Broga Hill

Broga Hill, properly Bukit Lalang, is a modest four hundred metres but has become the standard sunrise hike for the Klang Valley because it is close, short and open: the top is grass and lalang rather than forest, so the view is unobstructed in every direction over palm plantations and the Semenyih reservoir, and on a good morning mist sits in the valleys below with the hills coming out of it. The trail is steep, eroded and slippery in parts, with three summits in succession, the first two of which people mistake for the top. Most hikers start between four and five in the morning with head torches to be up for first light. Weekends bring hundreds of people and the small car park overflows onto the road. There is no shade at the top at all.

What you actually see

• An open grass summit - lalang rather than forest, so the view is unbroken.
• Three false summits - the sequence people mistake for the top.
• Mist over plantations - the valleys filling below on good mornings.
• A pre-dawn crowd - head torches on the trail from four in the morning.

When to go

All year; start before five for sunrise. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is short but genuinely steep and slippery when wet. Weekend crowds are heavy and parking overflows. There is no shade at the top, so linger and you cook. Mist is not guaranteed.

Nearby

Semenyih and the reservoir are close; Kuala Lumpur is an hour north.