The Perting Valley is a region in Bentong, about a 45 minutes drive from Petaling Jaya. The entrance is along the Gombak-Bentong road. The Perting river runs through this region and you will find the Perting Waterfalls, better known as Lata Hammers, along this river.

There are two ways to reach this waterfall. One is a hiking trail while the other is via an off-road trail for 4-wheel drive vehicles. If you use the hiking trail, you can park your car at a car park run by a camp site owner. From there, it’s a 40 minutes hike to the waterfall. The other trail is a much longer track that ends up on the opposite side of the waterfall. If you decide to go in by 4×4 vehicles, and take this track, the journey is tough and when you finally get to the falls, there is only enough space to park two vehicles along the trail. But be warned, this track changes drastically during the rainy season. On one trip, it took us 30 minutes to reach from the trail-head, and on another, we took about 2 hours.

Being such a nice campsite with a great waterfall and big pool, this campsite can be quite crowded during the weekends and public holidays. Finding a place to set up camp might be a bit difficult if the crowd is too big. An option is to camp at the Kebun Ayah campsite and hike to the waterfall for a day trip.

But if you go in by 4wd vehicles, there are three other spots you can camp at. The first campsite is located just opposite the river from the Kebun Ayah Campsite. The site is big enough to accommodate about 20 campers comfortably. The river is shallow but good enough for a refreshing dip.

The second campsite is further up the trail after Lata Hammers. It is hidden from view so most people who pass the site do not know of its existance. This site can accommodate up to about 15 pax, so it can be considered quite big as well. The river here is much better, being deeper and cleaner. The best part is the privacy as not too many people know about it. There is an open space to park vehicles and set up tents as well as a spot where the trees are closer and ideal for hammocks.

The third campsite is more difficult to get to. Stock standard 4×4 vehicles may not make it to this site in the rainy season as it involves climbing steep hills with very slippery slopes. You can camp anywhere along the track as it is a dead-end. The river here has a nice small waterfall. Even though this site is at the end of a difficult trail, you still see hikers coming to this spot.

Sg Perting allows the outdoor enthusiast to experience nice camping sites with a mixture of easy off-road trails, as well as very difficult off-road challenges. Whichever you prefer, you will have great memories of your trip to Perting. It is a great place for a weekend outing. It’s less than an hour away from Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur. The river is cool and refreshing, and you have lots of subject matter for photography. You can also hike to the Lata Hammers Waterfalls or other scenic spots along the river. Or, you could just laze around at the campsite and enjoy the company of those in your group.