Tawau Hills Park lies 24 km NW of Tawau and was gazetted to protect water catchment resources for Tawau Town and the Semporna Peninsula. At least 7 major rivers originate here. The Tawau River flows through the middle of the 27,972 ha park and forms many natural deepwater pools and waterfalls, for example, the Table Waterfall.
Our trip this time started quite early.... We left our home at around 7.30am.... Packed like sardine, 12 of us headed there in our HIACE Airforce van.... Our group leader was Kapt Abduh.... A network of roads leads to the park, passing through agricultural estates... A newly completed sealed road connected the park from
Tawau Town. Oil palm, rubber and cocoa fringe the park's boundaries...
We reached Bukit Tawau at around 9am.... We immediately looked for a spot to have breakfast.... We had fried noodles and sandwiches which was prepared by "Ibu".... Delicious breakfast... All finished within 30 minutes....
Stomach filled up with food, everyone was energetic to start the journey up to Air Terjun Bukit Galas.... It was a journey of 2.5km through lush green tropical rainforest. The park became a vital water catchment areas of major rivers such as Sungai Tawau District, Merotai, Kinabatangan, orderly and comb. Covering an area of 27.972 hectares, Taman Bukit Tawau was gazetted in 1979. The area is home to many species of plants and animals. If you follow different paths there, you'll see the label that introduced the board of almost all plants.
If you are lucky, you can see scans of wildlife here. The wildlife here is generally very difficult to approach. However, according to some reports received that long-tailed macaques, yellow and white squirrels, civets, monkeys, monkeys and even red and white have been seen here.
Visitors can choose whether to stay in chalets or lodges that provide basic amenities such as bathrooms and kitchens. For the more adventurous, the site for camping are also available and is located not far from the rivers. Rivers clean and very suitable for swimming....
The walk was quite tiring and slippery.... The trail was quite muddy.... I was even attacked by 2 little vampires (leaches)..... Managed to pull it out.... After walking for an hour, we finally reached the waterfall.... threw my bag and headed straight into the water..... OMG!!!! it was so cold and refreshing after that tiring walk..... We swam, relaxed, and had lots of fun in the water.... The pictures below describes a thousand words..... hehehehe......
It was fun...fun...fun...& fun for 3 hours.... We wanted to stay longer but the dark clouds started to cover over the area..... It was time to head back.... Another journey of 2.5km down hill back.... Before i forget, in this park is where the tallest tropical tree is located.... 88.2m high....
We reached the entrance of the park at around 3pm..... We took our bath and changed.... We left Tawau Hill park at 3.45pm.... If you find Bukit Galas Waterfall too tame to give you an adrenalin rush, try the number of interesting and challenging treks with hiking times of between one and six hours. The treks lead to several waterfalls.
