Lambir Hills National Park

Introducing Lambir Hills National Park

As much a weekend retreat as a conservation area, Lambir Hills National Park is only 30km from Miri by road and is primarily popular with city residents, who come by the carload to visit the pretty waterfalls, natural swimming pool and riverside picnic shelters. For the more active traveller, the park has a number of pleasant walking trails through its unusually diverse dipterocarp rainforest.

Lambir Hills makes an easy and enjoyable day trip from Miri, though you can always stay longer. While it doesn’t have the spectacular scenery of Niah and Gunung Mulu National Parks, or the diversity of Bako National Park, the park is excellent for short jungle walks and a bit of leisurely time out.

The national park covers 69 sq km and protects a range of low sandstone hills that reach a height of 465m at Bukit Lambir. Much of the forest was logged before the park was declared, but the secondary forest is beautiful in its own right and one 50-hectare plot alone still contains an amazing 1100 tree species. There’s also a good range of wildlife present.

Officially, the trails are open 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 5pm on weekends, but if you are seriously interested in wildlife-watching you will have to get an earlier start. Fauna here includes gibbons, tarsiers, pangolins and barking deer, though you are unlikely to see any of these close to the park headquarters. Lambir Hills is also home to many species of birds.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009