The Campuhan Ridge Walk trail, also known as Bukit Campuhan, is one of the best places to escape Ubud‘s busy streets and enjoy some beautiful nature scenery, filled with panoramic views lush valleys and vibrant greenery. Although it is often referred to as a hike or a trek, the Campuhan Ridge trail is much more akin to a scenic walk, as it isn’t particularly difficult with only a slight uphill climb. The actual out-and-back trail is quite short, but most people continue onwards until they reach a Karsa Kafe, which has an outdoor terrace providing outstanding views of the neighbouring rice fields. Finding and getting to the Campuhan Ridge trailhead can sometimes be tricky, so to help you figure this out and plan your scenic outdoor activity, we put together this Ubud Hiking Guide on the Campuhan Ridge Walk.
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Campuhan Ridge Walk – Location & Map
The Campuhan Ridge Walk trail is located in northwest Ubud, near Penestanan village. (link to Google Maps).
How to get to the Campuhan Ridge Walk trailhead
Getting to the trailhead from Ubud
The simplest way to reach the trailhead is to do so on foot. From Ubud Palace (near the corner of Jalan Raya Ubud and Jalan Monkey Forest), which is often considered the center of town, the trailhead is about a 15-minute walk away.
To reach the trailhead, you will want to walk west along Jalan Raya Ubud and pass through a section of the road known as the “green tunnel”, a lovely area where the air is cooler and the large trees on either side of the road create a tunnel shape above it.
Soon after you exit the “green tunnel”, you will reach a small road to your right, that heads north between the large IBAH hotel sign and the MINI MART corner store (link to Google Maps). From there, you will want to immediately take the next left (following the small sign pointing towards Bukit Campuhan).
From there, stay on the right of the road and get down the short staircase to follow a narrower trail that passes by the Pura Gunung Lebah temple to the right, which will soon thereafter become the Campuhan Ridge Walk trail.
(As of mid-2025, the temple is closed for renovations and unfortunately isn’t open to visitors)
You can follow the walking path to the trailhead from Ubud Palace using this Google Maps walking itinerary.
Getting to Ubud from elsewhere in Bali
Drive times from elsewhere in Bali can be highly variable depending on the traffic conditions.
Distance from Kuta: 40 km // Average Drive Time: 1h20 – 1h40
Distance from Canggu: 30 km // Average Drive Time: 1h10 -1h30
Distance from Sanur: 25 km // Average Drive Time: 1h -1h20
Distance from Sidemen: 30 km // Average Drive Time 1h -1h20
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Finding Parking
The main challenge if coming from out of town is finding parking. The Campuhan Ridge Walk trail does not have dedicated parking. The nearest lot is the Ubud Central Parking (link to Google Maps), but it only opens to cars around 10 am when the morning farmer’s market ends. Parking here is fortunately relatively cheap (5K IDR for vehicles, 2K IDR for scooters). This car park is located about a 20-minute walk from the Campuhan Ridge Walk trailhead.
It’s often easier to find spaces in Ubud’s largest car park by the Monkey Forest (link to Google Maps). However there are two drawbacks to using it: 1) it is more expensive (same rates as above but charged by the hour instead of a single fee), and 2) it is significantly further from the trailhead (about a 35-minute walk), which when including the return walk will more than double the original duration of the Campuhan Ridge Walk.
Transport Options
In our opinion, the two best transport options to reach the Campuhan Ridge Walk trail are: renting a scooter (moped) or hiring a car and driver (which really isn’t as expensive as it sounds). One of the main advantages of using a private driver in this case is that they will simply drop you off near the start of the trailhead and take care of finding parking.
You can also use Bali ride-hailing apps such as Gojek or Grab, and make use of local taxis, but these options will typically cost more, especially if you plan on visiting several sites and attractions on the same day. Also, Gojek or Grab are not authorized to pick up people in certain locations where local taxi unions limit their services, including Canggu, Sanur, and Ubud. For more information on getting around the island and the different available options, check out our guide on How to Best Get Around Bali.
