How to find the Campuhan Ridge Walk
I’ve been living in Ubud, Bali for two months now and this morning was the first time I went for a hike. The road up to Campuhan Ridge Walk was so peaceful and beautiful, that it inspired me to create a travel section on my blog!
The seed for the blog was planted when I was looking for directions to Campuhan Ridge Walk. There are a few articles online but I didn’t find them too helpful, so I’ve prepared a guide for you on how to get to Campuhan Ridge using the photos I took to guide you.
Here are the directions to Campuhan Ridge Walk in Ubud:
Let’s use the Ubud market as our starting point. Walk West towards Penestanan/the bridge/Bintang supermarket. or as you exit the Ubud market onto the main road, Jalan Ubud Raya, you go left.
Before the bridge, on your right, you will see a sign for IBAH Hotel. This will be before the clinic and after the turning to Sari Organic, if you know where that is.
Turn right at that sign as if you’re going to the hotel (North of the main road if you’re looking at the map). To the left, you will see a road that goes downhill.
Update: When this blog was first published you could drive down and park at the school as you can’t go any further with a moped. However, I’ve since been told that they kick you out if you try and park there, so you may need to find another spot. The main Ubud market parking is about a 10min walk away.
Now take the road going right, DOWN the stairs (not over the bridge, but under it). The stairs will go up a little and for the next few metres the road will be a little uneven. Don’t worry, soon enough it will even out into a nice paved road.
Congratulations, you’ve found the path to Campuhan Ridge Walk!
For the next 2/3km, enjoy the scenery – it really is beautiful up there. The road slightly tilts uphill all the way, but it’s not hard, plus it makes the way back much nicer if you’re tired! However, even though it’s an easy trek, you will still get super sweaty from the heat, so wear something that won’t show those wet patches…
I would recommend going off-path wherever you like, there are some great places that aren’t on the main road – good for photoshoots in tall grass! I went up a steep hill off-path and had a lovely meditation overlooking the gorgeous fields.
The Campuhan rest point – Karsa Kafe
After a while, you will reach a built-up area with several art shops and the road will become unpaved but still quite even. Keep going another 500 metres to reach the rest point.
The typical “rest point” up there is a cafe called Karsa Kafe. You will easily recognise it by the 3 traditional Balinese huts to the left of the road. Karsa Kafe is a great place with a gorgeous view for a bathroom break and some watermelon juice. The menu isn’t huge, and for raw vegans, there’s only the choice of a simple salad or a fruit plate. They also have free wifi and I actually wished I had brought my iPad with me to start writing this blog.
As you can see from the photos below, Karsa Kafe is quite easy to spot:
This is where I sat to cool off from a long, hot walk.
The rice terrace views from Karsa Kafe are really peaceful.
And no guide would be complete without a photo of food! This may not be the greatest photo, but the pineapple was drool-worthy!
The way up there took me about 1.5 hours but I was stopping quite frequently to take photos. Plus I had a meditation up on the hill, so it could probably be done in half the time if you’re a determined walker. The way back, downhill, took me about 40 mins from the cafe to my moped.
Also, you are likely to see some wild, wonderful and weird creatures, so don’t forget your camera!!
Oh and if you REALLY don’t want to walk all the way back, there is transport available in the village – I saw a sign at Karsa Kafe for transport.
Quick summary of Campuhan Ridge Walk:
Distance from Ibah Hotel to Karsa Kafe and back: about 4-6km (just by the school it says it’s 2km to the cafe, but at the cafe, it says 3km to Ubud. Perhaps they mean central Ubud.)
Don’t forget: your camera, a bottle of water (the closest shop is about 1.5-2km from the start) sunglasses and sunscreen, and a hat could come in useful too. Take some money also if you’d like to buy some art or some food at Karsa Kafe.
Best time to go to Campuhan Ridge Walk: early morning, around 7:30. I went at 9am and that was a bit too hot. It’s June now, so the sun rises at around 6am, so anytime after that is great.
Here are some more photos of Campuhan:
Enjoy your walk!!
If you liked this article, you may want to read some more stuff about my life in Bali:
- 18 spiritual and life lessons I learnt from living in Bali for a year
- A guide to white water rafting rivers in Bali: Ayung or Telaga Waja?
