At only 450m Bukit Baginda rock formation still makes waves
Published on: Friday, January 18, 2019
By: Bernama
KUALA PILAH: The wave rock formation at the summit of Bukit Baginda have become quite popular among hikers, attracting even those from other countries.
The mountain is located in Kampung Majau, Batu Kikir, near here. It is a three-kilometre trek from the car park area to the summit, with the last two kilometres being a rather challenging climb for beginners.
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Standing at 450m above sea level, Bukit Baginda is not that tall. However, the 2km trail up the mountain is rather steep and slippery. As such, it can take around two hours to scale.
Bukit Baginda is a 45-minute drive from Seremban town and an hour and a half-drive from Kuala Lumpur.
The wave rock structure is one of the 70 megalith sites in Kuala Pilah. There are about 300 of such sites throughout Negeri Sembilan.
Kampung Majau villager Ramlan Ruspan, 52, told Bernama that many climbers had scaled Bukit Baginda to get a view of the 40m-wide boulder with vertical ridges since the trail was opened to the public in Oct last year.
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The famous Batu Kikir landmark is surrounded by thick vegetation and forest, which have long provided resources like herbs and honey for villagers to turn into income.
“However, since the wave rock formations was made viral in mid-December, over 1,000 climbers have been coming in – some from as far as France, Japan, United Kingdom, Vietnam and Phillipine.
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“They praised the beauty of the forest and wave rock structure,” he said.
Ramlan, who is also a physical education teacher Sekolah Kebangsaan St Aidan, Bahau, said that he often acted as a tour guide for individuals or groups planning to hike up the Bukit Baginda trail.
In addition to having good stamina, climbers need to also be very careful when scaling the steep hill as the mountain’s natural trail was extremely slippery, he said. It was therefore necessary to wear the right clothes and shoes for the hike.
“The rock has existed for a long time but was only recently publicised through social media by my friend, Abdul Razak Hashim.
“To the best of my knowledge, a wave rock like this has yet to be found anywhere else in the state. It is also quite strange as the ridges are tilted to the side and about 20 metres high,” he said.
At the moment, Bukit Baginda is an attractive location among hikers but Ramlan believes that it could also be developed to accommodate rock climbing activities.
In addition to that, there are four caves in the mountain that have yet to be explored and are currently off-limits. However, researchers have expressed their interest in exploring the site since word about the wave rock formation was made viral on social media.
“On Dec 18, geologists from Negeri Sembilan and Melaka visited Bukit Baginda to conduct research.
“There is a possibility that there are prehistoric artefacts at the site as it has yet to be fully explored. A friend of mine once found an old keris, but he could not ascertain its age,” said Ramlan, who believed that the area could be developed into an ecotourism product.
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