Crocker Range National Park

The Crocker Range runs about a hundred and thirty kilometres down the western side of Sabah and the park protects the largest single block of it - some fourteen hundred square kilometres, made a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 2014, and by a wide margin the least visited major protected area in the state. It is the water tower for western Sabah and the forest changes with altitude from lowland dipterocarp up through hill forest to mossy montane on the ridges, holding gibbons, orangutans in the northern part, and a long list of endemic plants including several Rafflesia species that flower unpredictably along the roadside. Visitor infrastructure is minimal: a headquarters near Keningau, a substation at Ulu Kimanis, a few short trails, and the Salt Trail, a historic Dusun trading route now walked as a multi-day trek with village guides.

What you actually see

• A biosphere reserve - fourteen hundred square kilometres of the Sabah spine.
• Forest changing with altitude - lowland to mossy montane along the ridges.
• Rafflesia by the roadside - several species, flowering unpredictably.
• The Salt Trail - the old Dusun trading route, walked with village guides.

When to go

March to September. Two days.

Honest expectations

There is very little infrastructure and few marked trails - most of the park is inaccessible. Rafflesia blooms last days and cannot be planned for. The Salt Trail needs guides arranged in advance.

Nearby

Tambunan and the Rafflesia centre are on the crossing road; Kota Kinabalu is west.