If you are looking on what to do besides visiting cultural sites, or chilling at the beach, hiking in Bali draws many tourists to the land of permanent seismic activity and volcanoes. With a landscape shaped by constant seismic activity and dotted with majestic volcanoes, hiking in Indonesia promises excitement for avid climbers and naturalists alike.
Hiking these natural wonders to behold awe-inspiring vistas and the raw beauty of the land. Each volcano has its own character and its own unique flora and fauna, and offers its own individual experience for the hikers.
Hiking in Bali
Hiking Mt. Batur (1717m)
It has the longest history of 25 recorded eruptions.
Its caldera has been transformed multiple times through the millennia, but the huge vertical crater of the central peak spoke its last word 22 years ago and has kept silent ever since. Its depth is breathtaking, and the crater floor is hidden from any angle of observation from above.
Small pieces of coral pink lava can be found down there, along with a couple of black caves gaping from the crater walls. With an elevation of just 700m above the caldera floor, hiking in Bali’s mount Batur is an easy 2-hour hike, suitable for beginners and children as young as 5 years old.
The trail is also accessible by enduro bikes almost all the way to the top. Monkeys love this place, and they use the abundant chances to steal food and other items from hiking tourists in Bali, if they’re lacking caution.
Local guides compete for the audience in quite an extraordinary way here.
Foreigners get stopped in the middle of the street, and compulsory guiding services are offered aggressively, with prices quoted randomly and no objections accepted. To avoid the trouble, it is recommended to choose an experienced guide in advance. Some Bali volcano veterans have scored 1500 climbs and more, and they have many stories to tell.
Hiking Mt. Abang (2152m)
The big brother facing Batur across the lake. It is not a volcano and has no crater.
Instead, it is covered with fairytale forest all the way to the top. Normally, the moss-covered forest is full of mist, and the trail is cool and silent, like a sanctuary with an air of safety and tranquility. When it comes to hiking, Mount Abang volcano is a very clean reservation, almost untouched by the tourism industry, and it is highly recommended to help keep it clean by carrying your garbage away from this pristine place.
The flora of this mountain is indeed unique and probably the most beautiful in Bali.
The summit is quite flat, providing enough space for several tents and a good rest after a 5-hour hike.
Mt. Batukaru (2275m)
Hiking in Bali’s second highest peak
The sleeping volcano is the geographical centre of Bali and a perfect place to connect with the island. The expats who intend to stay in Bali for a long time, or who just want to establish a heart-to-heart connection with the island, are welcome to visit Batukaru, meditate at the summit temple, and ask any questions and advice from the spirits of the land.
The mountain is covered with thick rainforest, coffee plantations at the foothills, and rare species of trees and undergrowth. Even a fabled Rudraksha tree can be spotted here with its bright blue berries whose stones are used to produce sacred meditation beads.
The slopes of Mt. Batukaru volcano are home to various animals and birds, including deer, luwak, and owls. Sometimes flocks of huge birds take flight from right underneath climbers’ feet as they ascend.
Hiking in Bali, on Mount Batukaru is quite intense, taking as long as 6 hours one way, and rains are frequent in Tabanan area, making the hike even harder when the trail is wet.
April to October is the enjoyable season to be hiking in Bali.
The main entrance to the trail is guarded by the priests of Pura Luhur Batukaru, one of the holiest and most beautiful temples in Bali. The other entrance celebrates Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and the arts.
Mt. Agung (3142m)
Agung is the ultimate challenge and prize for hiking in Bali.
The 8- to 10-hour hike is steep and requires a strong intention to complete. Unlike Batur, where hundreds of people can be met on any day, Agung is the place for a meditative journey and quiet camping, where one can enjoy the fresh silence of the world. The view from the summit is well worth the strenuous climb.
Java, Nusa Penida, Lombok, and Gili islands are all at the climbers’ feet when they stand on the summit, and Indonesia lays its paradise lands before their gaze.
Mount Agung is home to pheasants and magnificent, rare birds. Sometimes a male pheasant is brave enough to sit on the trail just a few paces from the hikers and show its multicoloured feathers. The only campsite is represented by a small flat patch of land at 2300m above the sea level, allowing for 20 tents to be set side by side just above the clouds. This is where the forest, grass, and raspberry bushes give way to the rocky cap of the mountain.
The final 3 hours of hiking take us to the summit, where the breathtaking depth of the crater reveals itself. A place rarely even thought of by visitors, the crater of Mt. Agung volcano is one of the most beautiful locations in Bali.
In the morning hours, while the huge shadow of the peak travels along the beaches of Canggu and Kuta, the sun warms the crater, chasing the clouds out of the huge bowl.
The brightly colored red and yellow walls encircle the sea of dark grey lava ash that remember times when there were few human steps.
It looks and feels extraterrestrial down there, cut off from the populated world, one on one with the might of the planet.
Several twisted and cracked rectangular chunks of frozen magma, the size of elephants, decorate the crater floor, lying there silently like huge sleeping dinosaurs waiting for their riders to come.
After descending from the great mountain, hikers in Indonesia usually feel a strange boost of energy and strength, as if Mt Agung has shared some of its power with those who accept its challenges.
Beyond Bali, Hiking in Indonesia
Three amazing volcanoes, just hours away, are worth mentioning here, their exotic beauty enchanted by colourful lakes in their craters.
Hiking Bromo (2392m, East Java)
Mount Bromo is a power beyond imagination.
Its black pit contains an aquamarine acidic lake roaring with deadly white fumes of gas. The sound of Bromo and its hypnotic gaze stay in the eyes and ears for several days after a brief meditation at the crater rim.
The actual climb is only 30 minutes, and safari jeeps and horseback riding services are provided in the Black Sand Valley surrounding the volcano.
Ijen (2769m, East Java)
Mount Ijen greets hikers with the world’s largest lake of sulphuric acid.
Azure liquid is constantly supplied with an inflow of sulphuric gas from the magma chamber under the lake, maintaining an extremely high concentration of acid. Ijen is a must visit if you want to go hiking in Indonesia.
Respirators can be used to withstand the choking effect of the poisonous vapours on the way down from the crater rim to the lake. Ijen is a very beautiful and popular national park with wildlife visible along the 2-hour trail.
Rinjani (3726m, Lombok Island)
An ancient power thriving with life.
Its crater lake of freshwater is huge and suitable for swimming and fishing. The hike is very intense, and the best experience involves ascending to the caldera, a 1000m drop to the lake, a day at the lake, then a full day to the summit, and the long descent.
Spending 4 full days exploring Rinjani is a good idea for hiking in Indonesia, and its landscapes are so diverse, it’s like travelling through several different worlds in one place. The grey monkeys are much bigger and wilder than those in Bali, hunting for loose food and capable of attacking tents when people are looking elsewhere.
Families of even bigger black monkeys can be spotted at the foothills, but those are shy and tend to watch hikers from a distance.
Enjoy the beauty of hiking in Bali and beyond from above the clouds.
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