Minalungao National Park- General Tinio Nueva Ecija

Day tour in Minalungao National Park– General Tinio, Nueva Ecija.

Minalungao National Park is one of the few eco parks that you can visit when you are in Nueva Ecija, from the word Mina which means mine and lungao which means cave.

Going to this eco park was not on our list in our vacation 2024 but just as we arrived in the Philippines on a rainy season of July and August, it’s quite hard to plan in advance as we always have to consider the sudden rain. And so one morning, just as my husband was browsing for a place to visit nearby Cabanatuan City after the few days of continuous raining, he found this National Park that is just an hour drive from the city- oh well according to Google but the actual travel including changing route due to road constructions and all, and the rough road, not to mention getting lost along the way as the google directs us to some roads we were not allowed to enter like the military bases- it took us more than two hours to reach there.

I have never been to this place before and although I was brought and raised in Cabanatuan City, but spent most of my adult years in Bahrain, there are still a lot of places within the area and nearby towns I’ve never heard of and never been to until the social media era.

The travel time using google map took us more than 2 hours ride and we reached before lunch time. We paid an entrance fee of Php100 for each adult and free for our child. We also paid Php50 for the parking fee and we parked right opposite our cottage and just direct to the river. The cottage cost us Php500 for the entire day.

Since it isn’t a planned trip, we only passed by to get a take away Jollibee food along the way and some snacks and chips we have at home.

ACTIVITIES

There are a lot of activities in the park as mentioned by the caretakers including swimming, kayaking, bamboo raft ride, and zipline. But because of the recent rains, we were not able to swim (but you can if you want to) as the water is not clear from the rains. BTW, the zipline is not available that time, July 2024.

We were also not able to explore the cave as we have a small toddler but we did have the chance to see the famous hanging bridge. It offers a spectacular view and a perfect spot for taking photos as you can clearly capture the whole river down under. My husband and I just walked from end to end of the bridge, took a lot of pictures and admire the beauty of the rock formations along the way and went back to the cottage.

I let my son to swim just for an hour within my eye sight. There were also a few families nearby but I haven’t seen anyone tried the bamboo raft.

I paid Php10 to use the toilet after our lunch and bought some souvenirs to take along with me at the shop nearby. I really love collecting chains and door magnets so of course I wouldn’t leave without getting one. I took a few and also bought a family shirt for Php180 each for adult and Php150 for my son’s shirt.

Overall, it’s still worth and less expensive to visit Minalungao Park.

Here are some photos!

The water is brown due to heavy rains in the previous days so it isn’t picture perfect at the time of our visit, but hopefully we can return during the summer and see the real beauty of this river.