There are few 'jungle' trails in this area and, many of those that appear to be such, actually run through abandoned rubber estates  The most significant is the one that goes from the Genting Pass along the ridge to Bukit Pulau Betong and down to Pulau Betong / Gertak Sanggul. 10 years ago it was barely passable, now with the explosion in interest in hiking, it is completely clear and with no major junctions and just access points from adjacent orchards, the last thing it needs is markers. We hiked much of it in stages in November 2023 and where we went, the ground was clear of plastic but the trees were festooned with an astonishing variety and high density of all kinds of markers including discarded convenience food wrappers. The number of different kinds ran into double figures and in places it looked like a string of Christmas fairy lights only they didn't switch on and off. We advised avoiding this path over weekends and public holidays; because we wouldn't want to meet the brainless perpetrators of this 'vandalism'. The incredible thing is that they probably think they are following a 'green' lifestyle. (19th November 2023)

We found the ridge trail described above free of markers in late November 2024 but by mid- December it was lightly covered in red and green plastic string. We cleared this (30th December 2024) and by the end of February 2025 it was still clear; long may it remain so.

South Western Area

Click here to see maps for each of the following reports in turn, clicking the map will take you directly to the report concerned.

The aim of these pages is to record our pleasure, encourage others to repeat or even improve the experience and provide sufficient information for locals and visitors to follow the trails from scratch. Hence, there are far too many pictures of junctions in concrete trails! These trails are best enjoyed in small groups of no more than half a dozen with eyes and ears wide open and mouths firmly shut. Several can be, and are, used by mountain bikers, but if you have a motorbike please leave it at home or park it at the start of the trail; definitely do not take it (as I have read on the web) on trails which are not sealed, they will rapidly degrade if abused in such a manner.

I strongly recommend using buses to get to the starting points and back from the end of these walks.
I have written a short guide to Penang's Buses for hikers (updated 26th February 2020).