trailhead. 

 

Try searching for "Trailhead Sungai Pisang" or "JUNGLE LODGE ALANG SEDAYU" for the actual trailhead. There are some (albeit limited) parking spaces there. A friend of mine went to the location next to Karak highway and had to make a one-hour detour to get to the actual trailhead so please do check if you've got the actual trailhead location before you depart to Sg Pisang! 

The road leading into Sg Pisang - you may park your car here and walk in, as the roads get narrower as you drive closer to the trailhead.

Take the road on the left 

The road leading into the trailhead - see what I mean about narrow! It is supposed to be a two-way road but because of the limited parking space, many visitors had to park their car at the side of the road, making the already narrow road narrower, 

Once you see the read banner, you'll notice a little hut on the left side of the road. There will be locals there who would collect an entrance fee of RM1 per person. 

I was told by a friend who visited Sg Pisang on a weekend before us that they were asked to pay parking fees of RM10. Some reviewers and bloggers on Google claimed to have paid RM5. However, during my visit, no one collected the parking fees from us so I guess it depends on your luck. 

Part 1 of the Hike

The first 10-15 minutes of our hike. Will be covering the hike from the trailhead to the tunnel in Part 1.

The hike begins after you pay RM1 and check-in via MySejahtera at the booth (yes, please scan to check-in). Continue walking along the tarred road until you see a gate blocking your path. 

The gate is the entrance to the water plant. You'll see a little trail on the left for you to walk down to the river 

There are designated platform for day-trippers to set up their picnic spread/tent on the river. There are many families with young children having a picnic around this part of the river. The water is shallow & calm enough for even young children to swim in.

You may walk along the river, or the little path on the right side of the river...

till you see this water plant - that's your sign to cross the river! At this point, I decided to ditch my shoes and go barefooted/with my slippers - the water level was slightly below my knee and I didn't want to deal with wet shoes (I use a Gore-Tex hiking shoes - it is fully water proof but once water enter my shoes, it is hard to get it out). 

You'll see a trail at the yellow signboard, if you're ever unsure - do stop and ask any hikers around.

The path from there is relatively clear & exposed, just follow the trail and you'll reach another river after a short 100m trek.

The current at this part of the river is a lot stronger. Karak highway is just above you so from time to time you can see vehicles zooming past.

Just walk along the sides of the river until you see an opening on your left - there are a few openings so pick one that is the easiest to climb up. 

You'll be walking next to Karak Highway...

And reaching this iconic tunnel shortly! It takes just about 10~20 minutes from the trailhead to reach this point.

 

The water level was always below our knees - however I believe that this depends on the weather during that particular week

Part 2 of the Hike

Will be covering the route from the other end of the tunnel to the waterfalls via Karak Highway for this part. This part takes about 20-40 minutes. 

Once you exit from the tunnel. you will be greeted with a tranquil green oasis. 

I have to say - the view was breathtaking - it felt as though we got transported to another realm - a fairy tale land. 

From there, you have the option to either take the:

1. River route

2. Highway route 

The river route is definitely more scenic and tranquil. HOWEVER, the route may be confusing, especially for first-timers, as there were no clear signage or markers along this route. We were advised by a group of hikers to just keep going straight along the river, keeping right as much as possible and to not turn left into the jungle route. We went in for about 30m into the river route and reached a fork. We couldn't collectively agree on which way to take, and there weren't any other hikers around for us to ask for directions as it was late evening (didn't want to get lost & stranded there! A blogger actually recount their experience being lost taking the river route), and we decided to make a U-Turn and take this highway route instead. We were told that it will take around 45 minutes to reach the waterfall using the river route. 

The highway route on the other hand is much more straightforward and shorter. To get to the highway route, you'll need to go up a set of stairs which you can find on your right side once you emerge from the tunnels

The stairs were steep - it really reminded me of The Great Wall of China lol :p 

You're not done yet! You still need to climb up a few steps...

And tadaaaa Karak Highway! 

You'll need to walk forward till you reach the 28.7km marker...(If I remember correctly, you'll be starting from the 28.3km marker). This part of the route is uncovered and hence it might be scorching hot! 

You'll see a little opening at the 28.7km mark

Follow the path for about 15 minutes. The path is relatively clear and straightforward. 

As you good deeper in, you'll slowly hear the roaring of the waterfall. And soon enough, you'll see the waterfall :D 

From here, you may choose to descend to the base of the waterfall, or take the path ahead to go to the top of the waterfall. I highly recommend checking the top of the waterfall - there are less people and (I think) it is cleaner up there :D 

The top of the waterfall - we could see fishes swimming there! 

There's a mini fall up there for you to enjoy too!

Last Words...

Would I visit Sg Pisang again? Yes! Would love to try out the river trail :) Will probably hike with a pair of covered crocs next time - the trail is doable in flip flops, however, as mentioned above, I've gotten a few scratches and cuts here and there so a pair of covered crocs (you know the type that covers your toes) would be perfect. 

Sungai Pisang

Difficulty: Easy, the trail was flat 80% of the time 

Duration of hike: 1.5~3 hours return trip