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Endau-Rompin National Park is a 48,905-hectare protected rainforest straddling the Johor–Pahang border, gazetted in 1993 and part of one of the world’s oldest rainforest complexes. Every visit runs on Johor National Parks Corporation permits with licensed guides, making it a working model of low-impact Malaysian ecotourism.
Stretching across Segamat and Mersing districts in northeastern Johor and into Pahang’s Rompin district, the wider Endau-Rompin complex covers roughly 870 square kilometres — the second-largest national park in Peninsular Malaysia after Taman Negara. The Johor section alone spans 48,905 hectares, gazetted on 2 September 1993. Malaysian Nature Society expeditions in the mid-1980s found species new to science here, including the near-threatened Endau fan palm Livistona endauensis, which grows almost nowhere else on Earth.
What sets Endau-Rompin National Park ecotourism apart is restraint: no roads through the core forest, roughly 26 kilometres of official trail, boat access up the Endau river, and a strict permit-and-guide system that keeps numbers low. It is the peninsular counterpart to our Royal Belum State Park ancient rainforest and houseboat safari guide and a natural companion to ethical travel and sustainable tourism in Taman Negara.
Endau-Rompin has two official Johor entrances plus a third, little-developed gateway on the Pahang side: Peta opens onto the rugged upper Endau valley, Selai serves the southwestern waterfall country, and Selendang runs in from Pahang’s Kuala Rompin coast under the Pahang National Parks Corporation.
| Feature | Selai (Segamat) | Kuala Jasin / Kampung Peta (Mersing) | Selendang (Pahang) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway and district | Bekok, Segamat District — southwest boundary | Kahang (near Kluang), then Kampung Peta — eastern boundary, Mersing District | Kuala Rompin town, Rompin District, Pahang |
| Distance to the gate | 6 km dirt road from the Kampung Selai junction | 53 km of plantation and forest road from the Kahang turnoff to Kampung Peta (4WD or local transport) | 26 km dirt track from Seladang to the Kuala Kinchin boundary |
| Signature attractions | Takah Tinggi and other rainforest waterfalls on day hikes | Buaya Sangkut waterfall, Upeh Guling, Tasik Air Biru, 45-minute Endau river boat ride to Kuala Jasin | Remote, expedition-style access to the Pahang flank |
| Trail character | Waterfall-to-waterfall day hikes | Multi-day river-and-ridge camping treks | Little-developed backcountry travel |
| Monsoon access | Usually open all year | May close when the Endau river floods | Confirm with the Pahang parks authority |
| Managing authority | Johor National Parks Corporation | Johor National Parks Corporation | Pahang National Parks Corporation |
All entry to Endau-Rompin is permit-controlled: you book through the Johor National Parks Corporation (JNPC), register at the Kahang park office or the Peta Visitor Complex, and travel inside the park with a licensed guide. Confirm current permit, camping and guide fees directly with JNPC when booking, as rates can change.
At Peta, every visitor registers and collects a permit at the Peta Visitor Complex before the boat ride upriver. Peta bookings run through the JNPC Kahang office, which arranges 4WD transfers and boats; Selai has its own office near Bekok. As of 2026, verify fees, group sizes and closure notices on the official Johor National Parks website before fixing travel dates.
Choose Kampung Peta for the classic multi-day Buaya Sangkut trek, river camping and Jakun village culture, and Selai for shorter waterfall day hikes such as Takah Tinggi that usually stay open through the monsoon months. Peta is the busier gateway; Selai is the quieter, wet-weather fallback.
Buaya Sangkut is a moderate-to-challenging multi-day trek: a 45-minute boat ride from Kampung Peta jetty to Kuala Jasin, a 90-minute flat walk to the Kuala Marong campsite, then a roughly 5.5-kilometre undulating trail with several knee-deep river crossings to the falls — about four hours each way. Good fitness, sturdy shoes and a licensed guide are essential; no technical climbing is involved.
