Mt. New Bucao

Mt. New Bucao rises above Toledo City on Cebu’s west coast, one of three neighboring peaks in Barangay General Climaco that hikers refer to collectively as the Toledo Tri-Hills, alongside Udlom Peak and its better-known neighbor, Mt. Tagaytay. Of the three, New Bucao carries the reputation as the difficult one — a steep, often muddy climb that some experienced hikers rate tougher than the well-worn trails up Mt. Babag near Cebu City, despite sitting far outside the usual mountaineering circuit.

The trail typically starts from Barangay Casoy or from Manutu River, depending on which jump-off a guide or habal-habal driver recommends, and gains elevation steadily rather than gradually — the early stretch is manageable, but the back half turns into a genuine uphill push, more so after rain softens the path. The payoff at the top is a view over Malubog Lake and the farmland around Barangay General Climaco, along with the wider sweep of Cebu’s central mountain range that most day hikers on this side of the island never see.

• The trail suits committed day hikers more than casual weekend walkers — expect mud on the upper sections, especially outside the dry months.
• Early starts pay off: cooler air and low-angle light at sunrise make for both easier hiking and better photos, and beat the worst of the afternoon heat on the exposed ridgeline.
• The rolling green ridgelines around Malubog Lake draw local comparisons to Bohol’s Chocolate Hills, minus the crowds and the paved viewing deck.
• Most hikers start from Toledo proper, catching a bus to Barangay Magdugo and stopping at Julie’s Bakeshop — a longstanding local landmark and the usual meeting point before hiring a habal-habal onward to the trailhead.

Toledo runs on a different economy than the coastal resort towns further south. The city’s income has leaned on copper mining since the mid-20th century — Atlas Consolidated’s open-pit operations put Toledo on the industrial map long before anyone came here to hike — with coal-fired power generation adding to that industrial base in more recent decades. That’s part of why a climb like New Bucao stays a mostly local pursuit: the infrastructure here serves mining and farming barangays, not tour buses, and anyone attempting the trail should expect to arrange transport and a guide directly rather than book anything in advance. It’s also worth noting the mine sits well south and west of this particular ridge — New Bucao’s slopes are farmland and grassland, not mined-out ground, though the region’s mining reputation tends to color outsiders’ expectations of the whole area more than it should.

Some hikers combine New Bucao with Udlom Peak in a single outing, treating the pair — or all three Tri-Hills together — as a traverse rather than a single out-and-back climb, though that adds real hours and should only be attempted with a guide who knows the connecting ridgelines. Even as a standalone climb, New Bucao runs longer than its modest elevation suggests, mostly because of the terrain underfoot rather than the distance covered. Pack more water than a similar-length hike elsewhere on the island would require — there’s little shade above the treeline, and the nearest reliable refill point is back down near the jump-off. Cell signal thins out noticeably past the lower slopes, so anyone hiking without a local guide should tell someone their planned route and rough return time before setting out.

Explore More in Moalboal and Southwest Cebu

• Kasai Wall
• Mantayupan Falls
• Copton Point