{"id":1900,"date":"2012-06-06T00:07:29","date_gmt":"2012-06-05T16:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/?p=1900"},"modified":"2025-01-21T09:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T01:58:16","slug":"kiansom-waterall-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/kiansom-waterall-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiansom Waterall Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kiansom (or Kionsom) is a familiar picnic spot to people of Kota Kinabalu (KK). I call Kiansom a “Waterfall Park” because it has 7 waterfalls! This recreational park is only 20 KM away from KK and highly accessible by paved road. Kiansom is known as “\u5efa\u5c71” in Chinese and sometimes spelled as “Kiansam”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"entrance<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you reach the big roundabout of Inanam town, just turn to the junction where you will pass by Yick Nam SJK (C) School, and follow the main road. You will see village houses and Mari-Mari Cultural Village<\/a> on the way. After 10 minutes, you will see Kiansom Waterfall Centre (Pusat Air Terjun Kiansom) at the end of the road (See Location Map<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ticket
Above: ticket counter & entrance of Kiansom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you step out of your car, you will sense the fresh air packed with negative ions. Kiansom Park is at the foot of hilly terrain covered with lush forest and next to Kiansom River. The opening hours are:
Mon – Fri:<\/strong> 6am – 5pm
Sat – Sun:<\/strong> 6am – 6pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Entrance\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Entrance fee to the Kionsom Waterfall Park (translation in yellow text). Rates as of May 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Important: there are a lot of mosquitoes in Kiansom.<\/strong> Do bring Mosquito Repellent<\/strong> with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First 3 Waterfalls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can see 3 waterfalls of Kiansom in less than 10 minutes. FYI, there is no lifeguard in Kiansom, so you swim at your own risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"walkway
\nAt the right of the entrance is cement walkway that leads you to first 3 waterfalls of Kiansom, where 90% of the visitors congregate for picnic and swimming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"first
\nAbove: the first Kiansom Waterfall. It’s so small..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"first
\nThe small pond of 1st waterfall. The water is not too deep, so most parents bring their kids swimming here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"second
\nAbove: a bit further upstream is the 2nd Kiansom Waterfall, not very big either..
\nThe water here is deep and is known for drowning people occassionally. Many fearless youngsters like to jump into this pond from top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"third
\nAbove: 3rd Kiansom Waterfall
\nAt the end of cement walkway, just walk forward a few Meters on the rock surface and you will find the 3rd waterfall. To me, this so-called waterfall looks more like a stream flowing on a slope. I’m not impressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see nobody in my photos b’coz I came here early morning. This place is crowded in afternoon, especially on weekends and holiday, as most visitors are students and family group. If you want quiet place with bigger waterfalls, you can enter the jungle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jungle Trail to Bigger Waterfalls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\"jungle
\nNot far from the park entrance, there is a hilly trail at the left that leads you further upstream for bigger waterfalls. The route is not so inviting and the trail is mostly steep and uphill path. Be careful when you walk on boulders as they can be VERY slippery. The trail is obvious but there is no signage at all. Forest leeches may present in wet season, but they are tiny brown leeches and small in number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"river
\nI didn’t feel really warm during jungle trekking b’coz the trail is next to the Kiansom River. There are quite a number of waterfalls and ponds along this cascading river. The water looks so clean and fresh that I was tempted to take a dip (and let those at downstream enjoying my bath water LOL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"black-spotted
\nI was not alone in the river. I can see many tadpoles and sucker fishes in the water. The Black-spotted rock frog (see photo above) is quite common here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flora of Kiansom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\"red
Since I was walking on jungle trail, I saw some flowers and fruits along the way. Like the “red-lipstick” flower (Aeschynanthus tricolor<\/em>) above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"flowers
\nThe flowers are quite small in the wood. Can you name them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"fruiting
\nAbove: unknown blue fruit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"poisonous
Above: Poisonous Plant!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I saw a very interesting tree next to the river. It has pink flowers and translucent fruits, so cute… The fruits are above my head, so I grabbed their hairy stems to pull down for a closer look. A few seconds later, my fingers felt like being poked by many needles continuously, really hurt… the nasty pain lasted for over 10 minutes then subsided gradually, but the tingling sensation remained for hours. I used sticky plaster to stamp on my fingers to pull the venomous hairs out of my skin and that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tallest Kiansom Waterfall<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\"trail
\nAfter 15 minutes on the trail, I saw a big waterfall far below. That must be the tallest waterfall of Kiansom. Climbing downhill to this waterfall is quite dangerous as it is steep (more than 50\u00b0 inclination).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"biggest
\nAnyway, I struggled climbing down 30 Meters for 10 minutes and reached the waterfall finally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"people
\nThis waterfall is over 20 feet high, though it looks small in photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"cascading
\nThere is a smaller waterfall downstream that makes a lovely shot with the big waterfall behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kiansom<\/a>
\nYou can click photo above for bigger picture. The cliff of this waterfall has very interesting rock face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"close
\nAnother close-up shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can watch this waterfall in 40-sec video below:
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