- How to get to Green School, Bali, and what is special about it?
- A travel guide to Gili Air, Lombok
- Where to eat raw food at Gili Air island, Lombok
Want to know more about Bali? Here’s a Lonely Planet travel guide
This Post Has 62 Comments
I just walked this today. Beautiful! Your post was very helpful. Thank you so much.
Thank you, glad you found it useful!
This article is prolly around 5 years old. But here it is helping me, ( a dude on his first trip to Bali in 2019!!) find the walkway!
So for that Thank You! Heheh
Thats great, good to know and thank you! If there’s anything you can add to these directions that are a little more up to date, please let me know, I’m sure everyone would appreciate it 🙂
YESSS finally directions that make sense! This is the best Campuhan guide on the internet, hands down!
~ Bernard Sleijster
Thank you for the detailed and accurate information on how to get to this amazing walk! I used these instructions and had a great afternoon, but I did sweat a lot! Thanks again – blogetaway.
Hi, thanks for the great instructions re the walk. We are in our 70’s now and travelled in Bali extensively in the 1970’s. (You cannot imagine the changes).
We were unsure if we could manage the walk but feel encouraged to give it a go.
Hi, thank you for your comment! Wow, I’m sure Bali was amazing in the 70s, I wish I had seen it then, so pure and untouched…
I hope you enjoy the walk, it’s very scenic and you can just take your time, it’s a little bumpy in the first 100m or so, but then it’s very smooth and gradual.
Thank you for the information
By the way how long did it take for the hike? 🙂
You’re most welcome! It depends on how fast you go, mine took a few hours, stopping every few metres to take photos of the beautiful surroundings 🙂
Thank you for the clear guidance. We went there last week and really enjoyed it. Allow me to share some photo, took this pix of four lovely ladies on their way back from the nearby temple. https://flic.kr/p/JwrvdW
Stunning shot, thanks for sharing!! Glad you enjoyed the hike 🙂
Thanks for providing this. Very clear and helpful directions!
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Is it possible to cycle instead of walk?
Yes it’s very possible, I believe all the construction now has been done.
Hi anya..
Thank you for the information..:) Do we need to take permission from anyone or is there any entrance fee?
Can we go without any prebooking?
regards,
Suchetha
Hi, no you don’t need anything, it’s an open road for anyone to go on. Enjoy 🙂
Thanks for this, it was really helpful; we appreciate you taking the time to give detailed directions and include pics on how to get there
Thank you 🙂 I just remember struggling to find it when I first went, so I wanted to make it easier for others
Just remember to take with you some cash if you need to park your motorbike. It’s not free anymore. There have put a ‘no parking’ sign now and the guys want 2000 rupias, but this will probably increase quite soon as in these days (even in low rainy season) everything in Ubud does.
Ah thanks for that tip!
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thanks for such detail guide. In Ubud, it’s can be hard to spot signs .. ! keep sharing !
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Thank you Anya very much for posting your directions and photo’s. My wife and I are looking forward to doing this walk as we are staying in Ubud over the next two weeks. It looks awesome. Have a great day
You both will enjoy it! My wife and I did this walk last September, only got half way as I had a cork thigh. We will go again this September. Amazing views. Take plenty of Bintangs. Or water!
Thanks for this Anya. I have done this walk 10years ago and will be doing this again in few weeks and I totally forgot where the start of the trek. Thanks again.
Thank you, found this place perfectly because of your directions, enjoy, would love to know of any other small hikes in town,
Anya, this is AMAZING! thank you so much! I am staying at Balibbu hostel and will be going on this adventure tomorrow!! I will let you know how it goes! Thank you for such detail and the beautiful pictures ! xx Sabrina
Thank you very much for telling us more about this place!! Indeed very beautiful
Anya, thank you for putting this page together. It was so useful when my family and I tried to do the ridge walk recently. All the best to you! Love from Singapore
Thank you 🙂 I’m really glad you found it useful, hope you enjoyed the walk and Bali in general! Lots of love
Great Blog! Thanks for the detailed Post. Very helpful 🙂
Thanks for the details and the lovely photos!:)
Dearn Anya, thank you for your inspiration and help to find this trail. I walked it today, and I recorded the walk on GPS. It turns out it is exactly 2 km long, as they tell us on the signs.
