Canopy Skywalk and Rainforest in Mulu Caves
Part of the Mulu Caves travel guide — see every topic in All Mulu Caves Guides.
Mulu is listed by UNESCO for its biodiversity as much as its geology, and the forest above the caves is the other half of the park. It runs from lowland dipterocarp through hill forest to montane vegetation on Gunung Mulu itself at 2,376 metres, holding a very high number of palm, orchid and fern species along with hornbills, gibbons and a substantial bat fauna. The Mulu Canopy Skywalk, a 480-metre tree-based walkway strung between fifteen trees at up to twenty-five metres, is the accessible way into it.
The skywalk
One of the longest tree-based canopy walkways in the world: 480 metres of suspended walkway linking fifteen large trees at heights of up to around twenty-five metres, near park headquarters. It is booked as a guided walk with limited group sizes and set departure times, generally early morning and late afternoon when birds and gibbons are active. Guides point out epiphytes, ant plants, lianas and the structure of the canopy layers, which is genuinely more interesting than the walkway itself. It is not suitable for anyone badly afraid of heights.
The forest walks
A network of boardwalks and trails runs from headquarters: the three-kilometre boardwalk to Deer Cave through swamp forest, the Paku waterfall trail, the botanical loop and the Garden of Eden walk into a collapsed doline behind Deer Cave, which is a bowl of undisturbed forest enclosed by cliffs and reached through the cave itself. Night walks with a guide turn up stick insects, tree frogs, sleeping birds, civets and the reflected eyes of things in the undergrowth.
Gunung Mulu
The mountain the park is named for, at 2,376 metres, is climbed on a four-day return trek through lowland forest, hill forest and mossy montane vegetation to a summit that is usually in cloud. It is long, wet and steep, with basic camps, and it sees far fewer people than the Pinnacles. Pitcher plants and montane orchids appear on the upper sections. Like everything else in the park it requires a booked guide and is arranged through park headquarters.
The wildlife
Mulu holds a large number of species and shows relatively few of them — this is dense rainforest and most things are nocturnal, arboreal or both. Bornean gibbons are heard far more often than seen, calling at dawn. Hornbills, including the rhinoceros hornbill, fly over. Bats are everywhere, with a very large number of species recorded in the caves. Sun bears, clouded leopards and civets exist and are essentially never seen. The genuine wildlife highlight is the bat exodus, which is not subtle.
Canopy Skywalk and Rainforest at a glance
| The skywalk | 480 m between 15 trees, up to ~25 m high — guided |
|---|---|
| Best times | Early morning and late afternoon for birds and gibbons |
| Also from HQ | Deer Cave boardwalk, Paku waterfall, Garden of Eden |
| The mountain | Gunung Mulu, 2,376 m — a four-day return trek |
| Heard not seen | Bornean gibbons calling at dawn |
| The listing | UNESCO 2000, for biodiversity as well as geology |