Facts
| Elevation: | 2,563 m (8,409 ft) | Prominence: | 2,130 m |
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| Ribu category: |  Tinggi Sedang |
Province: | Jawa Timur (East Java) |
| Google Earth: | kml | Other names: | Ngliman |
| Rating: |  (Bagged it? Be the first to rate it)
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Photos
 The vast Liman range as seen from the train between Madiun and Nganjuk before dawn – Limas is the peak on the left (Daniel Quinn, December 2010)
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 The vast Liman range as seen from the train between Madiun and Nganjuk at dawn (Daniel Quinn, December 2010)
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 Limas and Liman seen from the road to Sedudo waterfall (Daniel Quinn, December 2010)
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 Liman seen from just beyond Sawahan (Daniel Quinn, December 2010)
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Bagging It!
This peak is the highest point of a vast and complex mountain range. There are three main peaks: Liman (in the northwest), Limas (east) and Wilis (south) but there are a huge number of other peaks with considerable drops between them. Wilis is the most well-known name and Limas is the most often often climbed (from the Kediri side.) However, Liman itself is rarely climbed and unfortunately access seems to be a grey area. Technically, it would appear that the most of the mountain range is closed for ordinary access (unless you are conducting scientific research, for example) and this has been the case since 2006, presumably when a change in the forestry law, or the implementation of a new one, closed access to wild places across Java if they were not on a recognised climbing lane.
You may be able to obtain special permission from KPH in Kediri, but even if you get lucky they are likely to send their staff members on the expedition with you – and charge a considerable price for it. It’s a bizarre and incomprehensible situation given the popularity of hiking in the province and the fact that more hikers means more people visiting the area and hence more revenue for local people. So, you can either get on with it yourself, ignoring the strict rules (which are, or course, ignored by local farmers anyway) or attempt bureaucratic negotiatons which are tiresome and often unpleasant. Finding local guides can also be difficult because so few people know the mountain range.
As can be seen from Google Maps, there are three main places that seem like reasonable starting points for a hike to the highest ridges of Liman: Air Terjun Sedudo (waterfall to the north, south of Nganjuk), Pundak Kulon (to the southwest) or Kare (northwest, accessible from Madiun). According to Google Maps there are small tracks, presumably accessible on motorbike leading up to an elevation of 1,200m in all three places.
At first glance, the most accessible starting point would appear to be Sedudo. The waterfall is a popular place with local people and is indeed very impressive. It is about one hour by motor vehicle from the friendly and laidback town of Nganjuk via Sawahan. The entrance gates and ticket booth are at an elevation of 930m but the road itself leads all the way to the waterfall itself at 1,292m. From here, steps lead down to the waterfall and a trail leads across to the right along the side of the ridge to the right of the waterfall. This vague and overgrown path is very tiresome to follow in the heat and makes for incredibly slow progress but it does eventually lead up to the top of a ridge (1,388m) which has a reasonable path running along the top of it, used by local farmers. There are good views eastwards to Penanggungan and Arjuno-Welirang in the distance and a small hill in the north, lying north of Nganjuk, labelled Gunung Gede on Google Maps but seemingly known as Gunung Pandan to local people.
From the trail on the ridge, you would be forgiven for thinking that it would be an easy stroll southwards up onto the highest parts of the ridge. After a kilometre or so of steady climbing along a perceivable path, the trail almost entirely disintegrates, at an elevation of about 1,750m. This is perhaps because local farmers do not climb much higher than this and nobody has climbed up this way for a matter of years.
The terrain is very troublesome – steep, sometimes bouldery long grass where you never know just how or where you next step is going to land. Overgrown is an understatement. It is assumed that the terrain is similar for much of the Liman ridge, sadly due to the fact that it is so rarely hiked at the present time and it would be a very time-consuming expedition to reach the highest point of the range from this route.
Looking at the two alternatives, Kare is definitely the more accessible of the two, though even if there is a trail leading up onto the ridge it is a considerable distance to the highest peak (there are two peaks of a very similar height about one kilometre apart from each other, listed as 2,552m and 2,555m on Bako maps and similar – at least in relative terms – on Google Earth). The higher of the two highest peaks is the more southwestern, which makes an approach from Pundak Kulon an attractive option, if there is actually a trail from this remote area! We hope to find out more about different approaches to the Liman ridge soon – please contact us if you can contribute any information.
