Best National Parks in Malaysia

Malaysia's flagship national park, over 4,300 square kilometres of lowland rainforest across Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu, and old enough to be described as one of the world's longest continuously forested areas. From the base at Kuala Tahan there is a canopy walkway strung between trees, night walks, boat trips up the Tembeling and Orang Asli settlements. Large mammals are present but very rarely seen. How to Reach: About 3.5 hours by road from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Tahan. Best Time to Visit: February to September

Malaysia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the reason most visitors come to Sabah. Mount Kinabalu rises to 4,095 metres out of forest that changes character every few hundred metres of ascent, up to stunted scrub on the granite summit plateau. The climb takes two days with a compulsory guide and a night at Laban Rata, and permits are capped and sell out well ahead. How to Reach: About 2 hours by road east of Kota Kinabalu. Best Time to Visit: March to August, the driest months

A World Heritage Site in Sarawak built on limestone, and the caves justify the effort of getting there: Deer Cave has one of the largest cave passages in the world, and at dusk millions of bats spiral out of its mouth in a column that can last an hour. Above ground, the Pinnacles are razor-edged limestone blades reached by a hard multi-day trek. There is no road in. How to Reach: By flight from Miri or Kota Kinabalu to Mulu airport. Best Time to Visit: May to September

The oldest national park in Sarawak, gazetted in 1957, on a peninsula reachable only by boat, and the most reliable place in Malaysia to see proboscis monkeys: they feed near the headquarters in the late afternoon and are close to guaranteed. Seven vegetation types are packed into a small area, and sixteen marked trails run from a half-hour stroll to a full day. How to Reach: 45 minutes by road from Kuching to Bako village, then a 20-minute boat ride. Best Time to Visit: March to October

Five islands in Sabah just off Kota Kinabalu, close enough that the city skyline is visible from the sand, which is both the appeal and the limitation. Manukan and Sapi have the developed beaches and the snorkelling, Gaya is the largest and has jungle trails, and Sulug is the quietest. The reefs are decent rather than exceptional. How to Reach: Boats leave Jesselton Point, 15 to 20 minutes to the nearer islands. Best Time to Visit: March to October

Niah is an archaeological site as much as a park. The Great Cave held human remains dated to roughly 40,000 years ago, among the oldest known in Southeast Asia, and the Painted Cave beyond it holds wall paintings and boat-shaped coffins. Reaching them means a plankwalk of about 3 km through swamp forest and a climb into unlit chambers, so a torch is essential. How to Reach: About 2 hours by road southwest of Miri, then a short boat crossing. Best Time to Visit: April to October

The smallest national park in Malaysia, gazetted in 2003 on the headland past Teluk Bahang, and small enough to cross on foot in a day. Two trails leave the entrance: one to Monkey Beach and the Muka Head lighthouse, the other to Pantai Kerachut and its meromictic lake, where fresh water sits above salt water for part of the year. There is a turtle hatchery at Kerachut. How to Reach: 45 minutes by road west of George Town. Best Time to Visit: November to February

The second largest protected rainforest on the peninsula after Taman Negara, straddling the Johor and Pahang border, and far less visited: infrastructure is minimal and most trips are organised treks of two or three days. The forest is genuinely old lowland dipterocarp, with waterfalls at Buaya Sangkut and Upeh Guling. Orang Asli guides run most expeditions. How to Reach: The Peta entrance is about 4 hours from Johor Bahru by four-wheel drive. Best Time to Visit: March to October

Lambir Hills is a small park south of Miri with one of the highest recorded tree-species counts anywhere in the world, a fact that matters more to botanists than to most visitors. What people come for is water: colour-coded trails run from the headquarters to a series of waterfalls with pools you can swim in, the nearest about half an hour's walk. How to Reach: About 30 minutes by road south of Miri on the Bintulu road. Best Time to Visit: May to September, the drier stretch

Gunung Gading exists largely to protect rafflesia, the genus that produces the largest single flower in the world, and that is what visitors come for: plankwalks run from the headquarters out to the plots where blooms open. The catch is timing, because a flower lasts only a few days and there is no reliable season, so telephone the park before travelling. How to Reach: Near Lundu, about 2 hours by road west of Kuching. Best Time to Visit: Whenever a bloom is reported

A long, narrow coastal park northeast of Bintulu, following about 30 km of shoreline backed by rainforest, and one of the quietest parks in Sarawak. The main trail runs along the coast to Turtle Beach and Golden Beach, several hours each way, crossing river mouths where saltwater crocodiles live, which is why swimming is restricted to marked stretches. How to Reach: About 30 minutes by road northeast of Bintulu. Best Time to Visit: March to September