2 days in Kundasang with kids

We had a wonderful 2 days in Kundasang with kids exploring the area and taking in the views.

Many people choose to visit Kundasang as a day trip from Kota Kinabalu, but we think it is worth a longer stay. We enjoyed our time in Kundasang and the nearby areas. Staying longer also gives you more chances to get great views of Mt. Kinabalu.

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Getting to Kundasang

We rented a car in Kota Kinabalu and drove a loop that included a two-day stay in Kundasang. The drive can be slow as the road has many sharp bends and some steep uphill sections. Long lines of cars can become stuck behind slower-moving trucks. There are times along the drive where you can glimpse Mt. Kinabalu, if the clouds aren’t in the way.

Where to stop on the way from Kota Kinabalu to Kundasang

Tamparuli Suspension Bridge

A short stop to break up the trip. Walk over the colourful, wobbly suspension bridge, where you will find a little market. There is also a group of people playing traditional instruments, and you can sit and watch them.

Pekan Nabalu Market

There are market stalls both inside and outside. The vendors sell fruit, souvenirs and clothing. It’s worth stopping to walk around. There are also some other stores, and we bought drinks from a little grocery.

Mt. Kinabalu Viewing Platform

Located in the same area as the market is a viewing platform with a view of Mt. Kinabalu. The actual platform was busy with people taking photos, but there is a large grass area where you can also enjoy the view.

Read: Road trips from Kota Kinabalu

Where to stay in Kundasang with kids

Kundasang offers a range of accommodation options for families, with many providing views of Mt. Kinabalu. The place we stayed was themed, which is something different for us, but it ticked a lot of boxes.

A fun themed stay in Kundasang with kids

Our family accommodation in Kundasang was a Hobbit house. The Hobbit theme is found across Kundasang due to the landscape’s likeness to New Zealand, the filming location of the movie The Hobbit.

I booked B-Inspired Abobe & Hobbits through WhatsApp. If that’s not your thing, there are other great-looking family accommodations in Kundasang. We have never stayed in a themed accommodation and thought it would be fun. Our Enchanted Hobbit House was cute, with a big round wooden door and a fake grass roof.

The room had a space with a sink, fridge and kettle. This allowed us to prepare some simple meals, such as cup noodles and instant oats and store drinks and yoghurt. An outdoor kitchen area shared with the next hobbit house had a gas cooktop. There is also an on-site cafe/restaurant serving simple meals and cold drinks. We loved the anchovy fried rice.

The driveway is very steep. We knew this when booking, which is why we didn’t choose the smallest rental car, although we saw plenty of little cars driving up and down. There are parking spaces in the lower area for some rooms and hobbits, but we preferred the Enchanted Hobbit house because it had its own parking space, which meant we had to drive further uphill, though. The property’s hillside location is what gives it a fantastic view.

Kundasang accommodation with views

Our family room (or Hobbit house) in Kundasang had an amazing view of Mt. Kinabalu. The benefit of staying overnight in Kundasang is that you get a better chance of viewing the mountain. The view of Mt. Kinabalu is clearest in the morning, but on our last night, the sky was clear and we had a spectacular view of the mountain as we ate dinner on the balcony. We also had a great lightning show later in the night.

Other than views of Mt. Kinabalu, the Hobbit house also had incredible views of the surrounding mountains, rolling green hills, and patchwork areas of farmland. I think most of them were tea fields. We had views from the large window, the open door, a little round window and our private balcony.

Kundasang War Memorial

The Kundasang War Memorial is a set of gardens to commemorate the Australian and British Prisoners of War who died in Sandakan and during the death marches to Ranau. It also honours the local people of Sabah who died trying to help POWs escape. As Australians, we wanted to pay our respects to those who lost their lives. We were moved by the personal stories of people risking their lives to help others. There is a fee per person to enter the Memorial.

Browse the markets & town area

When we arrived in Kundasang on a Sunday, a small market was set up in front of the War Memorial. We purchased some fried sweet potatoes and bananas from a stall for 1myr per 4 pieces.

Kundasang Market is a permanent farmers’ market that runs daily. A wide variety of fruits and vegetables are available. During our time in Kundasang, we bought fresh fruit from here, trying snake fruit for the first time. The roundabouts in the central area of Kundasang featured large sculptures of cabbages.

While in Kundasang, we also shopped at 8090 Superstore for drinks, yoghurt, oats and noodles. When I realised I hadn’t packed my camera charging cable, we were able to buy one in a small electronics store, as well as an AUX cable to play music in the rental car. We got a load of washing done at a coin laundry called Puncak Laundry.

Enjoy a cafe with a view

Anooh Coffee was just down the road from our accommodation in Kundasang. The open outdoor terrace space overlooked the fields and Mt. Kinabalu. We enjoyed iced coffees and chocolates, and pandan buns after spending the day hiking in Kinabalu Park. The day we left Kundasang, the morning was cooler and misty, perfect for hot lattes. The black bean buns and garlic buns were also delicious. Anooh Coffee also serve a variety of drinks, sandwiches, cakes and many other goodies.

Visit Desa Dairy Farm

We didn’t visit here as we used to live near dairy farms in Australia. This place is quite a popular attraction; you can view the farm and try a variety of dairy products.

Poring Hot Springs

At Poring Hot Springs, you can pay to soak in hot sulphur spring baths. There are several large tub-style baths that you fill with a tap. We planned to visit for the canopy walkway, but unfortunately, it was closed for maintenance. Luckily, I read this online before our visit; however, we still chose to drive to Poring Hot Springs to hike to the waterfalls.

