Gunung Panti Barat Day Hike via Forest Trail

When asked what are the mountains or hills you can hike in JB, the first one which come to your mind is probably Gunung Pulai. However, JB is more than just Gunung Pulai, and with just an hour drive to Kota Tinggi, you can find many beautiful treks suitable for a day trip. One of such is Gunung Panti. A one way trek takes only around 2 to 2.5 hours, making it a 4-5 hours round trip, hence Gunung Panti is many hikers’ favourite leisure day hike on a Sunday morning. It’s famous among local hikers as the entrance is free and it’s short yet steep enough to pose some level of challenge, making it a good training ground for those looking to summit higher, more difficult mountains.

Gunung Panti is quite steep although distance-wise it's quite short

However, despite its popularity and accessibility, I had never once been there albeit having known MMC for a year now. Oops! My first chance of summiting this 531m hill gone down the drain when I had to cancel a camping trip organised by MMC, due to job commitment. Then came the second time when MMC organised another camping trip only for me to cancel on it again, also due to work reasons. Fate has it that Vambly organised a day hike last month, and seeing I was available that weekend, I signed up without hesitation. I guessed, third time’s the charm huh?

"Jesus" light near the trail head

Fun fact: Gunung Panti is also nicknamed “Swine Head Mountain” among the local Chinese hikers, as it is said to resemble the animal’s head when looked from afar. 

Leech Prevention

Long before I hiked Gunung Panti, I’d heard about the abundance of leeches, especially on rainy season. When the trek is wet and muddy, chances of being preyed on by those hungry leeches are high. If that concerns you, make sure you wear long trekking pants and high socks to cover up, or bring along anti-leeches spray if you must. However, during my visit, we encounter none of them, much to my delight. 

How To Get There

As Gunung Panti is located at Kota Tinggi, you’ll need a car to get there from Singapore or JB. It’s about an hour drive from downtown JB or 1.5 hours from Singapore, but considering the traffic at both checkpoints, the total travelling time from Singapore is around 2-3 hours, so time your journey wisely. Jojo, Hau and I crossed the border at 6am Saturday morning, and we reached JB sentral at 7am. From there, Hau drove for an hour to reach the trail head. 

Address: Jalan Lombong, Batu 8, 81900 Kota Tinggi, Johor Malaysia

Coordinates : 1.809824, 103.846976

Waze : Gunung Panti Hiking Point

There are two trails to trek to the summit:

🔼Forest Trail (this is the most commonly used trail, and the one mentioned in this blog post)

🔼Lukut Trail (this is said to be a longer, more difficult trail. I’ll save it for the next post shall I have the chance to do it)

Update: I finally hiked Lukut Trail a couple of months later (July 2019). Read here for more. 

To get to the trail head of forest trail, drive to Kota Tinggi then follow the signboard to Air Terjun Kota Tinggi and stop just before a small bridge that go across the river. You will find two junctions on the right side of the road, where the 1st one will lead to Rainforest Resort (tarred road) and the 2nd one that will lead to the trail head (small road with no premix). Take the 2nd junction and drive until you find the traffic barrier.

Walk pass the barrier

You know you are in the right place if you see many cars parked along the roadside. Park your car along the same road, and walk pass the red traffic barrier, and go straight until you reach the oil palm plantation.

Lights creeping through the gap between the leaves

Good timing!

Creek Crossing

As you walk along the plantation, you will come to a diverged path into the forest, on your left. You won’t miss it with the trees clearly marked with three red strokes.

Walk along the plantation

Until you see the entrance to the jungle trail. See that tree with three red stroke? Turn left here

Take that trail and you are on the right path. The trail started flat and gentle and about 15 minutes later, you will reach a small creek which needs to be crossed. Fret not, as atree trunk bridge is there to your rescue. Ropes are also installed for assistance. For safety, ensure to cross one by one.

Creek crossing

Ropes are installed for assistance

Told you it's steep

Half way through the trek, you will come across with rest stop with a fallen tree trunk. The trek is step from here onwards, so it’s a good spot to rest before continuing on.

Rest stop

 

Candid shot is always my favourite

Rock Wall

The most exciting part of the trail is none other than the last 100m which is a 90-degree rock wall. While the earlier path is doable even for young children, this section may be dangerous. If you are hiking Gunung Panti with your little ones, you can choose the ladder, on the left instead of doing the climb with rope.

