Penang Hills and Trails - Three Hills Challenge
Sungai Pinang - Secret Garden and Return 2018

This is part of a series of pages on walking the hills of Penang. Click here for the index. This is a Grade 3 walk. There is a sketch map at the bottom showing the route followed. 

Please visit my Penang buses page for information on accessing the starting point.

IMPORTANT - the Wild Boar Fence referred to below will have been installed and this means that the direct route described in this report will no longer be available, hikers will have to look for an alternative (as suggested below) although we will be back soon checking the area out. 

It was New Year's Eve and the roads in Penang were likely to be more crowded than ever, especially as these days the island is invaded for the occasion by motorcyclists from the mainland who from their behaviour are indistinguishable from the average Macaque monkey. Accordingly we went no further than Sungai Pinang for our daily hiking fix and I organised a very special route, while no summit was very high, we would clear no less than three of them, I doubt there are many places on the island where this could be done although with a small tweak I could make it four here. We parked up just above the Saanen goat farm, as can be seen it was a clear day with high sun and hence the pictures are very contrasty.

Climbing up we turned left below the concrete water tank and went the short distance to a very special house. It's a traditional Hakka wooden building and (almost) uniquely it's is still a family home, elsewhere at best they tend to be a store or used by migrant workers, otherwise they will have been abandoned.

So walking down the side road, it was no surprise to see small offerings at the foot of this boulder. Where it meets the road up the valley, we had to turn right and then immediately left up a concrete path. it's one that had somehow escaped our attention until recently.

It's a classic and much better than the alternative climb further up the valley. This house is no longer lived in. 

Like the glamping area on the other side of the hill, this is 'boulder valley', no doubt a geologist could explain how they came to be here.

The top of this orchard seems to have been allowed to get overgrown until it was recently cleared. Where the path takes a sharp left turn, we had to go through a dividing 'hedge' into the next orchard.

Immediately we were on another concrete trail, in fact it was while descending here recently that we spotted the path we had just come up. By now we were almost at the ridge and when we got there we turned right and headed north. It wasn't 'warm' today, it was 'hot'.

This picture shows Bukit Pulau Betong to the south and the ridge on the right has been the target of several of our walks this year. Other walks have involved a loop around it using the 'famous' Pulau Betong - Gertak Sanggul path and the 'V' to the left of the picture.

When we could see the 'White House' ahead, we transferred to the short isolated concrete path which runs to the left below the ridge. After problems on our first visit this trip, we had noted the three dead trees which indicated the path which would take us down and out into the orchard below.

A few days earlier, we had checked and cleared the path so it was all a lot easier than perhaps it looks.

The last few metres had become a stream bed, dry at the moment, but still meriting care.

We now had a long durian orchard section, first down and then up to access the area next to the National Park. Normally we would turn right here, but today we went left.

It's probably got an easier gradient and when we could see the house ahead, I knew we would have to turn right and go down the grassy bank towards the stream. 

Again it's covered in boulders but the manicured grass makes thing easier and the crossing is straightforward.

.Immediately there's a concrete path and behind the hut a gate which needed to be open as there's no easy alternative route as there often is.

Very quickly we rejoined the usual path and headed for the next stream.

At the point of reversal we were actually only a few minutes from Pantai Acheh. The next section is probably the least attractive of the day, to the right the cleared area has gone wild and to the left, it's rapidly going the same way. To make matters worse, there was no shade at all.

It was soon over and at one point there was a massive series of crashing sounds just off the path. We had disturbed a large group of wild boar although it was impossible to see them under the vegetation. The col is well positioned as there was a much needed steady breeze as we took a break. That's the path to rain gauge 25 (RG 25) and Bukit Batu Itam behind Yuehong. Behind the photographer is the ridge route to Rain Gauge 24 (RG 24) and the 'White House', we've done this just once some years ago and found much of it overgrown. It probably merits a session with the secateurs although much of the vegetation is fern.

We had the 'Secret Garden' section ahead, first continuing on the concrete path past the newly finished house.

We don't have any problem spotting where to turn, it's more or less the first place where it's clear enough and gentle enough to go down to the valley. This time, Yuehong didn't miss the wild fig.

Depending on the season and usage the grass may be a foot high or almost clear, it was our third visit recently and this will have helped. Currently, the valley by the stream is completely clear.

At the house, we turned left at the red banner on the tree, climbed gently and followed the orchard up the valley.

Soon the 'forest' closes in but nowhere is it steep or less than clear. 

The path is once again, in good condition at one point a small plastic culvert has been installed to try to forestall another landslide.

We got to the glamping development area and Yuehong got a shock, in just a few days, barbed wire and metal sheeting had been added to the fence posts blocking our anticipated route.

Fortunately, its still incomplete but we will need a 'Plan B' next time. Where we exited the area, I guess there will be some kind of gate installed but it will be of no use if the bottom remains blocked. The metal boarding is of the type used around proposed urban developments and there it lasts only 3 -4 years before it falls apart and I guess it will happen here too. The actual glamping site has a far superior and more expensive arrangement. 

This is a view of the area we shall be forced into next time, there's a hut there across the stream. This whole area is planted with rapid growing, high yielding coconut palms - it was stripped almost bare with newly planted bananas when we first came some 6 years ago.

We passed the (store) house and turned right onto the broad concrete road. One of the two grandiose gates is lying propped up against the bank on the right and the whole area reeks of being yet another place where ambitious dreams have turned to boredom.

There was a light on in the house but no other sign of human presence save a couple of young dogs. We climbed up behind it. 

The left turn junction part way up is now a bit overgrown but perfectly passable as long as you take care with the large gully on the left and the hidden smaller gully on the right. We soon got to the top, which thankfully would have completed the climbing for the day.

Yuehong took a break and sent me ahead down the road to our more usual resting point off to the left. Unfortunately, I had left my brain somewhere in the Secret Garden and I ignored the required path, so I had to go further down and back up the road where I met Yuehong coming the right way. We took a shorter break than usual and headed off down, yes, it's a path but everything is growing at a phenomenal rate right now.

We crossed into a durian orchard which has changed hands, the new owner having 'plans' for it. Most of the trees have signs but this is the most interesting. It's an old tree no doubt, but I think the age claim is a bit far fetched, given that Francis Light secured Penang for the British in 1786.

It's the site for the self-styled 'Penang Durian Story', the house and other facilities are incomplete, there's not yet a web presence. I hope they keep a sense of proportion but they will struggle to fence off this area as access is needed to other orchards above. As for today, we turned left for the wooden house and went back to Mavis. It had been a cracking walk, maybe a bit longer and hotter than we would have wanted, Yuehong's body language shows that but the 'stats' were good, some 9 km hiked and 500m climbed. 

Writing this two days later, we're on a much needed rest day. The school holidays are over which means the local tourists will have disappeared, but January sees more foreign tourists who will include some of our friends whom we will escort on carefully selected routes which should not offend. It will be great to see them, but it means less 'excitement' for us!