Grown tall and verdant, the Bamboo Trail invites you into a serene world. Imagine towering bamboo stalks swaying gently. Sunlight filters through the dense canopy, creating dappled shadows on the path. This isn’t just a trail. It’s an experience.
The Bamboo Trail is a popular spot for hikers and bikers of Bukit Kiara. It offers a unique escape within Kuala Lumpur. You can find it a bit further south but still outside of the fence line if you’re coming from the north.
To give your journey more bulk, tack on an extra leg to the Bamboo Stop. The hike to the northern lookout point in Bukit Kiara is worthwhile. However, it is much too short for any hiker. Getting there from Mont Kiara is a swift one-hour roundtrip hike. Unless you live in the condos in the immediate vicinity, the travel time barely makes it worth it.
Hiking from the lookout point to the Bamboo Stop should only take around 20 to 30 minutes. Leaving and getting back to Jalan Kiara 7 will take about another hour. This makes the entire lookout point-Bamboo Stop journey a respectable 2 – 3 hour hike.
Once you’re finished at the lookout point, the route to the Bamboo Trail is straightforward. Turn back the way you came along the familiar path, past the rotten stump. After this, you’ll be faced with the route fork at the lone tree with one path going straight and one going left. This time, you’ll want to take the straight path to venture into new territory.
From here to the Bamboo Trail, there is a constant gentle upward slope but no crazy climbs. The path only diverges once, where you’ll want to stay on the right trail. At the next trail fork that looks like a roundabout, you will see the drooping bamboo on your left which signals your arrival at the Bamboo Trail.
This area has grown a surprising amount in less than a year. Many of the bamboo stalks have grown fast. They bend and create a canopy, making this spot a little darker than it used to be.
Three sturdy benches are set up along with a helpfully labelled table under a small tarp. This spot is a good place to eat a packed lunch if you brought one since it will be about an hour until you’re out of Bukit Kiara.
On the opposite side are three more benches, but much more roughly hewn. Their height is quite low and they will be in various states of dilapidation.
You’ll hear them first before you see them, so keep an ear out for the rustling of branches and telltale cooks. Now that the bamboo overhead has grown so thick, be careful of monkeys. A troupe of them were hanging out above us, slowly inching closer to our drinks and food. It looks like they gather exactly above the spot where Mark is standing to get the above picture, so watch your bag, hat and phone.
Once you’re done resting here, continue through the gap in a cluster of bamboo. You will get to a T-junction, at which point you’ll go left.
The trail begins to slope downhill. It’s gentle at first, but then there is this long, rather steep stretch that will work your upper thighs.
The path will split in two, but it is obvious which is the more travelled route. Stay on the right. Later, you might come across a long sawed log – a boundary that directs you off to the left, or perhaps a jury-rigged place to sit.
The trail is unspectacular until you get to a crossroad. This is actually the same intersection that you passed earlier when going to the lookout point. In this situation, you want to go straight to leave the Bukit Kiara area.
Within a couple of minutes, you will be spat out into another familiar junction. You should recognise this area with the purple flower shrub. Turn right so that the purple flowers are on your right-hand side and you can see two paths ahead of you. The one that forks left is the exact one you were on when you entered, but we are going to take the right forking path for something different. The alternate exit and secret viewpoint are down this way, and it is quite special.
The Bamboo Trail offers more than just a hike. It is a sensory experience that connects you with nature.