Kampung Sungai Pusu, Gombak |
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Related pages: Kemensah - Chongkak | Ulu Gombak Traverse | Bukit Batu Tabur photos
Kampung Sungai Pusu provides access to the jungle trails in the Hulu Gombak Forest Reserve. The trails pass through lowland and hill forests. Some of the trails will take you into the Klang Gates water catchment area, and ultimately to the lake itself. There are two areas that will be dealt with separately, the trails south-east of Kg Sg Pusu, and those heading north and north-east of the village.
From Pusu, you can also traverse the Ulu Gombak forest reserve to Kampung Kemensah in Ulu Klang. This trail is documented separately here.
Trailhead
To get to Kg Sungai Pusu: join the circular "ring" road from either Ampang or Batu Caves and head towards the Karak highway. Take the left exit signposted "UIA" and "Orang Asli museum", near the Shell station (from Batu Caves). Alternatively, if from Ampang, follows signs for Kuantan and then signposts for "UIA". You will (or should) bypass the Karak highway toll. At T-junction, turn right ("UIA"). Continue over the Karak highway and past the UIA entrance and drive some several kilometers until you reach the village. Park across the road from the warong kopi (waypoint P1: see the table below for coordinates), it should be on your left. You may continue on this road to find suitable parking, bear in mind these are little village roads. After the warong you should pass a small primary school on your left (just look out for the outdoor badminton court) and the road eventually deadends at the Puncak Niaga pumphouse (see below). There is a small carpark here, but only really fits about 1-2 cars at most.South-East Trails
The trailhead is located at the end of the Sg Pusu road. There are 3 major forks to this trail. As far as is known, all 3 of them lead to the lakeshore. A fourth fork, which also leads to the lakeshore, is a walking trail. These trails are all singletrack and are well-maintained by the villagers who use it to get to fishing spots and their boats. The total riding distance is only about 4 kilometres. The trails are steep and rutted in some sections, and may require some pushing.To get there: go all the way to the end of the Sg Pusu road, where a Puncak Niaga pumphouse is located. The trail heads steeply uphill on the right, head up and you'll enter into someone's fruit orchard. Keep right of the first two huts and make your way up the hill. The trail climbs up and along the edge of the hill; at times, looking scarily narrow with a steep drop-off to your left. The trail eventually climbs to a ridge that marks the boundary of the Klang Gates water catchment before dropping downhill to the lakeshore. The views across the lake of the Klang Gates ridge (Bukit Batu Tabur) is spectacular. The Klang Gates ridge is, by the way, is probably the longest quartzite ridge in the world.
All the forks on the trail should lead you to the lakeshore. However, do take note that at the first major junction (N3.15.46 E101.45.47), make sure to take the left fork (the trail heads steeply uphill), the other fork is really a footpath that gets seriously technical near its end. It may be rideable with proper equipment and sufficient skill, but it's not possible to climb back up (unless of course, you push the bike up!). This footpath follows a stream bed for about 50 metres, so if you find yourself riding in a stream you'll know that it's the footpath. The other major junction you'll come to would be at N3.15.15 E101.45.72, here either fork takes you down to the lakeshore.
North and North-East Trails
The trails to the north of Sg Pusu are much longer and goes deep into the Hulu Gombak reserve. There are at least 3 main junctions, one leading to an excellent campsite and some very scenic lakeshore huts. One of the other trails leads north to the 13th mile of the old Gombak road, while the other loops around to the old dam on Sungai Seleh and ultimately to Kampung Kemensah, behind the National Zoo. The trails are in good condition — mostly rideable but rutted in some sections. Deadfalls over the trail are common but are not insurmountable.From the warong at Kg Sg Pusu, turn into the second left tarmac road after the school, it should be right after house no. 60. This road goes steeply uphill before going downhill again. The road turns into a 4wd track at the bottom. It is possible to park your car here, but there is limited space (km 0).
The trail appears to be an ex-logging road and runs thorough small-holdings of rubber of fruit orchards. Most of this section of trail is fairly open. At waypoint P2, near two huts at the end of the orchard, the road veers left and climbs uphill onto a ridge with the young rubber trees. Eventually, you'll enter the coolness of the jungle (km 1.1). Not far along this jungle trail you'll come to a Y-junction, waypoint P3 (km 1.4), turn right to go downhill (the not so obvious and somewhat overgrown path) to a campsite (waypoint P6) and lakeshore huts (waypoint P7). If you had turned right at waypoint P2, you will join this trail at waypoint P4.
