Our first stop for our city tour is the Eden Nature Park. It is located in the District of Toril which is a long way from the City Proper, approximately 40 kilometers and a 1 1/2 hour ride.
How to get to Eden Nature Park and Resort:
- If through public transportation - ride a jeepney with the signboard Toril and tell the driver to drop you off at the Mercury Drug Store, the way to the Eden Nature Park. From there, there are habal-habal that you can hire to bring you right to the entrance of Eden Nature Park.
- By private vehicle - drive towards Toril Proper passing through the McArthur Highway. Once you see the Mercury Drug Store to your right side, turn right there. Approximately 20 km from there, there is a fork road where you can turn left to Brgy. Eden which will lead you straight to the entrance of the resort.
It was a long trip, I actually didn't expect it to be that long. Anyway, Eden Nature Park and Resort is one of the most popular tourist destination in Davao both by foreign and local tourists alike. It is located at the foot of the dormant Mount Talomo, 3,000 feet above sea level. It was discovered sometime in 1971 and it used to be a logged-over area covered only by wild grasses. Today, it is an 80-hectare area with over 100,000 fully-grown pine trees and forest trees overlooking the whole of Davao City and Davao Gulf. It also has a lot of facilities ranging from hotel rooms, cottages, pools, gardens, fishing areas, greenhouses, playgrounds, etc. etc. And this is all 95% man-made, how cool is that!
Anyway, the entrance fee to the park is 200php/person including a free snack. They have guided tours around the park but it has a specific time schedule. Unfortunately for us, when we got there at 9:30am, the next tour was at 10:45am which was too long a wait for us so we decided to just explore around the park ourselves. What we didn't anticipate was how huge (and I mean, huge!) the park really was. Haha. I think, we were only able to explore around 20% of the whole park which was sad. So an advise to those planning to go here, call first to know if your arrival would coincide with their tour so as to be able to see the whole park.
We were only able to go to the Pasyalan Area which houses a lot of bird species and then to the cottage area which is a great spot for picture taking. You're just surrounded by a lot of trees and greenery while overlooking the City of Davao that it will leave you in awe. I wanted to just roll around the grass over and over and smell the fresh air. We also went to the Mountain Trail but only up to the Hanging Bridge Area because it was still a long way to the end of the trail.
We also saw the Deer Park which is a huge expanse of land with lots of deers inside. I was expecting a caged area but that was not the case. The deers were freely able to move around the huge field. It was really cool.
But what we really enjoyed in Eden Nature Park is the Indiana Jones Ride. It's like a mini zipline where you would just sit down and glide along to the other side. I was scared at first but once you get the hang of it, it was really fun. I think we spent around 30-45 minutes there just riding over and over again haha. We reverted back to our childhood because of that ride.
They also have a zipline area which costs only 150php/person. What is unique about this zipline is you get the see an amazing view of Davao City. But we were not able to try it due to restricted time schedule and fear haha. But according to our driver, this is a better zipline compared to the one located in Outland Adventure because of the view.
Anyway, we left Eden Nature Park at around 11:00 am and went to our next destination which is the Philippine Eagle Center. It was unfortunate that we were not able to try the guided tour since there were still a lot of things to see at the park. Also, they have a lunch buffet which according to some blogs, it was worth their money.
Eden Nature Park & Resort Sales and Reservations Office
Matina Town Square
McArthur Highway, Matina
Davao City, Philippines
Contact Nos: (082)299-1020,(082)296-0791
Mobile No.: 0918-9307590
E-Mail: info@edennaturepark.com.ph
Read more:
The Davao Experience: Planning The Trip
The Davao Experience: The Uniqueness at Ponce Suites
The Davao Experience: Dinner at Jack's Ridge
The Davao Experience: Getting to Samal Island
The Davao Experience: Monfort Bat Cave and Hagimit Falls
The Davao Experience: Kaputian Beach in Samal
The Davao Experience: Fernandez Beach and Garden Resort
The Davao Experience: Lyndon's World's Worst Ribs and Awful Chicken
The Davao Experience: Taps, The Breakfast Capital of Davao
The Davao Experience: Harboring "Pag-Asa" at the Philippine Eagle Center
The Davao Experience: Apo Ni Lola Delicacies and Lunch at Davao Dencia's Restaurant
The Davao Experience: Pasalubong Shopping at Aldevinco
The Davao Experience: Various Sights at the Davao Crocodile Park
The Davao Experience: Trying the Nightlife with Lachi's Sans Rival, Blugre Coffee, and Abreeza Mall
The Davao Experience: The-Supposed-To-Be-Rafting-Experience-But-Not and San Pedro Cathedral
The Davao Experience: A Unique Experience at Osmena Park
The Davao Experience: Knowledge Gathering at Museo Dabawenyo and Exploring Rizal Park
The Davao Experience: Serenity at the Lon Wa Buddhist Temple
The Davao Experience: A Gastronomic Treat at Hog's Breath Cafe
The Davao Experience: Strolling Around People's Park
The Davao Experience: Return Flight to Manila
The Davao Experience: Summary of Our Trip