Facts
- Elevation: 572 m (1,877 ft)
- Prominence: 423 m
- Ribu category: Spesial
- Province: Peninsular Malaysia
- Malaysian state: Selangor
- Range: Banjaran Titiwangsa / Main Range
- Google Earth kml
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Bagging It!
Like the higher yet less prominent Bukit Unyang, Bukit Lagong is a vital forest corridor between the Titiwangsa Range and the Klang Valley. It’s very much on the edge of Kuala Lumpur and could be regarded as the city’s highest hill. There are numerous trails on its slopes and it makes a great half-day outing, whether you want to reach the true summit or are content with the popular viewpoints. It is crucial to show that people are interested in this hill, as there are already several quarries on the northern side which have featured heavily in the national press in a less than positive light.
Taman Rimba Bukit Lagong is signposted at Selayang and many visitors want to enjoy bathing in the river at the Orang Asli village. For the hill and summit itself, a rather nondescript track (122m) on the left of Jalan Bukit Lagong leads up opposite an area for parking on the right. This is an old logging track, and if you follow it all the way you will reach the viewpoints over the city.
However, the best route, at least if you are intent of visiting the true peak and seeing more of the mountain, involves a right turn (174m) onto a minor track which drops down, leads over a stream (114m) and meets up with the track (179m) from the Orang Asli village as it weaves its way up an interior valley with minor stream crossings (248m and 254m) and Orang Asli huts (292m) towards the col (331m) between the hill near the logging road viewpoints and the true summit. This interior valley trail is marked as Kolam Ikan (‘fish pond’) for those coming down this way.
The trail is moderately well marked but a GPS and taking photos and unmarked junctions is a sensible precaution. Once at the col (331m) between the logging road viewpoints (Bukit Nolang, left, but confusingly with a sign for Bukit Lagong 498m) and the summit of Bukit Lagong (right, with a sign for Beirut Bukit Lagong) there are very places you can go wrong as there is only one main trail all the way to the summit. There is a shallow river crossing (321m) enroute, and this feels quite wild for what is essential an urban hill.
The summit features an overgrown beirut but no views. You should be up here in around 2 hours from the trailhead.
The most interesting way to descend is via Bukit Nolang (502m with a prominence of 171m) and the popular viewpoint areas. You can of course do this all in reverse if you wish, visiting the viewpoints first and then proceeding to the summit. To reach Bukit Nolang from Bukit Lagong, descend back to the col junction (331m) but then ascend up the steep slopes of Bukit Nolang. This takes around an hour. The highest point features no views and only a single sign which looks rather temporary. However, as it has a prominence of over 150 metres it is a Marilyn. That means that this circuit includes two Malaysian Marilyns as Bukit Lagong is of course also one.
Further along Bukit Nolang at a lower point is an open rest area with a Bukit Lagong sign (485m). This is a good rest point but the sign is somewhat misleading to label this hill Bukit Lagong. The trail then drops down steeply to more viewpoints (at 323m and 302m) which are very popular at weekends and will lead you to the end of the logging road. From the logging road, it is a simple stroll back to the trailhead. Not far along is a water pipe (254m) which is much appreciated by hikers, especially those who, like mad dogs and Englishmen, are out in the midday sun. From Bukit Nolang to the trailhead should take you only 45 minutes so a total of around 4 hours not including breaks.
Bagging information by Dan Quinn (August 2024)
Practicalities
- Getting there: For Malaysian domestic flights and flights within Southeast Asia, for example to Kuala Lumpur, we recommend Baolau. The trail starts on Jalan Bukit Lagong near Selayang.
- Guides and GPS Tracks: Want a PDF version for your phone? Looking for a guide? Need GPS tracks and waypoints? Bukit Lagong information pack can be downloaded here.
- Permits: You can register and pay for an e-Permit online from the Forestry Department of Malaysia website. RM5 per person (in 2024).
- Water sources: Given how close this hill is to the capital city and urban environments it is best to take bottled water with you from the start. However, there are various streams that could be used in an emergency as detailed in the text above.
- We recommend Safety Wing as travel insurance for overseas travellers and tourists hiking up to elevations not exceeding 4500 metres.
Local Average Monthly Rainfall 
My mind and body were exhausted after the Gunung Rajah dayhike the day before but I had work to do, and that work was getting to the top of Bukit Lagong! It had long been in my mind, as I had read numerous stories in the local press about mining nearby, and also found that access was something of a grey area, with plenty of hikers going for a stroll there, it being the most significant big green space on the edge of that part of Kuala Lumpur, but none of them bothering with a permit. It seemed even questionable whether or not you could get a forestry permit given that parts of the mini-range had been given over to mining operations.
Thankfully, it is possible to get a permit, and you do not need a guide for this one, so it’s just RM5. The issue, as ever with Selangor, is you need to visit the office, sitting in traffic, then make 3 copies of your application somewhere. No surprise that almost nobody bothers getting a permit. Quite obvious! Anyway, my guide for Gn Rajah and Bk Unyang kindly sorted out the paperwork for me. Very nice of him to do so, as I don’t like breaking the rules, nor do I like dealing with bureaucrats.
So I drove to the indistinct starting point as labelled on Google Maps, but no signs in reality. Some of the side trails really are overgrown and I was surprised how wild parts of it were. There was nobody else up at the summit, just me and the beirut in pleasant sunshine. I only saw folk on the logging road side, jogging or strolling up to the first viewpoint then back down again.
It is interesting to note that Bukit Nolang is probably a Marilyn (a hill with 150 metres of topographic prominence). And so is Bukit Lagong, mother of Nolang. So you can get two Malaysian Marilyns on the same hike. But all the Bukit Lagong signs on Bukit Nolang make it rather confusing, with the summit of Lagong being referred to as trig or trig station or beirut.
Just as with Bukit Unyang, this is a great half-day out on the fringes of KL. And unlike Unyang, you do not have to take a guide with you (though it probably is best if you do not hike alone).
Down at the trailhead on my return, there were about 5 dogs that started barking quite loudly as I approached. Not ideal. Not ideal at all. I decided to take a shortcut to avoid them and drop a couple of chocolate biscuits on the ground for them whilst I left the scene. Strangely, this just seemed to confuse them, rather like letting someone pull in front of you in the Malaysian driving context despite not needing to be polite, and they all shuffled off, entirely ignoring the biscuits, perhaps having concluded that I was a highly dubious character. There was also a dog under my car, hiding from the hot sun. He moved away even before I opened the car door, presumably having done this several hundred times before and being able to know perfectly how soon I would drive off even before I knew how soon I would drive off.
I was incredibly thirsty afterwards so I drove up to the Orang Asli village looking for a shop selling cold drinks. No luck. At the main recreation car park I spotted a drinks machine with cans in it. I was salivating. But upon closer inspection it was unplugged and the staff member informed me it was out of order!