Things to Do Around Mount Kinabalu

The day after a Mount Kinabalu climb is a real planning problem: your legs have stopped working, you are two hours from Kota Kinabalu, and everything worth seeing is within an hour of the park gate. Here is what is actually near, how far, and how long to allow.

The day after the climb, when your legs have stopped working

Almost everyone underestimates the descent. You come down 8.5 km of steps having been awake since half past one, and the following day your quadriceps make stairs a negotiation. Plan something that involves sitting in a car and getting into hot water, and plan it before you climb rather than after.

Poring Hot Springs and the canopy walkway

About 40 km from Park Headquarters, roughly an hour by road, and inside the same World Heritage park. Sulphur springs feed open-air tubs you can fill yourself, which is exactly the right thing to do to a pair of legs that walked down a mountain yesterday.

The canopy walkway is the other reason to go: a suspended bridge strung between rainforest trees, high enough to put you level with the crowns. It is a short walk and the earlier you arrive the quieter it is. A butterfly garden and an orchid conservation centre sit on the same site.

Kundasang: the war memorial and the dairy farm

Kundasang is the nearest town to the park gate and the one most climbers pass through without stopping. The Kundasang War Memorial commemorates the prisoners of war and local people who died in the Sandakan death marches of 1945, and it is laid out as four linked gardens. It is a quiet, serious place and it takes about an hour.

Desa Dairy Farm sits above the town on open hill pasture with the mountain behind it, and it is the most photographed field in Sabah for good reason. Fresh milk, cattle, and a view straight up at the massif you were standing on the previous morning.

The Kinabalu Botanical Garden at Park HQ

Ten minutes' walk from registration, and the best half hour you can spend before a climb rather than after it. The mountain plants are labelled and grouped by altitude band, so the mossy forest you walk through on day one stops being a green blur. Guided walks run at set times.

Mesilau, and what the earthquake left

Mesilau sits on the eastern flank and was, until 2015, the start of a second route up the mountain. The earthquake of 5 June that year made the trail inaccessible and it has not reopened. The area itself is still worth the drive for the walks and the pitcher plants, but do not go expecting a way onto the summit — there is only one now, and it is covered on the trail routes page.

Sabah Tea and the Ranau road

East of the park the road drops towards Ranau through tea country. Sabah Tea Garden runs plantation tours and sits in genuinely beautiful hill country, and it works well as a stop on the way to Sandakan rather than as a destination from Kota Kinabalu. Allow half a day if you are passing.

Planning a rest day around the climb

Driving times are approximate and depend heavily on the road and the weather. Every distance here is from Kinabalu Park Headquarters rather than from Kota Kinabalu.

The pattern that works is simple: climb, then spend the following day at Poring and Kundasang before driving back to the coast. The three-day climb already builds in an extra night up here, which is one reason to prefer it. Compare that against the two-day format on Mount Kinabalu tickets, or read what the park protects before you decide how long to stay.