Mount Gede Pangrango National Park

Gede and Pangrango are twin volcanoes rising to just under three thousand metres between Bogor and Cianjur, and the forest on them has been studied longer than almost any tropical forest anywhere - the Cibodas botanical garden was founded on the slope in 1852 and researchers have worked the mountain continuously since, so the ecological record here runs back well over a century. The park was gazetted in 1980 and is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Gede is the active one, with a crater and the Alun-Alun Suryakencana, a high meadow of Javanese edelweiss below the summit; Pangrango is dormant and forested to the top. Climbing permits are quota-limited and must be booked in advance, which is enforced. The Cibeureum waterfalls are a short walk from the Cibodas gate.

Highlights

• Twin volcanoes - active Gede and dormant Pangrango, both near three thousand metres.
• Suryakencana meadow - the high edelweiss field below the Gede summit.
• A 170-year research forest - the Cibodas garden and the record it anchors.
• Cibeureum falls - the short walk from the main gate.

When to go

May to September; permits booked ahead. Two days.

Good to know

Permits are quota-limited and sell out - book online well in advance or you will be turned back. The park closes annually for recovery, usually early in the year. Trails are muddy and cold at night.

Nearby

Cibodas botanical garden is at the gate; Bogor and the Puncak pass are north.

Key facts