Mount Tapulao 4

Mount Tapulao is the tallest mountain in the Zambales Mountain range and in the province of Zambales in the Philippines. The peak, which rise to an elevation of, is located in the municipality of Palauig, Zambales. Its name is derived from the abundance of Sumatran Pine trees in the area, known in the local Zambal dialect as tapulao.The mountain was once a site of a large-scale chromite mining operations. The destruction of the beautiful natural scenery is visible in the mine pits on the summit as well as other related structures along the trail. The summit offers a 360-degree vista from where you can see the other Zambales mountains on the eastern side, Lingayen Gulf to the north, and on the western side, the Zambales lowlands and the South China Sea stretching to as far south as Pundaquit in San Antonio, Zambales.Hiking activityThe trail to the top of Mount Tapulao is on rolling and gradual terrain that takes hikers through a number of distinct ecosystems: from lowland grass and scrubland dominated by talahib (cogon grass) to its flanks of secondary to primary dipterocarp forest, mossy montane forest and pine forest above that extends to the adjacent mountains.