Hiking Talk #18: Mt. Daraitan - Tinipak River Limestones

MINOR CLIMB| Mount Daraitan sits near the border of Tanay, Rizal and General Nakar, Quezon and is at the heart of the famous Sierra Madre mountain range. There are two peaks that connect the beauty of Daraitan. The peak one which is the most visited, stands at 739 MASL and is marked with a mounted flag pole up on the summit. The peak two on one hand is the smaller mountain that stands below the river of the well known, Tinipak.

The Mt. Daraitan "peak one" was first made open to public as an ecotourism site late year 2012 and today, the mountain is among the top visited and day-hikable mountains near Metro Manila. A model of ecotourism that offers outdoor attractions and viewpoints such as limestone formations, springs, natural fresh pools and caves. The barangay officials organised a systematic handling of tourist, an indicator of a spot suitable for ecotourism, including hiring of trained, courteous local guides.

HIKING
Hiking in the honor of our country's 117th Independence. The trek starts at the Brgy. Hall of Daraitan. First up, arrange/secure a local guide, attend a 5-min-orientation and mind setting activity. A tough start of hiking the trail is mostly straightforward, an ascent of 600+ meters.

Few minutes after heading from the start, a steep trail challenges those who are not used to regular hiking.
However the trail is covered with small trees, well maintained plains; and plenty of rest stops. Daraitan has rewarding limestone viewpoints and offers a more challenging two to three hours of hiking (Ascent). There are two camping grounds up to the summit (sad to say, no water source yet) for a night stay.

At the summit,there is a mounted flag pole, thus marking the highest point of the mountain. From thence, one may experience the peaceful view of the mountain ranges of Sierra Madre at the East/ North-east side and a wide glimpse of Laguna de Bay as well as the figure of eight Daraitan river right below. Moreover, if keen enough, distant mountains like Makiling, Cristobal, Banahaw, Sembrano and Tagapo are visible on a clear sky.

From the summit, take the trail route leading down the Tinipak River (1-1.5hrs hiking). I suggest you may take a dip. It is such a favorable side trip after climbing Mt. Daraitan. Tinipak river's highlight include the beautiful limestone boulders and the warm fresh natural pool; a popular camping site; and a place and avenue suitable for caving, spelunking, swimming and rock climbing. Almost 90% of hikers take Tinipak river as a last stop after any other to indulge into the warm natural pool of Tinipak.

TRANSPORTATION
EDSA-Shaw Blvd. Take jeepneys bound to Tanay, Rizal (59php), 1.5-2 hrs traveling time.
TANAY Terminal. Take jeepneys directly bound to Brgy. Daraitan or via Sampaloc (26php), 45mins
SAMPALOC to Daraitan. Hire tricycle going to Brgy. Daraitan(Hall); 3 pax/tricycle (300php) 1 hr.

FEES
Environmental fee- 20php/pax
Guide- 500/dayhike (summit-tinipak)
         - 1,200 overnight
           *maximum of 10 pax/guide
Tinipak River Fee- 20 php

  MT. DARAITAN/ TINIPAK PHOTOS

ITINERARY 

I don’t post any detailed itinerary because I believe such should be experienced by nobody else but you, yourself. General time frame in every stops are shown in the transportation and hiking part of the article.