Situated on the old trunk road to Ipoh, Kerling in Hulu Selangor is a town that runs both hot and cold.
Its hot springs in Kampung Air Panas on the other side of the train tracks is a shallow geothermal pool at a bend in the Kerling River. It attracts families particularly on weekends, but it’s not the reason Trailblazer Hiking Club was there one Saturday morning.
We were there for Batu Bertenggek Waterfall, a thunderous vertical drop that is often mistaken for Chiling Waterfall in nearby Kuala Kubu Baru. What sets Batu Bertenggek apart is the jagged gravity-defying slab of rock that sits lopsidedly at its base. It’s what the falls is name after; “Bertenggek”, a Malay word, means “perched” in English.
Getting there is straight forward and involves an easy half hour to 40 minute hike. After ditching our cars at the hot springs parking lot, we backtracked down the narrow tarmac road that follows the curves of Kerling River.
Passing private farms and resorts, we took the first left turning across a bridge, to trek along a dirt track navigable by 4 by 4 vehicles. The route passes a roadside waterfall, and within 30 minutes of starting out we were at the trailhead.
Inconspicuous amongst the tangle of bushes and ferns, this is the hike’s only foot trail and it’s entirely downhill and quite steep in places. Our reward lies at the bottom: a clearing suitable for a campsite and beyond it the calm, clear river that is our destination.
We ditched our bags and went exploring. Just upstream is an impressive set of cascades. Splashing through the cool pools of water we followed Trailblazer’s Kelvin up its drier rocky left bank.
It was a little slippery and as there are no obvious escape routes I’d caution doing this during rainy season in case of a sudden flood surge.
From a knoll at a crook in the river, Batu Bertenggek waterfall came into view. Channeled into a narrow column, it drops 30 metres through a hollow chiselled by the ceaseless force of the water.
The pool at its is deep and the currents are strong but with some careful manoeuvring, we got to the submerged boulder at its centre to set up some great photos.
For those who want more, you can venture upstream. Aside from the falls, the river is mostly shallow, sandy-bottomed and slow moving, and with the dirt road running alongside it, it’s possible to pull up, pitch a tent and have a family-friendly swim or throw a riverside barbeque with little hassle.
After our fill of the falls and food, we returned up the slope to the dirt road before proceeding along a trail a smidgen along that leads to the top of the falls.
The spot is great for photos but as entering the river here carries the risk of being swept over the edge, we backtracked and came around some scrub so we could enter the water further upstream where it was safer. The dilapidated gazebo on the other side of the river is your landmark.
From here we waded through the knee high water towards a metal bridge. Taking the dirt track would have gotten us there sooner but where’s the fun in that?
Once on the other side of the bridge, we took a left at the fork. In what would have been a driveway to a scenic riverside retreat., what remained were several abandoned structures and someone’s discarded dreams.
Taking advantage of the flat open area, a bunch of campers had set up their digs here and were cooking up a storm. It’s here that we dropped back into the river and bashed through the water to the final set of cascades.
Though it was nothing as dramatic as the the cascades of Batu Bertenggek, the shallow pools here made it a lovely spot for a dip and hydro-massage. Land on either side of the river here has been cleared suggesting it’s probably privately owned for use as an orchard or weekend escape.
Beyond this point, the river looked placid but that’s as far as we got before calling it a day. And what a wonderful wet day it was.
7am Leave Kerling Hot Springs carpark
7.10am Turn left across bridge
7.20am Pass roadside waterfall
7.30am Enter trail
7.35am Reach riverside campsite
Distance and time (to Batu Bertenggek Waterfall) 3 kilometres, 35 minutes.
Rating Easy.
Facilities There are public toilets at the Kerling Hot Springs carpark.
Parking Free.
GPS coordinates (parking) 3.609523, 101.609176
Get to my AllTrails map for Batu Bertenggek Waterfall here.
Join Trailblazer Hiking Club Malaysia here. You can check out HikeGuy aka Jeffery’s video of our hike here.
POKOK KELAPA 
Went here by using your alltrails route last weekend! But we parked alongside the road- near to the trailhead so that we won’t have to walk from the hot spring parking 😛
Anyway, God bless your beautiful soul for all these hiking posts :’) I follow a lot of your hiking places and tips and found them very helpful. Keep posting ❤
Hi there. Do you need a permit from the local forestry department to hike this trail and to the waterfalls? Thank you though for a detailed guide on this place.
Hi Prasana,
You don’t need a permit from the forestry department but there have been some changes around there. Some land en route to the waterfall has been cleared as it is privately owned. I’ve also been made to understand that there a fence and gates have been erected but the waterfall remains accessible.
Hey thank you for the information! Quick question, the pools at the falls look deep and tempting to dive in. Any chance it’s safe to enter? Thanks!
There are a few levels to choose from. The one just under the falls is not swim-able (it’s deep and there’s no space between the boulders) but it’s ok for pix if you proceed with extreme caution. The level after that is dangerous. Too much churn. Pretty much everything else downstream is ok. All the same take care, wear the right shoes and watch the weather. I’m guessing from your question you’re a safety conscious person so I think you’ll be alright. : )
Hi, anyone knows if a permit or if there’s any fee needed to overnight camp there?
As far as I know, none is needed. Just be mindful of flash flooding and water surges during rainy season.