Mount Rinjani & Segara Anak

Pre-trip Notes

Weather & Environment

Summit day starts before dawn when temperatures are already low, and the ridge walk adds strong wind — dress properly for wind and cold.

Afternoons can bring whiteout mist or drizzle, and the humidity makes clothes slow to dry, especially in the rainforest. At sunnier high-elevation spots, hanging clothes off your pack to dry in the sun works faster.

Rinjani's monkeys creep up on hikers' exposed packs like they're playing red-light-green-light, grabbing brightly colored trail snacks or clear zip-lock bags of food — watch out for this. If a monkey gets too close, just standing up will make it back off.

Gear

Sunscreen, lip balm and sunglasses are essential at high altitude.

Long stretches with no shade — make sure you're properly protected from the sun.

It wasn't the rainy season when I went, but Indonesia's tropical climate still brought a brief thunderstorm almost every afternoon — bring breathable rain gear.

The early part of Day 1 is mud and rock, and loose scree, gravel and fine sand start appearing later on — shoes with good grip and a bit of extra lightness help. This matters most on summit day, which is almost entirely one-step-forward-half-step-back scree, gravel and sand.

Durable gloves are worth bringing — useful for grabbing nearby plants or rock walls when climbing the scree slope or descending deep steps.

Given the afternoon thunderstorms mentioned above, rain boots or waterproof shoes work well. Non-waterproof trail runners aren't ideal — the humidity is high, and if they get wet, they may not dry out before you're back down.

The highest point is Rinjani's summit at 3,726 m — bring Diamox for altitude sickness prevention if that suits your situation.

There's plenty of water along this route — occasional waterfalls and streams — so consider bringing a water filter to refill. Given the modest 3,726 m elevation and the number of hikers from all over, drinking untreated water isn't recommended.

If you plan to shoot sunrise photos or a timelapse at the summit, it's hard to find a stable, well-angled spot, so consider carrying a tripod up on summit day.

You can fish at Segara Anak crater lake — if interested, bring lightweight fishing gear; you'll be able to use it from Day 2 onward.

The trail passes hot springs and sulfur springs, so bring lightweight water shoes for foot protection and swimwear — you can soak your feet or bathe.

Other

Going up, you can ride a motorbike to near Pos 2, saving about 5 km; coming down, you can ride from the motorbike station out to the Torean trailhead, saving about 2 km.

Some spots — like the public toilets at Pos 2 — charge a fee. Keep some 10,000-rupiah notes handy, since vendors won't give change.

On the route I took, the highest-elevation shop was at Pelawangan Sembalun camp, around 2,660 m, and the lowest was at Birisan Nangka camp, around 1,083 m. Bring extra rupiah and you'll have your pick of snacks, water and soda the whole way.

Each map shows that day's route, traced along the actual trail and terrain: the line runs from light to dark as it climbs, with a green dot at the start and a red dot at the finish. The rise and fall below it is that day's elevation, in metres, on the left.

Under forest cover or in a canyon, GPS sometimes drops for a few minutes — those stretches on the map show as straight lines. Recording was on; the GPS simply had no fix. Those are not stretches that went unwalked. Stretches that genuinely weren't recorded are called out separately, in the notice above.

Whole Trip 14 May 2026 – 17 May 2026

Mount Rinjani & Segara Anak

Tap a date to see that day's stretch

North is up. This is a sketch, not for navigation; use the GPX to navigate.

4 days of hiking 33.7 km ↑ 2973 m ↓ 3468 m about 17.9 hours 23 landmarks

Download all GPX (zip)

D1 14 May 2026 · 9.5 km · ↑1641 m Same stretch 4:33 Starting the climb · over 1500 m of ascent in a single day Sembalun Trailhead → Pelawangan Sembalun

9.5 km ↑ 1641 m ↓ 12 m about 4.7 hours 6 landmarks

0 → 10 km of 34 km

Download GPX 20 waypoints ▶︎ Replay

Same stretch 4:33

Distance, climb, times

Station	Σ km	↑	↓	Arr.	Dep.
Sembalun Trailhead	0.0				09:51
Pos 1	3.1	353	0	10:58	11:16
Pos 2	4.6	97	0	11:41	12:25
Pos 3	6.2	277	12	13:02	13:04
Pelawangan Sembalun Campground	8.5	802	0	15:32	15:44
Pelawangan Sembalun 2	9.5	78	0	16:01

D2 15 May 2026 · 11.5 km · ↑1066 m Same stretch 7:13 Summit day · departing at 02:30 Rinjani Volcano summit push → Segara Anak crater lake

11.5 km ↑ 1066 m ↓ 1764 m about 7.3 hours 7 landmarks

10 → 21 km of 34 km

Download GPX 14 waypoints ▶︎ Replay

Same stretch 7:13

Distance, climb, times

Station	Σ km	↑	↓	Arr.	Dep.
Pelawangan Sembalun 2	0.0				02:26
Rinjani Summit	3.3	999	0	05:27	06:20
Back at camp (lunch)	6.6	0	1000	08:03	12:22
Three-way junction	7.2	0	53	12:30	12:31
Segara Anak	10.9	45	668	14:37	16:01
Segara Anak Lakeside Campground	11.0	0	0	16:01	16:02
Aik Kalak Hot Springs	11.5	11	16	16:17

D3 16 May 2026 · 7.6 km · ↑188 m Same stretch 4:06 Rainforest stream crossings and descent · the most comfortable day of the trip Segara Anak → Birisan Nangka Campground

7.6 km ↑ 188 m ↓ 1114 m about 4.3 hours 5 landmarks

21 → 29 km of 34 km

Download GPX 17 waypoints ▶︎ Replay

Same stretch 4:06

Distance, climb, times

Station	Σ km	↑	↓	Arr.	Dep.
Segara Anak Campground	0.0				07:42
Hot Springs Campsite	1.2	45	195	08:19	08:57
Magic Water	3.4	92	275	10:33	10:40
Forest hollow (lunch)	5.0	0	318	11:31	12:43
Birisan Nangka Campground	7.5	30	286	14:01

D4 17 May 2026 · 5.1 km · ↑78 m Same stretch 1:19 Last 2 km out to the trailhead by local motorbike Birisan Nangka → Torean Trailhead

5.1 km ↑ 78 m ↓ 578 m about 1.6 hours 5 landmarks

29 → 34 km of 34 km

Download GPX 8 waypoints ▶︎ Replay

Same stretch 1:19

Distance, climb, times

Station	Σ km	↑	↓	Arr.	Dep.
Birisan Nangka Campground	0.0				06:39
Morel greenhouse	2.2	56	288	07:39	09:12
Torean	2.7	0	52	09:18	09:28
Motorbike stop	3.0	10	57	09:34	09:36
Torean Trailhead	5.1	12	169	09:43