Kubah National Park, National park in Sarawak, Malaysia
Kubah National Park covers 2,230 hectares of the Matang Range west of Kuching, with dipterocarp forest and patches of kerangas and scrub. Three sandstone peaks rise within it: Gunung Serapi, Gunung Selang and Gunung Sendok. Colour-coded trails start from Gunung Serapi Road, from the 255-metre Palmetum to the 5-kilometre Summit Trail.
Kubah National Park was gazetted in 1989, chiefly because of its exceptional palm diversity. Visitation peaked during the Visit Malaysia Year campaign in 1994, when more than 45,000 local visitors were recorded, then fell to below 10,000 a year. Foreign visitors have only begun arriving in recent years and remain few.
The park's name is often linked to the Malay word for dome, though the sources do not confirm this. What visitors can see today is a gazetted forest reserve where 98 palm species grow, and the Matang Wildlife Centre within the park boundary rehabilitates orangutans and other animals for release into the wild.
The park is about 20 km west of Kuching and can be reached by local bus in roughly forty minutes. Gunung Serapi Road links the park headquarters to the telecommunications tower at the summit, and pedestrians may use it although car access is restricted. Trails start from this road, including the Rayu and Waterfall paths; colour-coded routes run from the 255-metre Palmetum to the 5-km Summit Trail, taking 30 minutes to over three hours.
The area is home to around 93 different palm species, making it one of the most concentrated centers of this plant diversity in Malaysia. This abundance of palms in a relatively small space draws the attention of botanists and nature researchers.
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