5 Family Friendly Camping Ground in West Java.

Cold air, dark night, warm fire, gluey melted marshmallow, bright stars, ...nothing can beat the amazing experience of camping, especially with the people you love. Giving memorable experiences to our children about how wonderful to be closed to the nature is something that not hard to get for us who live in this beautiful country, Indonesia.

The selection criteria to decide that whether these locations are friendly or not for family especially with children are :

1. Easy access using family car.
2. Safe parking area availability.
3. The distance between the camping ground and the parking area.
4. Toilets that are reasonable clean.
5. It is a good manageable camping ground.

Here are the family friendly camping grounds located in West Java province, easy access from Jakarta, Bogor or Bandung, that we have visited.
I put them in order of the distance from Jakarta.

So ... pack up your bag-packs and bring your family to enjoy these beautiful places.



1. Gunung Pancar, Sentul

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This is one of the good camping ground that very easy to reach from Jakarta or Bogor.
Located at the outskirt of Sentul City, Bogor, where we can enjoy staying and doing many outdoor activities surrounded by beautiful pine trees.

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How to get there :
From Jagorawi toll road, exit in Sentul City toll gate. Turn left & follow Sentul City main road (i.e. Jalan MH Thamrin). After about 3-4km going uphill & a bit long descending road, we will reach a big roundabout with Sentul Nirwana estate sign. Turn left here & before the entrance gate of The Jungle Land amusement park, turn right. Starting from here, the road gets worse, winding & going uphill. About 2-3 km you will reach the Gunung Pancar ticketing gate.

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Covering the area of 437 acres of pine forest, other than just stay for camping, we can also have a short trekking around the area.

Last time in Gunung Pancar we rent the location on A-block; the large well-maintained flat lawn field, new toilet and bathing facilities, not far from the management and security office so it’s more secure during night time. The lightings are provided, including 220V power outlets. What luxury facilities in a forest!
The area is still pretty clean. The management provided large garbage plastic bags nearby our spot.

The good news is that many other camping packages are provided, including Glamping (Glamour Camping). For more information you can check their website : www.gunungpancar.com

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 pics : (c) vaniaSamperuru
The Entry Ticket Price :
Weekday
Rp 5.000 /person
Rp 10.000 /car
Rp 5.000 /motorcycle

Weekend
Rp 7.500 /person
Rp 15.000 /car
Rp 7.500 /motorcycle

2. Gunung Bundar, Bogor

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Gunung Bundar is located about 1050m asl, not too far from Bogor and managed by Perhutani. Natural view surrounded by beautiful pine trees with fresh air in every breath we take makes this place become one of the favorite places for camping.
Camping in this area, we can visit many waterfalls with just a short distant of walking; Curug Cadas, Curug Cihurang, Curug Ngumpet, Curug Cigamea, Curug Pangeran, and Curug Seribu.
A note: 'Curug' in Sunda language means waterfall. All of them are naturally beautiful by the foot of Gunung Salak.

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How to get there :
Gunung Bunder is about 70km away from Jakarta or 20km from Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB) campus in Darmaga. From Jakarta, take Jagorawi toll way, exit in Sentul City & take the Bogor Outer Ring Road (BORR) toll road all the way heading to IPB in Darmaga area. A few km after passing the university, there are several roads to the left that eventually end up in Gunung Bunder area. Again, please be prepared to ask question to some locals since no sign to Gunung Bundar.

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Here, if you need some wood for a bonfire, don't hesitate to contact the management staff for help or also you can get directly from nearby local shops. Other than that, you have to bring your personal needs by yourself.
Public toilet is available nearby the camping ground. Don't worry.

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3. Wisata Capolaga, Subang

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This is one of the newest camping grounds in West Java.
In this place, 3 weeks ago, we hosted one night camping for teenagers and this is the first camping experience for them. All of us were having fun there.

Located in between Subang and Lembang, West Java, the camping ground locations are very closed to the three beautiful waterfalls and two rivers.

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How to get there:
From Pasar Minggu, South of Jakarta, it is about 135 km away via Purwakarta-Wanayasa, or 145 km via the new Cipali toll way and Subang, or 194 km via Bandung-Lembang. At that time, the new Cipali toll way was not opened yet, so from Jakarta we took the Cikampek toll way, exited in Jatiluhur, went through city of Purwakarta to Wanayasa town, got into the popular Jalan Cagak junction, turned right about 9 km uphill until we reached the intersection of Ciater. Take the right turn and the location is 3 km away from there. Please drive cautiously since there is a narrow and continuously straight downhill road more than 500 m long through a village before reaching the location.

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Toilets with plenty of cold fresh water are available near by the camping ground. Don't forget to bring a toilet tissue.

As I wrote before that this camping ground is closed to three waterfalls and rivers, with path where we can use it for morning walking or short hiking. From the map below, we can imagine how fun walking in between so many trees, crossing the rivers, stop by for playing in the waterfalls, and also walking in the middle of tea plantation.