Bagging information by Daniel Quinn
Practicalities
| Getting there | One or two express trains between Jakarta and Malang/Surabaya/Jombang call at Nganjuk and many call at Madiun. For Sedudo from Nganjuk there are angkots to Pasar Sawahan (Rp 7,000) from where you can get an ojek to Sedudo waterfall. Access from Kare and Pundak Kulon currently unknown. |
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| Accommodation | There are several hotels in Nganjuk and Madiun. |
| Permits | You may wish to speak to KPH (Kesatuan Pemangku Hutan) in Kediri. |
| Water sources | Available at Sedudo waterfall but not sure if there is any higher up or on other access routes. |
Location
Origins and Meaning
Elephant Mountain. Liman is the high Javanese (krama) word for “elephant”. Elephants used to be fairly plentiful in Java but they have now died out completely on the island. Nevertheless there are several place names that recall the presence of elephants, including Gunung Liman which (presumably) is so called because it has the big, solid, greyish appearance of an elephant. Gunung Wilis = Dark Green Mountain. In Javanese wilis means “dark green”, especially dark burnished green like the shiny dark metallic green on the wings of a beetle. (George Quinn, 2011)
Just got back from an Xmas attempt on this utter swine of a mountain! As if the forestry bureacracy is not enough of a hindrance, the terrain makes for incredibly slow going, certainly from the Sedudo side. A very pleasant friend of a friend helped arrange a quasi-legal trip up this route (involving throwing lots of tree seeds onto the grassy ridges) but, other than a few nice views, it was a totally joyless trip.
I got the Bangunkarta night train from Jakarta to Jombang which stops at Nganjuk, to meet a really nice guy at the station who took us up to Sedudo.
In the end, there were no less than 6 people with me, some ‘offically’, some local hikers tagging along, but as per usual in this country, it’s the white person who always pays the bill, even if you’re already paying! It took us ages to get started from the waterfall warungs (after I was expected to pay for a breakfast of noodles and kopi jahe for everyone, on top of the agreed fee – some people really do think money grows on trees where ‘bule’ come from). The weather was very good for December but once on the ridges spent a lot of time waiting whilst others threw tree seeds around – a considerable delay to progress and somewhat offensive and lacking in manners given that I had paid 1 million rupiah for this hike with the expressed intention of reaching the highest point of the range – an important piece of information which hadn’t been passed on to the Kediri chaps, who questioned the accuracy of both Bakosurtanal maps and GPS information from Google Earth! Some of the names on the Bako maps could well be inaccurate but it’s amusing how the peak called ‘Liman’ or whatever your target is called happens to be the nearest and less high one! It’s times like these that guides seem to be more of a hindrance than a help. I would have been better off – and happier – on my own!
As I wrote above, once you’re on the path on the ridge to the right of the waterfall it is pretty pleasant but by 1,750m the terrain was some of the worst I have come across. After 6 hours (2 hours of waiting around, 4 hours of hiking) I looked at my GPS which told us we were just 1.3km from the starting point and still almost 4km from the highest peak (in a straight line). The clouds had also descended by this time. We were at just 1,900m and I decided we should just turn round and descend as the chances of getting to our destination was out of the question in the time we had remaining on this sort of terrain. It could be that the top ridge has a better quality of trail on it – I hope to try from the Madiun (Kare) side one day.
Perhaps I was being lazy to turn back, but the decision of a hotel bed in Nganjuk or a boring, tiresome and unecessary evening halfway to the highest peak with some people – who were quite clearly not interested in what the point of the trip was – seemed obvious! I just couldn’t be bothered by this point. We headed back down to the warungs near the waterfall (under 2 hours) and, after the Kediri lads made one last attempt to utilise whatever was left in the bule’s wallet, headed back into Nganjuk for a rest.
It a real shame that there is no more done to encourage access to places such as Liman – it is pretty obvious that if there was a well-used trail it would be a brlliant hike with phenomenal views of other peaks in East Java and would be of great benefit to all. You have to wonder just what purpose a forestry/National Park law serves if it means limiting access to the outdoors in this way. Liman is one to file alongside Ijen-Merapi and Baluran n East Java and Salak 2 and Halimun in West Java – all peaks officially closed to the general public for mystifying reasons.
Some good news – there is a route up to the Liman ridge from Kare near Madiun. The bad news is it is quite a mission – 2 days up, one day back down, according to a local hiker. He has not climbed since 1999 so the terrain may be even tougher now. I hope to try again, from this approach, in July or August.
Do you know the Rorokuning approach/route? Rorokuning is a waterfall some 10 km east of Sedudo. Some hikers say this route leads to G Liman (2563m).
Hi Handjono
Thanks for the information but I would expect a route 10km to the east to be a lot further from Liman – maybe they’re thinking of Limas???
I’m going to try from Kare (via Madiun) in April or May or June.