How To Go

Cameron Highlands may be accessed by three major roads. Decades ago, the windy road from Tapah was the only way of getting there, and it was prone to landslides and other dangers. Today, due to the modern development of Cameron Highlands for tourists, an additional two roads have been built, approaching Cameron Highlands from the north while the old road has undergone much renovation and repair works.

Since there is no air strip for planes to land on or a railway track up into Cameron Highlands, you'll need to know your way to this holiday destination. Visitors will either have to drive their own vehicles or take public transport such as taxis and buses. Getting there by bus is inexpensive, and can be taken from cities such as Penang, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur.

However, the major complaint is the way some of the bus drivers drive wildly careening along the windy road and even the shape of some of the coaches, which looks like they haven't been serviced for 100 years. Taking an executive coach up is highly recommended for stability. On the other hand, you can take a taxi but that costs much more than a bus ticket.

From Kuala Lumpur (provided you are driving your own vehicle), there are two main ways to reach the Cameron Highlands; the old and traditional Tapah Road or the more recent Simpang Pulai exit near Ipoh. A third highway connects to the Cameron Highlands from Gua Musang in Kelantan, meeting up at the end of the Simpang Pulai road, and then proceeding to Tringkap and Kampung Raha. Finally, visitors can take the Karak Highway from Kuala Lumpur which connects to Kuala Lipis, where there is another highway recently built to Ringlet in Cameron Highlands. At the open, it is only accessible with a special pass that you can obtain from the police station in either Ringlet or Kuala Lipis.

For visitors from Singapore, they have to drive their own cars across the causeway or take the bus from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur. The North-South Highway or various trunk roads offer a 3-4 hour drive from Singapore to KL, and from there, follow the same directions listed above. For those on a coach or bus, purchase a ticket to the Cameron Highlands from Puduraya Bus Station in Kuala Lumpur. Upon seeing the exit to Tapah, make your way through this small town that's located at the base of the mountain range. Tapaha can also be reached via the old trunk road from Rawang located near Kuala Lumpur, if you want to avoid paying toll. This road will lead up to the first township of Cameron Highlands, which is Ringlet.

The old road meanders through mostly pristine rainforest areas, passing by numerous Aborigine (Orang Asli) villages along the way over its 35 km stretch. The scenery along the road, especially at the higher elevations, offers breath-taking views and vistas. Orang Asli people also open makeshift stalls along the road side, selling harvest from the forest such as ferns, plants, orchids, drift wood and seasonal fruits such as Durian and Petai. Shady and quiet, the only thing breaking the peaceful atmosphere is the cacophony of jungle wildlife, but that is itself a pleasant sound. Visitors will pass by some awesome mountain ranges on the right as they navigate their way around the twisty bends. For best effect, open up the windows and enjoy the cool, refreshing air as the road steadily ascends up the mountains.

The traditional Tapah road suffers from frequent land slides and occassional pot holes due to the thick trees that line the sides of the road and immense amounts of rain that fall in these parts. Because the road is densely forested at each side and curves sharply around steep bends, you can't see far ahead and honking should be done at risky corners to alert incoming traffic. In a nut shell, moderately-paced driving is advised, especially during heavy rainfall or mist at night. For these reasons, visitors and tourists from Kuala Lumpur sometimes prefer to take the Simpang Pulai Road, which although further, offers an apparently clearer drive.

The road from Simpang Pulai, a small town near Ipoh city is a relatively new road up to Cameron Highlands. It approaches Cameron Highlands from the north side of Peninsular Malaysia and passes through some lesser-known towns such as Tringkap and Kampung Raja near the top before reaching Brinchang. Visitors coming from Penang and other destinations in the north such as Kedah and Perlis will use this road to head up to Cameron Highlands. The Simpang Pulai is well-paved but cuts across secondary forests that have all been previously logged. This means that the scenery isn't as amazing as going through the Tapah Road, and the trees are much less dense with a strong flavour of bamboo and similar vegetation.

The road up can also get really bright and hot, due to the lack of tall trees but this road offers the convenience of enabling you to see what's mostly ahead. Using this road is actually longer than the Tapah road because it coves over 50 km in total distance to reach Brinchang, the first main township of Cameron Highlands. While well-paved and the roads even, it still does get very bendy and twisty at times so careful driving is advised. Along the way, you can see some Orang Asli villages that have adapted to living in the surrounding secondary forest, which is far less bountiful.

Visitors and travellers coming from the east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu will use the Gua Musang Highway as a short cut to Cameron Highlands. The road cuts through a mix of secondary and primary forest and offers some picturesque scenery and it faces the range of valleys and plains at the side. While well-paved and hardly used, the road can get really steep especially nearing the T-junction from which you turn left to head into Cameron Highlands. This road will also pass by the northern section of Taman Negara Pahang, which is Peninsular Malaysia's National Park. Elephants can sometimes be seen walking along this highway during the day or night. Hopefully, all these directions will help you in getting to the Cameron Highlands safely and surely.