Kinabalu Park

Divided into substations, Kinabalu Park is a World Heritage Site. Kinabalu Park HQ is the starting point for hikers climbing Mt. Kinabalu. The park also has multiple jungle trails and a botanical garden. I’ve listed the park below for hiking in Kundasang, but I think it is still worth a visit if hiking isn’t your thing. The Silau-Silau trail follows the river and is a beautiful, easy nature walk.

The Botanical Garden has tall forest trees, some with moss-covered trunks. There are little bridges crossing streams and structures made from branches. We saw some interesting plants and flowers and learnt about them via the information cards.

There is a conservation fee to enter the park and a separate fee for the botanical garden. Check Sabah Parks for updated pricing. I had read that the conservation fee is valid for the day for the entire Kinabalu Park, and thought we could visit both the HQ and Poring in one day. After arriving at HQ, I realised this was not realistic. The park is large, and it made more sense to take our time to explore.

Visit attractions in Ranau

If you’re driving, there are other attractions that we didn’t get to in Ranau. At Sabah Tea Resort, you can view the tea plantation and dine in the restaurant. There are also various accommodation options at the resort.

At Sg. Moroli Fish Spa, you can walk into the river and have the fish nibble the dead skin off your feet.

Hiking in Kundasang with kids

Our plans for hiking in Kundasang with kids changed. When planning our trip, we wanted a hike that had views of Mt. Kinabalu. The website for booking was down, and the fee is non-refundable, so we were going to wait and see if we could book it closer to the day. However, we were happy with our incredible Mt. Kinabalu view from our accommodation, so we decided to spend our time hiking jungle trails instead.

Maragang Hill

This is the hike to a viewpoint of Mt. Kinabalu that we originally planned to do. Maragang Hill is 2,232 meters above sea level. You can choose to start at 3am for sunrise or a later start at 6am. Booking is through the Maragang Hill website only.

Kinabalu Park HQ

After paying the entrance fee, we entered the information centre to get a park brochure. I’ve since learnt it is available to download on the Sabah Parks website, although it doesn’t have information on each trail. Some of the trails were closed during our visit. You don’t need to walk each trail to the end. They all join up so you can create your own route. Below are the routes we walked.

Kiau View Trail 2.5km

The starting point is close to the park entrance, just off the road. The beginning of the trail is very steep with large steps. It evens out after that, but there are still some uphill sections. Named after the valley Kiau, which was the original starting point for climbing to the summit of Mt. Kinabalu.

We only caught a slight mountain view through the trees, but we still enjoyed the trail. It had some challenges and fascinating plants, trees and insects.

Mempening Trail 2.5km

After reaching the end of the Kiau View Trail, we walked uphill along the road until we reached the starting point of the Mempening Trail. The brochure didn’t make this trail sound very interesting, but we loved it. The forest was dense with ferns, moss and towering trees.

We couldn’t really see out, but we knew we were high because the temperature dropped and the clouds started rolling in. Walking through the forest in the mist was such a cool experience. Along the way, we saw very spiky tree branches and lots of different mushrooms.

We detoured onto a different trail so we could stop at a shelter to sit and eat our packed snacks. This is when we experienced our first attached leech. We had been flicking them off our shoes along the way. When we stopped, Tim found one attached to his leg. I used a credit card to unlatch it. This trip was our first encounter with leeches.

Silau-Silau Trail 3km

This trail is named after the Silau-Silau river of which it follows. You don’t have to walk the full 3km, there are many bridges crossing the river along the way, so you could come back to the entrance at any moment. We used this trail to walk to and from the Botanical Garden. It’s a lovely, tranquil area to walk by the flowing river as it creates little waterfalls over the rocks.

Waterfalls at Poring Hot Springs

The hiking trail at Poring Hot Springs takes you to two waterfalls and a bat cave. The first is Kipungit Waterfall, reached by walking about 15 minutes (1km) from the entrance. The waterfall is 10 metres high and flows down into some rockpools. It was very peaceful in the morning, and in the afternoon, it was full of families having fun in the water.

Walking another 15 minutes from Kipungit Waterfall will bring you to a bat cave. We could smell it before we arrived. Visitors can’t enter the cave, but we stood near the entrance and could see bats flying about.

Langanan Waterfall is the highest in Poring, and at 120 metres high, it is very impressive. Getting to it was a challenge, though. From the park entrance, it’s 3.4km of trekking through lowland tropical forest. The website says it takes 2 hours to reach, and this was pretty accurate for us. Going down was a little quicker.

Our family hike to Langanan Waterfall was probably the toughest we have ever done. There were lots of steep sections, and it was incredibly humid. Along the trail, there are two water crossings (four as you return the same way) before reaching the waterfall. The kids did them with ease. I slipped a couple of times and decided to walk through the shallow water.

The beautiful scenery helped to keep us going. There were some amazing large trees we stopped to admire along the way.

It definitely felt like an achievement to finally reach Langanan Waterfall. I was worried it might not be worth it as we were there in the dry season, but the water was flowing down the rockface with enough force to cause spray. It is so high that you have to tip your head right back to see the top.

We stayed and enjoyed the waterfall for a while, putting our feet in and eating some fruit we packed. There were only us and two others, a young man and an older man who had hiked separately but were both visiting from Kota Kinabalu. The hike down was easier, and back at the entrance, we rewarded ourselves with ice-creams.

The tough hike was worth it. Langanan Waterfall was amazing, the scenery was beautiful, and we were proud of ourselves for completing the challenge. Hiking in the super-humid forest in Sabah will be a lasting memory.

Is it worth visiting Kundasang with kids?

Yes, Kundasang is worth visiting with kids. A lot of people think it’s just for climbing Mt. Kinabalu, but there is a lot in the area to explore. During our 2 days in Kundasang with kids we enjoyed hiking, visiting the local markets and memorial gardens. Our Hobbit house accommodation was fun, and we had great views of Mt. Kinabalu.