The name comes from Jakun oral tradition: sangkut means “stuck”, after the legend of a giant crocodile wedged in the rocks while climbing the cascade. The camp-and-trek rhythm — two nights on the river, one objective — keeps the upper Endau valley quiet, and everything carried in is carried out.
Gunung Besar, at 1,036 metres, is the park’s highest point and Johor’s second-highest peak, rising in the granite mountains along the state border. Climbing it is expedition territory arranged with JNPC, not a day hike; easier wildlife watching happens around Kuala Jasin, where the river, figs and salt licks concentrate animals.
JNPC lists the park as critical habitat for three globally threatened species: the Malayan tiger, the Malayan tapir and the Asian elephant. White-handed gibbons call across the canopy at dawn, and hornbills track the fruiting season. Endau-Rompin was among the last peninsular strongholds of the Sumatran rhinoceros, now extinct in Malaysia — the strongest argument for supporting its permit-controlled model. For a wildlife-first itinerary, pair this guide with our Kinabatangan wildlife river safari guide and the Gunung Mulu UNESCO caves and rainforest ecotourism guide.
The Peta entrance lies within the customary lands of Kampung Peta, a Jakun Orang Asli village in the upper Endau valley whose people read this forest long before it carried a national park name. Respectful Kampung Peta eco travel means booking through official channels so village guides and boat operators are paid fairly, asking before photographing people or homes, buying directly from artisans, and treating plant knowledge and place-name lore as gifts, not content to extract.
June, July and August are the driest months and the best time to visit, with firm trails, scarce leeches and the main forest fruiting season, when fruit-eating birds and mammals are most active. Avoid the Northeast monsoon from around November to the end of January, when the Peta entrance may close if the Endau river floods its banks.
Selai sits further from the monsoon’s worst effects and usually stays open all year; whatever the season, river levels — not calendars — decide access on the Peta side.
Drive the North-South Expressway to Kluang and Kahang for the Peta entrance — the turnoff is about 7 kilometres from Kahang on the Mersing road, then 53 kilometres of plantation and forest road to Kampung Peta by 4WD or arranged local transport. For Selai, exit at Yong Peng (North) and travel via Chaah, Labis and Kampung Selai towards Bekok.
Kahang is a comfortable few hours’ drive from both Kuala Lumpur and Singapore; see our overland rainforest transport guide from Kuala Lumpur. Without a 4WD, leave your vehicle at the JNPC Kahang office and use the local transport provider to Kampung Peta.
The Peta gateway sits at Kampung Peta in the upper Endau valley, Mersing District (roughly 2.53°N, 103.41°E).
Register and collect permits at the Kahang office or Peta Visitor Complex, transfer by 4WD to Kampung Peta, meet your Jakun guide, and take the 45-minute boat ride up the Endau river to Kuala Jasin. Walk the flat 90-minute trail to Kuala Marong, set camp and swim in the natural pools.
Trek the roughly 5.5-kilometre undulating trail to Buaya Sangkut, about four hours each way, crossing knee-deep rivers and passing stands of the endemic Endau fan palm. Picnic at the falls, swim in the plunge pools, and return to Kuala Marong for a cooked camp dinner.
Visit Upeh Guling, 15 minutes from camp, and the blue waters of Tasik Air Biru, 10 minutes further, then trek back to Kuala Jasin for the boat and 4WD ride out. Stop at Kampung Peta to thank your guides and learn a little of Jakun village life.
Pack out all waste including food scraps; never use soap in the rivers; keep a respectful distance from elephants and never follow footprints alone; no feeding wildlife; book only through JNPC so fees support park management and Jakun livelihoods; and carry a first-aid kit, because the nearest hospital is hours away.
Endau-Rompin rewards travellers who go slowly, book through official channels and leave the forest as they found it. Explore more sustainable ecotourism guides for Malaysia on EcoTour Malaysia, and plan a rainforest journey that protects one of the world’s oldest forests and the Jakun communities who call it home.
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