Kinabalu National Park
Designation
ASEAN Heritage Parks
Body
| Kinabalu National Park - Sacred mountain of Sabah |
| Kinabalu National Park is one of the biggest attractions of Sabah State. Covering an area of 75,370 hectares, the Park is situated in the East Malaysian state of Sabah and stretches through the entire west coast of Sabah. Its highest peak is Mount Kinabalu, standing at 4,101 meters (13,455 feet), which continues to rise five millimeters per year as the world's youngest granite pluton. London sponsored two expeditions to explore the mountain and its flora. The results of these expeditions eventually led to the establishment of Mt. Kinabalu as a National Park in 1961. The next two highest peaks are Mount Trus Madi (2,641.40 meters / 8,666 feet) and Mount Tambuyukon (2,579.22 meters / 8,462 feet), which are located 50 kilometers south and 20 kilometers north of Mt. Kinabalu, respectively. The lowest elevation in Kinabalu Park is at Poring Hot Springs (550 meters), which lies close to the Park's southern boundary. It is hot (average of 25 degrees Celsius) and humid at Poring, and crisp and cool (average of 4 degrees Celsius) at Mount Kinabalu's summit. The climatic changes provide a diverse range of habitats for thousands of plant species. Kinabalu Park has six unique major topographical features: peaks and plateaus, gullies, rivers, streams and waterfalls, hot springs, caves (Paka Caves and the tumbled bats cave at Poring) and granite slabs at the slopes of the summit. |