If you’re new to hiking and would like to start easy within the Klang Valley, I’d definitely recommend Taman Tugu. It’s a forest park with well-maintained trails and minimal elevation, suitable for families with young kids! The trail is also the prettiest in my book so it’s a treat for your eyes too.
Hiking SOP During RMCO
During the COVID-19 RMCO period when hiking activity is allowed again, I made a visit to Taman Tugu on an early Tuesday morning. No surprise that it was not crowded at all but do note that it can get busy during the weekends, now that everyone is itching to get back into nature.
In compliance with RMCO SOP, all visitors are screened for temperature. The trails are very clearly marked at each junction to ensure all visitors follow a one-way traffic. This is great for newbies because there’s no worry about getting lost. Visitors are advised to keep a safe distance from others. That’s pretty much it actually. No face mask required during hiking. There was no contact tracing done also.
Only one entrance was open; it’s the main entrance at Taman Tugu Nursery, where free parking is available. We followed the signage marked in ascending numbers.
There were junctions where the trail splits into two. Just check the trail number. If they’re the same number, it means that they’d merge back. If the numbers are different, the sequential number is the main route and the other is a shortcut, bypassing sections of the route. There are also secondary route where you can detour further, before merging back to the main route.
The Taman Tugu Trail
I followed the main route, which was about 3km long. The secondary route should be up to 5km long.
My fitness has been horrible after 3 months of MCO. I definitely overestimated myself when I decided to take a break right after a flight of stairs — I almost blacked out but that’s normal for me. After I pulled myself back together, I tackled on longer and steeper stairs with no problem so I’d still rate Taman Tugu a relatively easy trail, suitable for all ages.
This was my second visit to Taman Tugu and I still find Taman Tugu so charming. This forest park originally had about 1000 trees. Khazanah worked with FRIM to add 4000 trees on site to turn this secondary forest into a not-for-profit public urban park. The plants are selected and planted in a way that’d promote biodiversity and in the long run grow as dense as a rainforest.
As this is a rehabilitated forest park, the trails are very well maintained and easy to walk on. The trees are also tagged for preservation, with info boards along the way for educational purpose.
Honestly, there’s nothing not to love about this park if you’re looking for a chill trail to break a little sweat. They have closed all swings and gazebos due to the pandemic but otherwise, it can even be a fun date/outing!
Attractions Near Taman Tugu
Tugu Negara is only a 3 min walk or 1 min drive from Taman Tugu Nursery so do allocate an extra 30 min to visit the site if you have only seen it in History textbook. There’s nothing much to see but the architecture is beautiful so the 30 min allocation is for capturing insta-worthy photos. 😆
Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve is 11 min drive away from Taman Tugu. There’s scenic canopy walkways overlooking the KL cityscape there. There are well-paved trails to stroll but I just couldn’t stay away from the canopy walkways once I got there. It’s my favourite canopy walk in Klang Valley — so accessible and so beautiful. This canopy walkway is at the foothill of KL Tower so that’s another Cuti-cuti Malaysia opportunity. 😆
This doesn’t sound like a hiking post anymore, does it? A piece of advice if you intend to make a half-day or full-day trip in KL: don’t be afraid to slot Taman Tugu in late morning or evening as the trails are well-shaded.
Have fun and let more people know about this hidden gem in KL!
Learn more about Taman Tugu on their website here.