This is my last hike in a week of tackling Bali’s top ten volcanic peaks, with Mount Pohen (Gunung Pohen) being a relatively easy one. I’m starting at the same trailhead as yesterday’s Mount Tapak hike – the adjacent peaks are both part of the Bedugul highland (you could combine both these peaks into a single day hike).
Ascending Mount Pohen from Hutan Bedugul
After paying the IDR 25,000 Surat Izin Masuk Kawasan Konservasi (conservation area entry permit) fee I’m back on the forestry trail which leads to the start of the Pohen and Tapak trails. Although it’s a little overcast, unlike my hike on the previous day I can see most of Mount Catur and the Pengelengen Ridge on the other side of Lake Beratan.
This time when reaching the large Hanuman statue, I leave the road and head south along the hiking trail.
I’m taking the shortest and most direct trail to the Mount Pohen summit, which also means it’s fairly steep the whole way up.
There is soon a series of ropes to help with the steep terrain, which are useful as the surface is very loose and slippery.
About two thirds of the way up is a small shrine, and a view over the neighbouring peaks – although they are shrouded by cloud.
From the shrine the Mount Pohen trail continues to climb steeply, but also includes several scrambles where the track has been eroded by rain and a few obstacles to negotiate.
The ground cover gets a bit thicker for the final stretch of the climb, past a second and smaller shrine.
Mount Pohen is Bali’s fifth-highest peak with an elevation of 2,063m; the summit has small temple compound/shrine next to a radio antenna tower.
While there is a small cleared area which gets busy on weekend, the top of Mount Pohen is forested, which restricts the views. Many groups of friendly local hikers are enjoying lunch on the summit – there are a few guided tours which cover Pohen and Tapak in one day, but I don’t meet any other tourists today.
Through the trees is a view of Lake Tamblingan to the north-west, and the twin peaks of Mount Sanghyang to the south-west (to the left of the Shanghyang and barely visible is the much higher Mount Batukaru).
Ascending Mount Pohen to Blooms Flower Garden
I’m descending Mount Pohen via a different trail, as I’d planned to do a loop… although as I get closer to the bottom of the mountain I discover that some of the trails I’d intended to take are completely overgrown. As with the route up, the trail down the southern side of Pohen is signposted and well marked
While this is a longer trail, the first section descends steeply from the Check Point 4 signpost (at 1,954m), with a number of ropes in place.
After the Check Point 3 marker (1,850m) the trail descends a lot more gently, as it winds through the rainforest.
At Check Point 2 (1,763m) is a small shrine, and the start of thousands of trail signs.
Every second tree has an enormous sign and arrow marking the trail to “Pohen Hill Camp” (which is within The Blooms Garden) – it’s totally unnecessary as the trail is very obvious. An occasional sign is reassuring; the vast number of these signs is an assault on the senses!
Despite prolific signage, it’s a very pleasant walk through the rainforest.
The last checkpoint is next to a banyan tree displaying a massive cluster of stilt roots.
After passing the junction with a trail up to the Mount Adeng summit (which is not on shown my map) I reach the junction with the trail that heads back to the starting point. But this trail is completely overgrown.
Instead I continuing descending to Pohen Hills and The Blooms Garden, which seems to have become a popular starting point for the Mount Pohen hike (although I see about same number of people on both the trails I took).
While the myriad signs make it pretty much impossible not to find your way to The Blooms, once inside the 4.5 hectare garden it’s not immediately obvious how to get out! I eventually find the exit road, and organise to be picked up from a nearby warung on the main road. If you’re starting from here, it’s much easier to follow the signs that lead to the trailhead.
Getting to Mount Pohen (Gunung Pohen)
The shortest and steepest trail to the Mount Pohen starts near the Bedugul Geothermal Power Station or “Hutan Bedugul” (Bedugul Forest). There is a large carpark and booth where you can pay the conservation area entry permit fee.
Alternatively, head to The Blooms Garden where the trail to Mount Pohen and Mount Adeng is well signposted. The trail up Gunung Pohen starts near the Pohen Hills campsite area behind the main resort ground – if you skip the flower gardens and go straight to the hiking registry, you need to pay only the trekker registration fee and not the general entry fee.
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