- Senaru crater rim (2 days)Senaru 601 → posts 1, 2, 3 → Plawangan Senaru 2,641 m · ≈ 10 km, 7–8 h, +2,040 m · night on the rim · back 5–6 h · no summit
- Summit from Sembalun (2 days)Sembalun Lawang 1,156 → posts 1–3 → Bukit Penyesalan → Plawangan Sembalun 2,639 m (7–8 h) · summit 3,726 m: start 2–3 am, 3–4 h up, 2 h down · back to Sembalun 5 h · HaLoMi: 20–21 hours of walking in two days
- Summit, lake, hot springs (3 days)Day 1 as above · day 2: summit, breakfast, 2–2.5 h down to Segara Anak (≈ 2,000 m), lunch, Aik Kalak hot springs, 2–3 h up to Plawangan Senaru · day 3: 5–6 h down to Senaru · standard for 13 of the 36 packages
- With a night at the lake (4 days)Like three days, but a tent night at the lake after the summit; climb back on day three, finish around noon on day four · HaLoMi only (USD 469 for two)
- Getting thereBali (Padang Bai) → Gilis → Bangsal by fast boat 2–2.5 h · Bangsal → Senaru 1.5 h · Praya airport/Kuta → Senaru ≈ 3 h · Senaru ↔ Sembalun 45 min · 15 packages pick up anywhere in Lombok
Senaru or Sembalun: why the door decides the route
The two ascents could not be more different. Senaru starts at the Rinjani Trekking Centre at the end of the village, leads half an hour through coffee gardens and then for hours through rainforest – shady, humid, with black langurs if you are lucky (Rinjani Hero, Cakrawala). Up to post 3 at around 2,000 metres you hardly notice the altitude; then the slope opens and the last 600 metres to Plawangan Senaru are steep grass. 2,000 metres of ascent in one day in total – Lombok Volcano Trekking gives the figure, HaLoMi allows eight hours including lunch. The reward is the campsite: it faces the summit across the caldera, you see lake, Barujari and the summit pyramid from the tent door and Agung on Bali in the evening. What Senaru cannot do: the summit. The ridge to it starts on the other rim.
Sembalun starts 550 metres higher and is the summit route. The first three posts are flat: grazing land, savanna, no trees – Rinjani Trekking Center speaks of cattle pasture, Chafidwahyu's photos on Commons show the yellow grassland near post 1. Sun protection and water count for more here than fitness. After post 3 come the 'Bukit Penyesalan', the hills of regret: seven steep humps up to Plawangan Sembalun at 2,639 metres; Rinjani Hero allows three hours for this stretch, Go Backpacker eight for the whole day. The campsite is the busiest on the mountain (quota 150 a day, park office), a row of tents on the edge above the lake – and at two in the morning the start point for the summit.
The versions follow from this. If you only want the view, go up and down Senaru (2 days). If you only want the summit, go up and down Sembalun (2 days, no lake). If you want everything, go up Sembalun, on day two to the summit and down to the lake, in the afternoon up to the Senaru rim and on day three out through the forest (3 days). Samalas reverses the direction – Senaru and lake first, the summit and the descent to Sembalun last – and so has the summit on the third morning instead of the second. In autumn 2026 the choice is temporarily no choice: the Senaru route has been closed since 26 September because of the forest fire, all packages run via Sembalun (park office).
The trail in eight sections
Heights per operator figures (Senaru 601, Sembalun Lawang 1,156, Plawangan Sembalun 2,639, Plawangan Senaru 2,641, summit 3,726, lake 2,000 to 2,008 m) and Wikipedia; walking times from the itineraries of Rinjani Trekking Center, Go2Rinjani, Rinjani Hero, HaLoMi and Go Backpacker. Under each section: which products differ there.
From the Gilis you see the mountain every morning; from Bangsal harbour it is another hour and a half to Senaru.
All routes start in one of two villages on the north slope: Senaru (601 m) on the road from Bangsal, Sembalun Lawang (1,156 m) on the east side. Coming from Bali, take the fast boat Padang Bai – Gili – Bangsal (2 to 2.5 hours, several morning departures) or fly to Praya in the south (45 minutes from Denpasar), then drive 2.5 to 3 hours. 14 of the 36 packages pick up anywhere in Lombok – HaLoMi, Team Backpacker, Go Backpacker, L.A Rinjani, Rinjani Trekking Center, Em Adventure, Rinjani Excellent, Dewa, Go2Rinjani –, the others meet at the office in Senaru or pick up only there. Most complete packages start the day before: pickup, Sendang Gile and Tiu Kelep waterfalls, night in Senaru.