The trail down from the Y-junction is heavily rutted in some sections but is generally rideable downhill. At waypoint P5 (km 2.9) you'll come to another junction. Right, down to a small stream, will take you eventually to the lakeshore huts (km 3.3). If you had carried on over this junction, this will lead you to a small stream (km 3.4) and the campsite (which lies across the stream). Locals call this stream Sg. Ketanga, and the lakeshore hut area "Kongo".
If you continue left at waypoint P3, you will head north, steadily climbing along the contours of the hill. At the junction at waypoint P8, going left (more like straight on, really) will likely take you until the 13th mile of the old Gombak road.
Taking the acute right turn at waypoint P8 will take you eastwards. This goes downhill for about 2 kilometres through bamboo forests and comes to a large stream (waypoint P10). This trail will take you to the old dam on Sungai Seleh, once part of the Kuala Sleh headworks constructed in 1928. If you continued along the Seleh river, you'll come to the confluence of the Seleh and Klang rivers, from where you can continue all the way to Kampung Kemensah. This traverse of the Ulu Gombak forest reserve is documented separately here.
Waypoints and Routes
To use the following tables, you'll need a GPS receiver or a map of the Hulu Gombak Forest Reserve ("Rawang", sheet 117), but preferably both. The sheet to the east of this is not available to the unwashed public at the time of writing. Enter the coordinates manually as waypoints on your GPS receiver. Once you reach the waypoint, you can correct any inaccuracies or error by using the "ref" feature, if your unit allows. To learn how to use a Garmin GPS receiver effectively, read Dale DePriest's excellent on-line manual.
| Waypoint | Coordinates |
|---|---|
| P1 | N3.15.491 E101.45.080 |
| P2 | N3.15.892 E101.45.128 |
| P3 | N3.16.267 E101.45.173 |
| P4 | N3.16.176 E101.45.322 |
| P5 | N3.16.057 E101.45.802 |
| P6 | N3.16.067 E101.45.986 |
| P7 | N3.15.926 E101.45.902 |
| P8 | N3.16.677 E101.45.422 |
| P10 | N3.16.699 E101.46.264 |
Route: Lakeshore LoopThis route is relatively short, but very scenic. It can easily be incorporated into a longer ride. |
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| Waypoint | Description and Directions | |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | Starting point. From warong, take second left turn onto tarmac road, which goes uphill, then downhill and turns into 4wd track. | |
| P2 | Turn left at 2 huts at the edge of the orchard. You'll climb onto a ridge with young rubber trees, and then enter the jungle. | |
| P3 | Turn right at the Y-junction, heading east and downhill. | |
| P5 | Go straight ahead for the campsite, or turn right for the lakeshore huts | |
| P6 | Campsite, located across the river. | |
| P7 | Lakeshore huts. Use responsibly! | |
| P4 | From huts, retrace steps and turn left at this point to exit jungle and re-enter rubber plantation. | |
| P2 | Rejoin your in-trail here. Turn left at the huts, passing through orchards and re-tracing your steps. | |
Route: Old Gombak RoadThis trail heads north from Kg Sg Pusu and ends at the 13th mile of the old Gombak road. Ride it as an out-and-back or descend the road back to Sg Pusu. |
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| Waypoint | Description and Directions | |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | Starting point. From warong, take second left turn onto tarmac road, which goes uphill, then downhill and turns into 4wd track. | |
| P2 | Turn left at 2 huts at the edge of the orchard. You'll climb onto a ridge with young rubber trees, and then enter the jungle. | |
| P3 | Turn left at the Y-junction, heading north and along the contours. | |
| P8 | At this junction, take the left fork (which more like straight on). Keep heading north until you exit on the old Gombak road. | |
Trivia
- Joe got to know of the northern trails by speaking to the kampong folk, in particular Pak Cik Ali, 87, who hangs out at the warong in the afternoons. As a young man during the Japanese occupation, he had walked from Janda Baik to Gombak through the jungle trails to ferry rice. The Japanese army had checkpoints along the old Gombak road, and would have otherwise confiscated the rice.
- In June 2002, Joe came within 3 feet of a King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) close to waypoint 10. It's classic Ophiophagus territory: undisturbed forest close to a stream and a bamboo forest. The female King Cobra builds its nest from bamboo leaves. It broods between May and July and is reportedly aggressive at this time.
