E-Newsletter Travel Advisory Hotlink Contact Us Gunung Gading National Park Sarawak is the home of the world's largest flower, the Rafflesia , measuring up to a metre across. For more than 10 years Gunung Gading has been a conservation zone to protect these unusual blooms. The park was opened to visitors in 1994 only after measures were taken to allow the public to see the plants without damaging the park's delicate ecosystem and particularly the young Rafflesia buds springing up all over the forest floor. A plank walk allows visitors to tour the area where the flowers are found without encroaching on the forest floor.
Rangers monitor the progress of the buds and know when one is about to flower.
You can telephone the park from Kuching to find out if a Rafflesia is in bloom. That way, your two hours drive from Kuching to the park will not be in vain. If flowers are blooming deep in the jungle away from the plank walk, rangers can take you on a guided walk to the site. While the huge flowers are the main attraction, this park, covering a series of rugged mountains near Lundu in southwest Sarawak, has plenty of other attractions. Waterfalls and clear jungle streams provide excellent bathing spots.