Two thousand metres of climbing in one go: coffee gardens first, then rainforest to post 3, then steep grass to the edge.
The trail from the Rinjani Trekking Centre in Senaru (start 7 to 8 am) climbs through forest to post 3 (≈ 2,000 m), then over open slopes to Plawangan Senaru at 2,641 metres. Lombok Volcano Trekking quotes 2,000 metres of ascent, HaLoMi 8 hours including lunch, Rinjani Hero 7 hours. The advantage of this side: shade until early afternoon and a direct view of lake, Barujari and summit from the campsite. The disadvantage: the summit cannot be reached from here – to climb it you must go via Sembalun. Since 26 September 2026 the Senaru route is closed because of the forest fire in the Torean area; the park office reroutes bookings to Sembalun.
Tents sit on the edge; the lake below, the summit opposite, Agung on Bali to the west.
The campsite on the Senaru rim is the goal of all two-day packages and the last night of the three-day treks. What differs is in the inclusions: toilet tent with almost all, chair and table only in private or deluxe options (Lombok Trekking Info excludes them in group options, Team Backpacker in budget), mats from 4 (Rinjani Trek Adventure) to 7 cm (Syam private), pillows with most. At night the temperature drops to near zero; sleeping bag is everywhere, a warm jacket only with Dhyns (summit). Since 2026 pack-in-pack-out applies on the mountain: waste is declared on entry and checked on exit.
Hours of shadeless savanna first, then the 'hills of regret' – and by afternoon you stand on the second crater rim.
All summit packages start in Sembalun Lawang (1,156 m), where the Rinjani Information Centre registers trekkers and, since 2026, checks the health card and the QR code of the trekking pass (Rinjani Trekking Center). To post 3 the trail is flat through grazing land; then come the steep steps of Bukit Penyesalan up to Plawangan Sembalun at 2,639 metres. Go Backpacker and Rinjani Trekking Center allow eight hours, Rinjani Hero three hours from post 3. Sun protection and water are the issue here – Team Backpacker and Em Adventure hand out bottled water on day one only in budget, spring water after. Anyone choosing Senaru (two days) never sees this section.
In camp by 4 pm, dinner at 7, wake-up at 2 – the night before the summit is short.
Go2Rinjani describes the evening precisely: arrival around 4 pm, sunset over the lake, dinner until 7, wake-up at 2 am with tea and toast. This is the most-used campsite on the mountain – the quota of 150 trekkers a day for Sembalun (park office) shows up here as a row of tents on the edge. Those booking two summit days (Lombok Trekking Info, Dhyns, Em Adventure, HaLoMi, Rinjani Excellent) climb on the second morning and descend the same way to Sembalun; three-day treks go from the summit down to the lake.
Three hours of scree and ash in the dark, the last metres two steps up, one back – then the sun rises over Sumbawa.
Start between 2 and 3 am, arrival for sunrise at six; Rinjani Trekking Center allows 3 to 3.5 hours, Go2Rinjani 3, Cakrawala 4. The ridge is narrow and the last hour is loose volcanic scree. A Brazilian hiker died here in June 2025 after falling from the trail; since January 2026 the forestry ministry requires one guide per four trekkers, since October 2025 mandatory insurance with helicopter rescue. You stay 30 to 45 minutes on top; the view covers Lombok, Agung on Bali and Sumbawa. Back in camp there is breakfast, then the three-day treks descend into the caldera.
After the summit, down to the lake: swim, soak in the hot springs, lunch on the shore, Barujari in view.
From the Sembalun rim the trail drops 600 metres in two to two and a half hours to Segara Anak (Rinjani Hero: 2,008 m). On the shore the porters cook lunch; a few minutes further are the Aik Kalak hot springs. Go2Rinjani plans four to five hours at the lake (10:30 to 15:30), Rinjani Trekking Center departure at 2 pm. Barujari, the cone in the lake, last erupted in 2016 (Wikipedia). The climb back up to the Senaru rim takes two to three hours and is the grinding part of day two on all three-day treks; only HaLoMi (4 days) sleeps at the lake and climbs in the morning.
A last look at the lake from the Senaru rim, then five hours down through the forest, lunch at post 1 extra.
Three-day treks end like the two-day ones: breakfast on the Senaru rim, descent via posts 3, 2 and 1 to Senaru (601 m), five to six hours, lunch on the way (Rinjani Hero between post 1 and post extra, Rinjani Trekking Center at post 1 extra). Arrival in the early afternoon – HaLoMi says 1 pm for the two-day trek, 11 am to noon for the four-day. Then what matters is what the package says: Cakrawala and Dhyns drive to Senggigi, Mataram or Bangsal, HaLoMi and Syam take you across to Gili Trawangan on request, Go Backpacker and L.A Rinjani in the shared group only to Bangsal, Senggigi, Mataram. Jou, Rinjani Trek Adventure and Lombok Volcano Trekking leave guests in Senaru.
The route in stages: altitudes and itineraries from the operator data, photos illustrate the places. The boxes show where the four compared offers differ at the same spot.
Four itineraries: 2 days crater rim, 2 days summit, 3 days, 4 days
Four products, four lengths, summarised from the operators' itineraries: Rinjani Hero (crater rim in two days from the office in Senaru), Rinjani Excellent (summit in two days with arrival day and hotel night), Rinjani Trekking Center (three days with shuttle from Kuta at four in the morning) and HaLoMi (four days with a night at the lake). 'Day 0' is the arrival day the complete packages sell with the trek.
Rinjani Hero · 2 days Senaru crater rim 2 days · 1 nights
Breakfast, transfer to the park gate, registration and briefing, start 7 to 7:30 am, through rainforest to post 3, lunch on the way, on the crater rim in the afternoon with views of lake and Barujari, sunset over Bali.
☾ Zelt 2.641 mSunrise between the summit and Sangkareang, breakfast, descent the same way through the forest, black langurs with luck, arrival in Senaru in the early afternoon.
Rinjani Excellent · 2 days summit via Sembalun 2 days · 1 nights
Pickup at the airport, in Lembar, Mataram, Senggigi, Teluk Nare, Bangsal, Kayangan or Tetebatu, drive to Senaru, check-in, briefing; with enough time before sunset the Sendang Gile and Tiu Kelep waterfalls.
☾ Unterkunft Senaru6 am pickup at the hotel, transfer to Sembalun Lawang, registration at the Rinjani Information Centre, park fee, briefing, through savanna and over Bukit Penyesalan to Plawangan Sembalun.
☾ Zelt 2.639 mWake-up at 2 am, tea and toast, departure at 3, summit for sunrise, back to camp for breakfast, descent to Sembalun, transfer to your next destination in Lombok.
Rinjani Trekking Center · 3 days summit, shared group 3 days · 2 nights
Pickup 4 am in Kuta, 5 to 5:30 in Mataram/Senggigi, 5:30 to 6 in Bangsal, 7:15 in Senaru; breakfast and briefing at the office, 45 minutes to Sembalun, health card and QR code of the trekking pass, registration at the park office, climb through village, fields and savanna to the crater rim.
☾ Zelt 2.639 mReady at 2 am, summit in 3 to 3.5 hours for sunrise with views to Bali and Sumbawa, breakfast in camp, descent to the lake in 2 to 2.5 hours, lunch and hot springs, departure around 2 pm, 2 to 3 hours up to the Senaru rim before sunset.
☾ Zelt 2.641 mBreakfast, descent with breaks, lunch at post 1 extra, arrival at the Senaru office after six hours, certificate, shuttle back to the tourist areas on the mainland.
HaLoMi · 4 days with a night at the lake 4 days · 3 nights
Pickup at any port in Lombok, drive to Senaru; the waterfalls only if you arrive at least two hours before sunset.
☾ Unterkunft SenaruTransfer to Sembalun, registration, climb to the Sembalun rim, night in the tent.
☾ Zelt 2.639 mSummit in the morning, descent to the crater lake, swim or soak in the hot springs, night on the shore – the difference from the three-day trek.
☾ Zelt am See ≈ 2.000 mA few hours at the lake, then the climb to the Senaru rim; night there with sunset – or, per description, continue down and camp on the trail.
☾ Zelt 2.641 mDescent to Senaru, finish 11 am to noon, transfer to hotel or port, bonus boat to the Gilis.
Stops and walking times from the operator's Viator product data, edited for length. Maps and figures illustrate the route and are not for navigation.