Mt. Batolusong 2023

Mt. Batolusong is one of the ‘latest hits’ in the local hiking scene, its proximity to Manila spurring a spate of interest in the mountain in 2012 and onwards. It is located between Brgy. Cuyambay and Brgy. San Andres in Tanay, Rizal, pretty much in the same direction as Sta. Ines, the jumpoff of the more popular and more difficult Mt. Irid. It is often compared to nearby Mt. Sembrano, because of some similarities in the two mountains’ grassland slopes; Batolusong may be thought of a ‘closer and easier’ version of Sembrano.
Mt. Batolusong is just one of the many potential hiking destinations in Tanay, since the town is part of the southern tailend of the Sierra Madre, the longest mountain range in the Philippines. The fact that there has been a lot of interest about this mountain augurs well for an ‘eastern push’ in explorations that can very well see more outlying Sierra Madre peaks becoming popular hikes - either as dayhikes or overnighters - from Manila.