Parks and Green Spaces in Kuala Lumpur

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Kuala Lumpur is greener than its skyline suggests. The city grew around forested hills and river valleys, and enough was preserved that you can walk through genuine primary rainforest in the middle of the central business district. The main cluster sits west of the centre around Perdana Botanical Gardens, the old Lake Gardens, with the bird park, butterfly park and several museums inside it, and KLCC Park provides the eastern equivalent at the foot of the Petronas Towers.

KL Forest Eco Park

Nine hectares of primary lowland dipterocarp rainforest on Bukit Nanas, at the foot of Menara KL, and one of the oldest permanent forest reserves in Malaysia, gazetted in 1906. It is genuinely primary forest, not replanting, surrounded on all sides by the city. A canopy walkway runs through the treetops, there are short marked trails, and the difference in temperature and sound when you step in from the road is remarkable. It is free, takes forty-five minutes to an hour, and is a five-minute walk from Bukit Nanas monorail station.

Perdana Botanical Gardens

The Lake Gardens, laid out from 1888 as the colonial recreation ground, cover about ninety-two hectares west of the centre, with a lake, an orchid garden, a hibiscus garden, a deer park and long shaded walking paths. Inside or adjacent are the KL Bird Park, whose main section is a large walk-in aviary said to be among the world's biggest, the Butterfly Park, the Islamic Arts Museum, the National Mosque and the National Monument. It is the single best area in the city for a half day out of the sun.

KLCC Park and the rest

KLCC Park is fifty hectares at the base of the Petronas Towers, designed by Roberto Burle Marx, with a jogging track, a large children's playground, a public wading pool and the Lake Symphony fountain shows in the evening. Titiwangsa Lake Gardens, north of the centre, gives the classic postcard view of the skyline across water and is where locals go to row and jog. Taman Tugu, a rehabilitated forest trail network near the National Monument, has become a popular free hiking spot.

Further out

For real hiking, Bukit Gasing on the Petaling Jaya boundary and Bukit Kiara offer forest trails within the metropolitan area. Templer Park, twenty-two kilometres north near Batu Caves, has waterfalls and jungle. Kanching Rainforest Waterfall is a series of cascades an hour out. Further afield, Fraser's Hill and Genting are cool-climate escapes at altitude. All of these are hot and humid rather than strenuous, and the advice is universal here: go early, carry more water than seems necessary, and expect afternoon thunderstorms.

Parks and Green Spaces at a glance

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