Bike Ride to Wawa Dam via AFP Housing

Wawa Dam in Rodriguez, Rizal is a favorite weekend destination for mountain bikers based in Manila. Situated in the 360-meter high Montalban Gorge or Wawa Gorge, a water gap in the Sierra Madre Mountains, these headwaters of the Marikina River used to be the primary water source of Manila before La Mesa Watershed. The scenic destination is roughly just an hour’s drive away (depending on the traffic) from the big cities in the East of Manila.

I’m really not a fan of biking on the pavement in the city next to motorized vehicles or long endurance rides and races. What I do like are rides where I can enjoy nature, breathe fresh air, and go food-tripping. To kick off the year, Outside Slacker and I decided to revisit Wawa Dam, cycling through a mountain route and multiple river crossings to get there.

It’s possible to just haul your bikes in a car to save your energy and get to the scenic portions faster, but since we don’t have a car, we had no choice but to bike all the way there and back. Padyak ol ‘d way! Our ride started mid-morning from Quezon City. From Katipunan Avenue, we took the shortcut through Balara Filters to get to Marikina. Art was familiar with the usual MTB route that involves going through Timberland, climbing Wall 1, 2 and 3, passing through the Basic Trail and emerging on Sapinit Road leading down to Pintong Bukawe-Casili Road.

But since Timberland closed their MTB trails because homeowners want to keep the area private, we had to take a more roundabout route and pass through Monterey Hills and AFP Housing instead. At any rate, bikers normally have to leave an ID at the Timberland guardhouse to enter which means having to double back the same way, which is not as satisfying as doing a loop.

Like Timberland’s infamous walls, passing through Monterey Hills and AFP Housing involves a very steep paved climb that will test your willpower. I can’t say I enjoyed cycling uphill with jeeps and trucks blaring their horns behind me. I hardly did any major biking trips last year and coming from numerous gatherings and food trips during the Christmas season, I wasn’t in the best shape to tackle the ascent. During the ride up, I was secretly cursing Art, who made it seem like it would be a chill, scenic ride. But I didn’t want to turn back either.

The paved road eventually turned into a narrow dirt path where it was all uphill. I don’t think I managed to capture in photos the effort it took to get up there, but it was a tough ascent. We eventually reached Camp Sandugo and followed the road marked on Googlemaps leading to Ka Vergel’s Store.

Ka Vergel’s Trail Stop at Mt. Maarat felt like a peaceful oasis seemingly in the middle of nowhere. This residence has long been a favorite weekend tambayan for trail and enduro riders, mountain bikers, hikers, and campers.

They don’t have an official eatery here, but you can order basic paluto dishes for a fee and buy drinks from the sari-sari store. We enjoyed a late breakfast of canned tuna, instant noodles and rice surrounded by resident cats in one of the native huts next to a couple of MX riders who were likewise shooting the breeze.

The area has camping grounds, well-maintained gardens, and a couple of open-air cottages right beside a pond covered with water lilies and gardens for visitors. The fact that the place is hard to get to only adds to the appeal. It feels like a rewarding little secret rest spot in the mountains, and a great place to just recharge.

After eating and resting a bit, we resumed our ride, following the barely discernable road marked on Google maps. The trail leading out from Ka Vergel’s to Sapinit road was rutted by tire tracks from Enduro riders, making it a bit more difficult for biking.

The ride only got more scenic once we emerged on Sapinit Road, the beautiful tree-lined road with pine trees leading to Pestano Farm at the back of Timberland. I love this road. I always feel like I’m in Baguio when I ride here. It’s just so quiet and peaceful.

After passing Giant Store – Maarat and BaseKamp Biker’s Pit Stop, we turned left following the downhill trail leading to Casili-Pintong Bukawe. This used to be a pure dirt road, but parts of the route were being paved when we passed, with bulldozers digging up portions of the mountain.

Loose gravel and dry soil coated the road, making it trickier for fast descents especially in the blind corners. A few people aboard ATVs were headed down to the river. Tour operator ATV Adventures Rizal offers off-road tours in the area.

We eventually reached a portion of the Marikina River upstream from Wawa Dam. Normally you can cross the river, but the water level was too high, so we opted to cross the hanging bridge instead, which is only open for pedestrians and bicycles (FYI: motorcycles are not allowed to cross the bridge).

The rest of the riverside trail was a nice mix of footpaths, rock gardens galore and shallow river crossings. This was my favorite part of the ride because of the refreshing scenery and adventure feel. With landscapes like this, you just want to just take a dip or sit by the riverbanks and enjoy the sight and sound of gushing water.

I enjoyed cycling through the single tracks and farmlands, stopping at sari-sari stores in the middle of a field for cold soft drinks and biscuits.

Locals waiting for a boat along the riverbanks warned us that portions of the river were too high to cross. After several attempts to make it across, we decided to just hitch a ride to the next bikeable portion near Wawa Dam. It was a pleasant and leisurely cruise on a small boat approaching a view of mountains and Wawa Gorge.

One point along the river provided a very rewarding view of two rocky mountains in the background. For hikers, Mt. Pamitinan (426+) and Mt. Binacayan (424+) can both can be summited as half-day hikes or be combined as a twin day hike for a full day of adventure. I wouldn’t mind returning to hike up sometime this year.

The mountains have an interesting backstory in Philippine folklore. According to legends, the folk hero Bernardo Carpio was trapped between two great rocks and managed to separate the mountains by his brute strength, creating the gorge, the river, and the rock formations. Another version says Bernardo Carpio remains chained in the gorge, keeping the two mountains from crashing.

A short boat ride from the viewpoint brought us to Wawa Dam. Though I’ve been here several times before, it really looked more beautiful during that ride. Or maybe I appreciated it more because of the effort it took to get there.

During previous visits, the water looked murky, brown and shallow, but when we rode there that weekend, the water level was high. The makeshift huts that normally crowd the bottom of the dam during summer months were no longer there because the rush of water was too strong. Visitors can go swimming in the upper part of the river without rock formations. Boats and “balsas” (bamboo rafts) can be rented if you want to paddle along.

After crossing the tunnels carved in the rocks and bridge over the gorge, we were soon back on the main road of Rodriguez, biking back home through San Mateo and Marikina traffic.

As always, getting home felt like a chore after the beautiful scenery, but I was glad for the quick nature fix. While I wish there was a shortcut to skip the uphills and the traffic, the adventure getting there and back and the natural scenery was worth it.

I kind of neglected biking last year in favor of motorcycle road trips, but this ride made me look forward to doing more biking this year. There’s really something about slow travel that makes you appreciate destinations near the city you normally overlook and take for granted.

Strava details for reference: