Mount Batulao for a first ridge walk

Batulao, in Nasugbu, Batangas, is the ridge people recommend when a group wants a real trail and still hopes to be home for dinner. The views toward the sea are the reason to go. A few sections are narrow and rocky enough that a nervous walker should know that before the van is paid.

Start early for shade and for the parking lot, which fills with the same Manila plan. Guides are available and worth it if nobody in the group has been on a ridge. Carry more water than a city walk suggests.

It is still a hike, not a staircase attraction. Turn around if a member is done. The summit photo is optional. Combine it with a Nasugbu meal, not with Taal on the same day unless you enjoy arriving at the second trail already tired.

Weekdays are kinder. Sundays are a crowd on a ridge, which is the wrong place for a crowd.