Mariang Makiling Trail stretches 8.9 kilometers from the College of Forestry and Natural Resources campus. Via this main trail, you can access several points of interest within the forest reserve from Flatrocks to the Permanent Field Laboratory Areas to Mudspring, and finally to Peak II.
The Mount Makiling Forest Reserve is declared as an ASEAN Heritage Park on October 3, 2013. The awarding ceremonies were conducted at the Makiling Botanic Gardens following the field trip of the 4th AHP Conference held at Tagaytay City.
Three Peaks crown the Mount Makiling, a dormant volcano. Seen from above, Mount Makiling has a collaped caldera facing towards Batangas evident of its violent past. The rim of the broken caldera forms the three peaks, Peak II being the most accessible and famous among the public.
Mudsprings are formed due to Mount Makiling’s volcanic history. Within the boundaries of MMFR there are occurences of mud pots, a type of hot spring where volcanic heat and sulphuric acid break down surrounding rocks into clay. The Mudspring is located within the Molawin-Dampalit watershed, 6 kilometers along the Makiling …
Flatrocks is on of the most frequented place in MFR by visitors. In this place, Molawin Creek flows on large slabs of rocks with forming natural pools. The Flatrocks area is a few hundred meters walk from Checkpoint # 1.
The Makiling Botanic Gardens is situated at the lower elevations of the Molawin-Dampalit watershed. The Maralas and Molawin creeks join within the park vicinities and is drained towards the UPLB campus and finally to the Laguna Lake. MBG hosts several native, endemic, and exotic plants for the visitors to experience.