Primary forest wilderness
Maliau Basin
Located deep in central Sabah, Maliau Basin is a 588.4-square-kilometre conservation area enclosed by a steep escarpment. Its demanding trails climb from lowland dipterocarp forest into heath forest.
Our view
Deep forest trekking
Maliau Basin tests your endurance on steep trails. The easiest access to the forest margins is where the Maliau Basin Studies Centre sits. For comfort and high odds of seeing megafauna, choose Danum Valley instead. Maliau provides isolation and highly specialised flora.
Maliau Basin is a Class I Protection Forest Reserve whose inner basin has never been logged. There is no archaeological evidence of permanent human settlement inside before modern expeditions. Steep, muddy trails demand fitness, balance and endurance.
Highlights
Basin highlights
- A saucer-shaped depression roughly 25 kilometres across, ringed by a steep escarpment.
- Lowland dipterocarp forest transitions to lower montane and heath forest.
- Interior trails connect trail camps across 4D/3N or 5D/4N circuits.
- Clouded leopards inhabit the deep forest; access roads allow night drives.
- A global entomology hotspot featuring lantern bugs and undescribed beetles.
The Sunda Clouded Leopard
Data collected from undisturbed primary forest inside the basin shows a density of 1.9 Sunda clouded leopards per 100 square kilometres. Researchers recorded 59 detection events across an 81-day capture window.
Alternatives
Danum Valley and Imbak
Maliau offers an uncompromising adventure and botany focus. If you want comfortable rooms, fine food and high odds of seeing wild orangutans and pygmy elephants, choose Danum instead. See the Danum Valley page for a primary forest alternative.
The overland journey
From Tawau, the 190 km approach to the security gate takes 4 to 5 hours, passing from paved roads to gravel and logging tracks. A 4WD is mandatory for the final approaches. Ask the team about arranging your transfers.
Nearby places
Nearby places and alternatives
Danum Valley
2.5 hours by road from Lahad Datu, Danum Valley is 438 square kilometres of lowland rainforest that was never logged with three very different places to stay inside it.
Tabin Wildlife Reserve
A 122,500-hectare lowland reserve bordered by oil palm, Tabin is Sabah’s premier destination for night drives. The sharp forest edge concentrates small cats and civets along the boundary roads.
Kinabatangan River
The Kinabatangan floodplain holds the highest concentration of wildlife in Borneo. This is where you go to track orangutans and proboscis monkeys from a boat.
The terrain
Your basin expedition
Contact the team to arrange your 4WD transfers, trail permits, guides and porters for a 5-day trek into the deep basin.