Getting to the Ubud by Scooter: Once you get to Bali, you’ll quickly realize that scooter rental operators are everywhere. Although most street-side vendors will regularly be the cheapest option, they come short in several other aspects compared with more reliable and established vendors. For instance, most won’t offer roadside assistance or insurance that covers theft, nor do they regularly sanitize the helmets or have their scooters undergo regular maintenance. For this reason, we highly recommend using Bikago for your scooter rentals. Renting from them might be slightly more expensive (but still can be rented for as low as 12-15 US$/€ per day) but you get great peace of mind as among many other perks, all scooters undergo extensive quality checks.
What you get with your Bikago rental:
-Helmets
-Full tank of petrol and unlimited mileage
-Free Delivery and Collection at your Hotel
-24/7 Roadside Assistance and First Aid Medical Kit
-Charging Mobile Phone Holder
By Car and Driver hire: Hiring a car and driver to explore Bali can be a practical and cost-efficient way to experience a full day of sightseeing. Although this option is more expensive than renting a scooter (typically 40-60 US$/€ per day), you don’t have to worry about navigating the Bali roads and traffic, Also, most cars are modern and air-conditioned, which is welcome in Bali’s humid heat, and the local drivers always know the best routes to take and can optimize your ideal itinerary. Here are some of the best options to choose from:
Campuhan Ridge Walk – Cost and Hours
Entrance Fee
There is no fee to do the Campuhan Ridge Walk – it is completely free.
Opening Hours
The Campuhan Ridge Walk is open 24 hours. We wouldn’t necessarily suggest doing it at night as you obviously won’t be able to enjoy the scenery, but it’s quite pleasant around sunrise and sunset.
Facilities
The trail itself doesn’t have any facilities such as washrooms, but just beyond the northern end of the trail you will encounter several restaurants and warungs with washrooms that you can use with a food or beverage purchase.
What to Bring and What to Wear
There is little-to-no shade along this trail, so applying sunscreen and/or wearing a hat is a good idea.
The trail path is relatively flat and easy to navigate, but the stones that the path is made out of can be slick or slippery. Although we saw some people wearing flip-flops on the trail, we would still recommend proper walking footwear.
Best Time to do the Campuhan Ridge Walk
Best Time of the Year
Although we walked the trail during the dry season, there’s no bad time of year to do the Campuhan Ridge Walk. There’s a higher risk of rain during the wet season (November-April), and there’s also likely to be more mosquitoes. On the plus side, however, there are likely to be fewer other tourists around.
Consider off-peak months like May-June or September-October for a more personal experience with fewer crowds.
Best Time of Day
The best time to visit is definitely in the early morning when it’s cooler and when there are far fewer other people along the path; we recommend starting somewhere between 730 am and 9 am. You will be able to enjoy a much more relaxed atmosphere with some beautiful golden morning light. We started the trail around 8h, and there were significantly more people on the trail during the return leg of the walk than there were during the outbound leg of the walk.
If you can’t make it early in the day, try the late afternoon or early evening around sunset. It will likely still be quite warm out, but at least the number of other people on the trail will have started to thin down.
Campuhan Ridge Walk – Trail Details
Length: The “nature portion” of the trail is only 1 km in length (2km including return), but most people continue through the small but scenic Campuhan Village, with Karsa Kafé (link to Google Maps) often marking the turning point, as it also doubles as a great spot to take a break and enjoy the surrounding scenery with a cool beverage of coffee.
If you make it all the way to Karsa Kafé, the full trail into a 4 km round-trip walk.
Trail Difficulty: The trail is not difficult at all and is suitable for almost everyone, regardless of age or fitness. There are a few short ups and downs and the first leg is slightly uphill, but the overall elevation gain is quite negligible.
For those with mobility issues or bad knees, we should point out that there are a few staircases to navigate to get to the trailhead and a few additional steps along the way. However, the majority of the trail is on a flat surface with at most a slight uphill incline.
Campuhan Ridge Walk – How Long Do You Need?
If you only want to do the “nature section” of the walk, you probably won’t need more than 30 minutes including the return leg of the walk.
If you want to make it all the way as we did to Karsa Kafé, you should plan for about an hour when walking at a leisurely pace, but plan for longer if you want to stop and enjoy the view from the café’s outdoor terrace (see pictures further below – we highly recommend it).
Campuhan Ridge Walk – What to Expect
Some people are disappointed by the Campuhan Ridge Walk because they expect a walk amongst tranquil rice fields as many other trails around Ubud are known for. This is unfortunate because not only is the Campuhan Ridge Walk not advertised as such, but many seem to ignore how beautiful it still is because it doesn’t quite correspond to their expectations.