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Interested?
for more information you can visit their website : www.wisataalamcapolaga.com

4. Cipanunjang Dam, Pangalengan

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This camping ground is located a bit far from Jakarta, because you have to drive to Bandung first. As soon as you are in Bandung (the capital city of West Java, 125 km from Jakarta) ...then it'll be easier.
It's okey, no pain no gain!

Last March, we decided to leave home early morning, to make sure we could arrive on location about 9 o'clock. We then spent time to hike for 7 km long.

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How to get there :
To get there from Bandung, take the road to Pangalengan until you reach the Situ Cileunca lake. That is 48km long. You go about 10km further to the south to reach Situ Cipanunjang lake. Since there is no sign, please prepare to ask some locals for the direction.

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A bit different with the previous camping ground before, in this place we camped just side-by-side with the lake and beautiful dam. When we woke up in the morning, went out from the tent ... the cold fresh air with fog would greet 'Good Morning' to us.

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Walking on the side of the dam while sipping warm beverages with the family non stop chit-chat, taking pictures the scenes that changed every second because of the fog, ...oh really a beautiful memorable experience.

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And the sun went up, breakfast time in the camping ground is another activity that we really enjoyed.
Toilet? It's available. Not really clean, but acceptable.

Below are some pictures that we took during 7 km hiking, early before we're heading the camping ground.

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The track is one of the most interesting hiking trails where we passed many different scenes, with abundant of free fresh air. Passing the vegetable plantations, tea plantation, pine forest, villages, cowshed, crossing the rivers and also stopped by at a Dutch made old dam.

If you are looking for a guide to help you and family to hike, please let me know. I will try to find our guide contact number. He is a really good guide for group hiking.

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5. Gunung Puntang, Banjaran, South of Bandung.

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Located not far from Banjaran, 32 km south of Bandung. This means from Jakarta, we need to drive to Bandung and continue to Banjaran.

This place is known as the popular camping ground since long ago especially for the Bandung college students. The camping ground that located at 1300m asl, surrounded by pine trees.
Located not too far from the parking area, where there are some 'warung' (local food shops) available to provide delicious Indonesian home food. For those who hesitate to cook or prepare food by themselves, just simply order your food there.

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How to get there :
Gunung Puntang is located about 32km to the south of Bandung, not far after Banjaran town, heading to Pangalengan. From Pasar Minggu, South of Jakarta, Gunung Puntang is 173km away. To get there from Bandung, take the road to Pangalengan, either via Buah Batu or Mohamad Toha. There is a junction about 7km away after passing Banjaran, take the left turn. You will be able to see the Gunung Puntang sign before the junction. The 10km road then will be winding & ascending but generally the condition is good.

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Here, around the camping area we can see the ruins of the old Dutch buildings, because once upon a time this area was the place where the Dutch built their radio station to communicate to their country in Europe. Not only the station, they also built other facilities for their staffs & employees.

Those ruins become interesting places to visit during evening walk. There is also Siliwangi waterfall and the ex Dutch cave.

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Toilet... don't worry!
Toilets are provided, with plenty of clean water just on the side part of the camping ground.

Because of the big open area, it's easy to collect the pine fruits to bring home.
If you are interested to spend time with your friends around the bonfire, simple ask the locals or the management staffs to prepare the wood.

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So... those are the first five Family Camping Grounds.
They are waiting for you, available when you want to spend your quality family time closed to the nature.

Little tips from me :
*I suggest you to contact the management staffs to book the location before the go.
*Try to make a good plan; what is the best time to leave home and what activities you will do in the location.
*Make a list and bring along all you needs, not overweight/oversize luggage.
*Check your vehicle before leaving the house.

If you are looking for a city car that you can also bring to the camping grounds, check this car; Agya!
The size make you easy to go through small & narrow roads on the way to camping locations. They provide a very pretty interior.



.... and please check the safety features.
Dual SRS Air Bag is provided in all type of Agya. Very good safety feature for intercity trip.
If you are concerned about where to put your plenty backpacks and the other camping stuffs... Check the baggage compartment of this car. It's supposed to be enough to bring all you needs.



So what are you waiting for?
Adventure is out there!
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update August 2015

6. Sukamantri Camping Ground, Ciapus, Bogor.

"Camping without Trekking is like Sayur Asem without Salty Fish (Ikan Asin)".
check here

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ijin share.
Sangat menginspirasi utk liburan keluarga.
Trimakasih
Vania said…
Silahkan di-share :)
Nantikan edisi selanjutnya ttg informasi camping ground dan segala yg berhubungan dgn per-camping-an.
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Ratna said…
KAmi sudah ke Gn. Puntang. Gilak, dingin banget ! Tapi seru ^_^
seru sekali ya seluruh petualangan ke;luarganya
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