Bali’s Most Underrated Trail

Distance: 5.8 kilometers (3.6 mi), Elevation Gain: 770 meters (2,526 ft), Max Altitude: 1,820 meters (5,971 ft) Duration: 4 – 6 hours, Difficulty: Moderate / Hard

*These are the roundtrip stats for the hike if you start from Trunyan village

Trailhead: How To Get There

Trunyan Hill is located in the Kintamani area of northeast Bali.

It’s a 1 or 2 hour drive from touristy places like Ubud, Sanur, Canggu or Kuta in south Bali.

The whole drive is paved, but the last part requires a bit of care because the road is curvy, steep, and bumpy with potholes.

There are two possible starting locations for the hike:

• In Trunyan Village. This is the main trailhead and it’s the one I used. The trail starts from a narrow alley in the middle of Trunyan village, and it’s marked with a sign by the road. Map here.
• Above Trunyan Village. This is an alternate trailhead partway up the hill. If you start here, the trail is a bit easier because it shaves off about 2 kilometers of hiking and 200 meters of elevation gain, but it also takes a bit more driving to reach since it’s outside the caldera. Map here.

What To Expect: Hiking Trunyan Hill

The hike to Trunyan is steep and challenging, and there are plenty of opportunities to hurt an ankle if you aren’t careful, but it’s never dangerous in terms of drop-offs.

Bug spray is a must: there are some mosquitoes in the forest, and I encountered hordes of flies on the hilltops. They’re aggressive and they can bite! Kintamani is the only place in Bali where I’ve seen such annoying flies.

On the plus side, I went on a Saturday and the whole trail was surprisingly uncrowded. It was a really nice contrast to the huge crowds at Mount Batur nowadays. I only met one foreign couple with a guide, and a handful of friendly local teenagers.

The steeper sections of the trail have some ropes to grab. They aren’t necessary, but they can be helpful if you want to give your legs a break.