Also, if you continue all the way to Karsa Kafé, you WILL SEE rice fields and lots of them – they are not just around the main and the most popular portion of the ridge walk.
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Most of the walking trail follows a stone path set atop a narrow between two jungle-filled green valleys. The views are simply superb on either side of the trail.
After about a kilometer, you’ll reach a typical Balinese stone gate, which marks the entrance to Campuhan village. Here the scenic views temporarily cease as you’ll cross several merchants and vendors selling art and souvenirs, as well as a few restaurants and warungs.
Continuing onwards, as you approach Karsa Kafé, buildings become fewer and farther in between, and you start to get a glimpse of some of the nearby rice fields. The café itself is quite nice and a great place to enjoy a refreshing drink on a hot day.
But the real draw here is the fantastic view of the surrounding rice field you get from its second-floor outdoor balcony.
Campuhan Ridge Walk – Is it Worth It?
We definitely think so! The ridge walk trail sometimes gets a bad rap because it’s not a true rice field walk. Despite this, it is also somewhat ironically one of Ubud’s most popular walking trails, meaning that it can get quite busy, particularly around midday. As we stated above, to enjoy the walk to its fullest it’s best to do it as early as possible while it is cooler out and less crowded.
Given that it’s a relatively short walk, it can also be combined with other short walks around Ubud, particularly those known for their rice field views (see below for further details).
Nearby Rice Field Walks in Ubud
If you are really keen on doing a rice field walk or are just interested, there are several you can do in Ubud, such as the nearby Sari Organic Rice Field Walk.
For a complete list of walking trails, check out our guide on Ubud’s Best Rice Field Walks.
Outside of Ubud, there are several fantastic opportunities to explore other beautiful rice fields, including those of Tegalaland, Jatiluwih, and Sidemen.
Sights and Attractions near the Campuhan Ridge Walk
The nearest attractions are some of Ubud’s most popular temples to visit. You can easily visit three of them along the main road (Jalan Raya Ubud) that you will likely walk along to reach the ridge walk: Pura Dalem Ubud, Pura Saraswati (Ubud Water Palace), and Ubud Palace. We described each of these temples in great detail in our guide on the Best Temples to Visit in and around Ubud.
Where to Stay Near the Campuhan Ridge Walk
In our opinion, the best place to stay is in Ubud, whose location makes it a great base from which to explore the Campuhan Ridge Walk and several other attractions in the Ubud area and central Bali. All of the following are some of the best mid-range hotel accommodations located within walking distance from the city center:
Komaneka at Rasa Sayang Ubud Hotel
Planning a Trip to Bali?
You might be interested in these pages: (coming soon)
Best Things to See and Do in Bali
Best Things to See and Do in the Gili Islands
The Perfect Three-Week Bali Itinerary
Everything You Need to Know About Visiting Bali
We also highly recommend these guidebooks:
Bali: The Solo Girl’s Travel Guide
Lonely Planet Bali, Lombok & Nusa Tenggara
Photography Gear
If you like our photography, you might be interested in some of the gear we use to shoot our travel and hiking destinations.
Camera Body – Nikon Z 6ii Fx-series Mirrorless Body
Main Lens – NIKON 24-120mm F/4G ED VR AF-S
Zoom Lens – Sigma 745-306 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Polarizing filters – Urth Circular Polarizing (CPL)
Camera Tripod – K&F Concept 64-inch Camera Tripod
Mini-tripod – Lammcou Flexible Camera Tripod
Camera/hiking backpack – Vanguard Alta Rise 48 Backpack
Universal Travel Adapter – VYLEE Universal International Power Travel Plug
Other Travel Essentials
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Car Rentals
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Transfer from Airport
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Kiwitaxi is another private transfer service – we haven’t tried it yet, but it’s currently available in a few more countries (102 as of 2024).
Hotels and Accommodations (coming soon)
Photography Prints
If you found this blog useful, you can help support our blog by purchasing low-cost digital prints. Printed physical prints are also available for purchase.
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Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our Campuhan Ridge Walk – An Ubud Hiking Guide and that it will prove useful for planning your trip.
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