You can visit this national park easily from Yogyakarta. Many roads lead here from the city center and, beyond following Google Maps, all you really have to do is point your nose towards the mountain. Many of the attractions around Gunung Merapi (including the lava fields created during the 2010 eruption, which killed more than 350 people) can be visited as part of the very popular 4WD tours. These can be booked through almost every travel company and hotel in the region and follow very similar itineraries; expect a plethora of colorful vehicles and zero sense of solitude.
Hikes to the summit of the volcano have been off-limits for a few years now, but there are walking trails that will give you exceptional views. Vogels Trekking (vogelstrekking.com) has been leading hikes on and around Merapi since 1981 and has designed various routes that cater to different levels of fitness – including an early-morning hike (300,000Rp) that’ll have you viewing Merapi’s glowing lava pre-dawn, and a sunrise view of the volcano.
From Kaliurang, there are two entrances to this national park. The more developed entrance on Jl Kaliurang is surrounded by a dozen warungs and offers a more dramatic approach as cliffs loom over a ribbon road. Both gates access just a few kilometers of trails, which lead to caves where Japanese soldiers hid during WWII, and two different hilltop views of Merapi.
Maps at the park entrance delineate the areas open for exploration. Only the foolhardy step beyond the limits: in a sudden eruption, lava can flow down the mountain at 300km/h. A 15-minute walk to the Promojiwo viewpoint offers vistas of Merapi, past a forest incinerated in the 2010 eruption. A roughly 3km hike to Puncak Plawangan offers better views.
