The Campuhan Ridge Walk: When to Go, How Far, and What Is at the End

Campuhan means confluence: the ridge runs between the Wos Barat and Wos Timur rivers, which meet below the old bridge on the west edge of Ubud town. From the temple of Pura Gunung Lebah in the valley, a paved path climbs onto the ridge and follows its spine for about two kilometres through tall elephant grass, with the valleys falling away on both sides and a view back over the rooftops of Ubud. It is flat once you are up, and paved all the way, and it is the easiest walk on Bali that still feels like being outside a town.

At the far end the path drops to the village of Bangkiang Sidem, where there are a few cafes among rice fields, the best known being Karsa, and a road back to Ubud by scooter or on foot.

There is no shade on the ridge. Before 8:00 the light is low and gold, the grass is still wet and the temperature is bearable; after about 9:30 the path is in full sun and the walk becomes a chore. Late afternoon after 4:30 is the second window, with sunset around 6:15 and the light on the grass from the west. Most Ubud hotels are within a short walk or a five-minute drive of the start, which is why the ridge fits before breakfast better than anything else in town.

The start is signposted from the Campuhan bridge on the road towards Kedewatan, beside the Warwick Ibah hotel; you go down towards the temple and up the far side. Walk out and back for a 4 km loop, or walk out, have breakfast at the cafes in Bangkiang Sidem and take a scooter taxi back. There is no entrance fee and no gate. Combine it with a morning at the Monkey Forest or a market breakfast in town; for the harder walks, Batur and the Bangli waterfalls, see the Mount Batur guide and the waterfalls guide.