A almost 90-degree wall rock

Vambly leading the way

My turn to be a spiderwoman

Those who are confident and up to challenge can do the climb but be sure to stay alert and do it cautiously. It’s not that difficult, in fact quite easy for experienced hikers, but accidents do happen when you did not expect to, so it’s better be safe than sorry. I took one step at a time and held tightly to the ropes for extra precautions, even though I didn’t need to rope at all times.

There's some ladder to climb even after the wall rock but short ones

Following the rock wall, the final push to the summit gets narrower and steeper. This is where you may experience traffic congestion, especially if there are slower hikers in front of you, or if anyone is descending. It’s quite steep so those descending will take some time, and you may need to give way. It’s a short journey of about 50m, so you’ll reach the peak in no time.

Final push to the summit

Summit

We reached the summit 5 minutes before 10am, but many local hikers were already there, chilling at the wooden bench.  I was surprised to see the wooden furniture up at the summit, which are likely carried up by some pioneer hikers so that fellow hikers can chill, rest, and recharge before descending.

Is this a mamak stall? Look happening though *grin*

View point with a bench

The view of Sumalayang range

As the table and bench is occupied, we settled on Vambly’s groundsheet and had our little picnic time. We had kuihs, fruits, coffee and tea while enjoying the chilly weather and nice scenery. 

The peak is on the other side

The wooden bench is not the only spot to catch a view. Walked further to the right (where it connects to Lukut trail), and you will come to another open ground, where the sign of Gunung Panti Barat is.  This is the highest ground of the mountain, which means, this is the real summit.

Obligatory photo with the sign to proof I was here

Group wefie

There, you can catch the mountain range of Sumalayang. Though not a 360 panoramic view, it is considered insta-worthy as opposed to Gunung Pulai which offers almost no view at all.

Signature "sexy back" photo

Admiring the view

Snapped with Huawei P30 Pro in bokeh mode

I looked slim here so must post

When can I hike Sumalayang?

Descent

We stayed for longer than expected (1.5 hours) and finally decided to make our way down for lunch.

Group photo

One last shot before we descend

The descent was a lot faster than descent, since we didn’t stop for breaks. Overall, we only took about one hour to get to the trail head, as opposed to 1 hour 45 minutes to ascend.

Stop to shoot this while descending

Climbing down the wall rock again

Lunch at Restoran Sin Mei Lee

Though Fenny suggested Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh for lunch, Vambly suggested Sin Mei Lee mutton pot and curry fish head instead, so off we went along with Restoran Sin Mei Lee. When you have a foodie, follow a foodie’s recommendation and you will never go wrong.

Curry fish head, fried homemade tofu, stir-fry baby kailan and braised mutton soup

Indeed, the meal there is so delicious, I had to give two thumbs up. Highly recommended. Be sure to order what we did, and you will never go wrong. 

Restoran Sin Mei Lee

Address: Jalan Tepi Sungai, Kampung Makam, 81900 Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia

Operating hours: Daily, 12pm – 9.30pm

Epilogue

Though short, some part of the trail is quite steep, so it was a great workout for me after a long hiatus from hiking. Although steep at certain parts of the trek, it’s not that difficult, and I’d probably rank it as a “easy to moderately easy”, due to the short distance. You’ll see many hikers bringing their kids along for this hike, but most of them are aren’t beginners so to speak. 

Short hike but pretty nice view. Worth it!

Nonetheless, it’s easier than Gunung Pulai, and the view is also better, making this a great choice to sweat it out if you have a car to get here. I know I will be back again, hopefully soon!

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Thank you for reading all the way till the end. Too much info and you just want a summarised itinerary but too lazy to scroll back up? Here’s a summary I’ve drafted up for you. Hope it helps you with your planning.

Itinerary:

**Disclaimer: Below is my timing according to my speed. So please take it with a grain of salt, as everyone have different pace. Have fun hiking this mountain. *wink*

Day Hike

Total distance hiked: approximately 9km return (one creek crossing)  

0800: Gather at trail head

0815: Start hiking

0830: Reach log bridge – creek crossing

0900: Reach rest point

0940: Reach rock wall

0955: Reach peak (Panti Barat) 

1130: Descent

1240: Reach trail head

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-Thanks for reading-