Mount Makiling

Makiling rises to about a thousand metres behind Los Banos, and because its slopes have been a protected forest reserve since 1910, now run by the University of the Philippines Los Baños, it carries some of the best-studied lowland rainforest on Luzon: dipterocarp giants, tree ferns, rafflesia in season, hornbills and a long list of endemics. Two trails climb it. The UPLB side is the classic - a long, humid ascent past the mud spring, where the ground bubbles grey and sulphurous, up through increasingly mossy forest to the peaks. The Sto. Tomas side is steeper and rougher. Neither gives a bare summit; the top is forested, with viewpoints in gaps. The mountain's other identity is mythological: Maria Makiling, the diwata who guards it, is one of the best-known figures in Philippine folklore, and locals still frame the mountain's moods in terms of her. Hot springs at the foot in Los Banos - the town's name means the baths - close the day properly.

History

The Makiling Forest Reserve was established in 1910 for a forest school and silvicultural studies, renamed the Makiling National Botanic Gardens in 1920 and made a national park in 1933, the first in the Philippines. Its administration passed to the University of the Philippines in 1960, and in 1990 the reserve was finally placed under UP Los Baños as a training laboratory for forest science (Wikipedia, Mount Makiling).

The landscape

• The rainforest - dipterocarp forest and tree ferns on the slopes.
• The mud spring - bubbling sulphurous ground on the trail.
• The forested peaks - views through gaps rather than a bare summit.
• The hot springs - Los Banos' thermal baths below.

When to go

November to April for the driest trails; the forest is wet and leech-prone in the rainy months. Registration and guides are arranged in advance through the reserve.

Good to know

It is humid, muddy and long - six to eight hours round trip on the UPLB route. Leeches are common after rain. Do not expect a panoramic summit; the reward is forest, not views.

Nearby

Los Banos' hot springs, the UPLB campus and the Laguna lake shore are all at the mountain's base.

Key facts