Jerangkang Waterfalls, known as the big brother of the more popular Berkelah Waterfalls that is nearby. This is because Jerangkang Waterfalls has up to 43 tiers of waterfalls (according to the locals), while Berkelah has up to 7 tiers. The Jerangkang Falls are located along Sungai Jerangkang in Jerangkang Recreational Forest (Taman Eko Rimba Jerangkang), Pahang.
Permit for Jerangkang Waterfalls & Booking for 4WD
The main area of Taman Eko Rimba Jerangkang and the tier-1 campsite itself is free to enter and does not require a permit, but you need a permit starting from the trail to the waterfalls (2nd level onwards). Permits for Jerangkang Waterfalls are to be applied with Kuantan Forestry District Office (Pejabat Hutan Daerah Kuantan). Click here for the sample format of the request letter. The permit costs RM10 per person and with it you can enter and camp overnight in the area. The forestry office accepts payment only via Postal Order (Wang Pos) or Bank Draft only, payable to PENGARAH PERHUTANAN NEGERI PAHANG. It has to be submitted to the forestry office on a working day.
After getting the permit, you need to find a way to reach the entrance of Jerangkang Recreational Forest. At the time of our visit, the road to Jerangkang is rugged and only accessible by motorbikes or 4-Wheel-Drives. Visitors usually book a 4WD service to bring them in and out of Jerangkang forest. The standard price as of March 2022 is RM35 per pax (including return trip).
For convenience all-in-one service that covers the permit application and transportation for you, you may contact Jerangkang Trucks (contacts in their Facebook page) for their services. They also provide a guarded car park area for you to park your vehicle before hopping onto their 4WD.
Journey to Jerangkang Waterfalls
We hopped onto the 4WD for a 50-minute ride to Jerangkang Recreational Forest.
We got stopped by a snake half way of the ride. It had a striking red head and tail with a black body. I am guessing it was a Blue Malayan Coral Snake or a Red-headed Krait.
About 50 minutes later, we arrived at the first part of the recreational forest.
Next, we took a 10-15 minute hike carrying our camping stuff to the 2nd level of Jerangkang waterfall.
Our campsite, just a stone’s throw away from the waterfall.
Setting up my hammock for the night.
This is the waterfall beside our campsite.
Cooking our lunch before we start exploring the waterfalls.
Jerangkang Waterfall Levels/Tiers
The Jerangkang river is truly an epic river with a seemingly endless count of waterfalls! We lost count and also weren’t sure which waterfalls are considered a level. Below are the different levels of waterfalls and the trails we explored during the two days:
The one by our campsite (the 2nd level I guess).
Another two levels of waterfalls are just a minute away.
And another two more just 30 seconds away!
The trail goes uphill by the right side of the river, all the way to the uppermost accessible waterfall. The trail slowly gets less ‘roady’ and steeper as we hike higher.
The next two waterfalls with a small pause of pool in the middle, about 10 minutes from the previous.
And another one just a minute later. This was why we lost count because there are just so many waterfalls!
Another 10 minutes later, we reached this level of waterfall which seemed to be another popular stop.
Unfortunately, there are irresponsible people in our society. They could carry a full load of food and water up here, yet they couldn’t bring back their empty bottles and packages. <facepalm> Practices of trash burning were also observed here. Burnt bits of plastic could easily be found in the soil around the campsites.
To continue exploring the upper parts of the trails and river, you need to find this less-obvious trail to the right.
The trail became steeper at this point.
Sidetracking a little above, you can view the previous waterfalls from this waterfall up here, with a nice pool with it after another upper waterfall.
Jerangkang Double Falls
About 10 minutes up the trail, there will be a split path. The path on the right continues toward the trail to the upper waterfalls. Whereas the path on the left gives you a little sidetrack to the viewpoint of a ‘double falls’.
This is the astonishing viewpoint of the double falls. The short track to here was covered with bushes and slippery pathways but the view is worth the effort.
The rock surface near the water is very slippery, so be careful and not to stand too close to the edge. One slip could easily send a body straight down the gully, as the water current is strong and there’s nothing to hold on to.
There is a ‘mini rock hill’ at the viewpoint to marvel at the falls and the surroundings.
The nice view down the gully and the forest far away.
Continuing up the trail to the right at the split path, I found a less obvious trail on the left to the upper level of the double falls. The rock surface here is constantly sprayed with mist of water so it was covered with slippery moss, so it is not advisable to stand too far out.
The highest level we reached (level 25?)
As we get higher and higher, the trail becomes more challenging. There was a split path near the last upper waterfalls. Both ways take us to the same destination: The left path (crawling under a huge fallen tree) is shorter but a little more slippery by the cliff; The right path is a longer up and down trail.
Some of the views before reaching our last waterfall.
Finally, we arrived at the highest accessible waterfall of our trip. We weren’t sure which level is this but according to another camper there it is level 25. We actually visited this part of the waterfall on day 2. It took us about 1 hour and 10 minutes without getting distracted by other waterfalls on the way to reach here.
There is also an ‘infinity pool’ somewhere down at level 21, where some campers are swimming with life jackets but we didn’t go that way.
A split path to take note of, when heading back down from the ‘double falls’ split path onwards: Somewhere in between the trail, there is a split path shown above, where you wouldn’t notice when coming up. Just keep your eyes peeled on the trail and take the path with markers.
Jerangkang Campsite
During our first night, back at our campsite near the 2nd level waterfall, my group made a rich pot of tom yam with loads of ingredients, including three kinds of mushrooms and a whole lotta chicken.
I made pan mee from scratch, adapted from this pan mee recipe from Sharon Das of Sweet Home-Chefs. For my version I didn’t use chives and egg for the dough. The flour mixture is pre-packed in a bag and all I had to do was to add a bit of oil (borrowed from my team), and add some river water to knead it into a ball of dough. Even the soup is boiled using river water. The dried ingredients I used were anchovies (as main stock), mushrooms, seaweed, fu chuk (beancurd skin), and black fungus. Additional flounder fish powder, chopped chilies, salt and pepper were added for extra flavors.
Thanks to the low light environment, we got to enjoy a starry sky at night.
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*Captain Planet passing by* Remember, please take care of our environment, and please don’t destroy the Nature. Leave no trash behind and take back only photos and memories (and also some trash if you can). Walk on the designated path and stay in the middle as much as you can, so that the exposed soil doesn’t spread/corrode further. BE ONE WITH NATURE *flies away*
Thanks for sharing such comprehensive review of this waterfall. We are planning to do a hike and camp there, wonder if we applied for the permit, do we still need to engage a ,mountain guide or their 4×4 services?
You don’t have to engage a guide or 4×4 service if you have the permit, but do take note the road there is rugged and not suitable for normal vehicles.