See: http://www.wandermap.net/en/route/2870049
Thats really great, thank you for sharing Peter!
Great directions and truly a fabulous walk. There are two other walks in/along the ricefields further east for those who want to explore. One you enter about 50 meters closer to Ubud at a Laundry sign. The entry sign is a little hard to find. The furthest east is harder still to find and more primitive. Unfortunately, we are leaving for Sanur today, so cannot provide detailed directions. This walk is prettier, better paved and has coffee as a destination. The other walks also have light scooter traffic.
Thank you Chris! I’ve always hoped to find other walks around Ubud, will check them out next time 🙂
We did the walk yesterday. Your description was excellent. We used a GPS and from Ibah to Kasra it was 1.9 km. The uneven part is now also nicely paved
We did this walk last week, I had a cork thigh so we only went as far as the shop that sells paintings. Have booked to return to bali next year, we will do the whole walk. Brilliant! Thanks for the directions. I took some awesome pics on my new Canon 600D. I think it helps to take some cold Bintangs, we did! Dave and Derrilee
Perfect, now o know how to get there. Thank you so much.
Thank you! We were able to find the path without problems thanks to your explanation!
Did the walk today with a stroller and 1 year old. Thanks for directions made it very easy. Construction at start nearly complete, but Karsa kafe had building works. Might be finished in a week when I spoke to the builder. Beautiful views
Thankyou so much, my father says he doesn’t have to bring his camera to take photos of the walk because you have some here. Just saved about 2 hours of my life.
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Thank you! thank you! thank you for making time to write this. This is exactly what I’m looking for since I will be going there next august. cheers, Will
Hi Anya,
Thanks for the info about Bali.
Your website is very helpful for my trip to Bali and Gilis.
Just visited Ubud (Campuhan ridge and sari organik) and Gili islands (Gili T and Gili Air) This month.
Enjoyed Ubud and Gili Air a lot.
Gili T is just too crowded and dirty.
Two questions:
1.did you rent a motorcycle when you stay in Ubud?
2. Did you visit Gili Meno?
Thank you
Hiyas, thank you for your comment, good to see the articles help 🙂
1) I didn’t have one for the first 2 days, then I got a Scoopy for 450k/month. But I lived there for a long time so it was physically impossible not to have one.
2) I only went diving just off the shore of Gili Meno, it seemed totally empty and I didn’t actually go on it, but I spoke to a lot of locals about all the islands and no one recommended it.
Much love xx
About Lombok, I would suggest you to try to go to Gili Asahan or Gili Nangu for snorkeling or diving. BTW, very helpful info and we’ll be there by the end of Decembre 2014
Thats great to know, thank you! I havent been to either of them 🙂
Tnx the first pics help a lot to find the route,
Regards from dutch travellers 😉
Thanks 🙂 I found it hard to find a decent explanation online, thats why I took those photos! Enjoy Ubud!
This looks excellent, I look forward to trying it and seeing the wonderfulness by myself. Thank you!
Loved your directions and photos. I hope to do the walk tomorrow, early.
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Wow very nice !
I will manage to go there, thank you for the guidance !
I did it to Sari Organic long time a go.
If you’re mean to be in Buleleng, try to do trekking in Sambangan village they have 7 waterfalls it called the sacred garden.
Thank you 🙂 Wow 7 waterfalls, sounds lovely, thanks for the tip!!
It is very helpful and clear with all the photos and explanations. Good idea! We loved it! Thank you for this job! love xxx
Thank you <3 xx
Me and my partner Kay made this trek to day, just fabulous. Re beer to take some water it’s very hot even in February. The kafe is beautiful, with koi carp in the water beneath the pergolas. There’s a new Lilly pond right in front as well. We must be crazy, left the kafe turned right and walked. Up the hill when down onto the valley to the left. Back up the other side and joined the main road back to ubud. Six hour but enjoyed ever moment.
Thanks for you blog and info, matin and Kay torquay UK
Ps off for a massage to sooth our acing legs.