Pinaglabanan River | The Enchanted River of Cawag, Subic Zambales

I saw a post of a turquoise crystal clear water of a certain river and it got my attention. I checked and searched for it and eventually got my feet on it.

You might want first to check my YouTube upload for this adventure below- click on this link to go to YouTube.

This river is called Pinaglabanan River. According to history, the river became witness to the battle between the Japanese invaders and the Aetas residing on the Sitio. The Aetas fought hard for that place “pinaglaban nila ang lugar” and this river becomes a witness to all of it.

Sitio Cawag is the major jump off in order to reach the river. The Sitio is also known as jump off for trekking famous Cawag Mountains- Balingkilat, Cinco Picos, Bira bira and other more.

To reach Sitio Cawag, there are 2 routes as option. First is via Philseco Subic road where the road has a lot of elevation and the other one is via Govic road Balaybay Castillejos Zambales where a lot prefers the latter due to mild elevated parts of the road. Google Map can help and will guide you to reach Sitio Cawag.

Upon reaching Sitio Cawag- just straight ahead until you reaches the rough part of the road. From there you have to get out of your car or step out of your motorcycle and start the trekking. You can leave your car from any of the resident’s backyard just pay for a parking fee around 50 to 100 depending on the backyard owner or you may want to risk to just leave it beside the road- it’s up to you. If you’re travelling via public transpo, you can rent a trike but it may cost 300 to 400 pesos one way. Tricycles are available at the Philseco road entrance for via Philseco Road and Castillejos town proper for via Govic Balaybay Road.

Trekking is not hard, difficulty may range from just 1 to 2 and it’s a 20 to 30 minutes travel time.

Just follow the path and straight ahead, once you reached a part with bamboo fences it means you’re near. Go to left and you are there.

Bring food and enjoy the river– don’t forget to leave no trace. As we went there, there’s no single plastic scattered in the area, the river is so clean. We packed up our wastes and made sure we left nothing. Be a responsible Earthlings.

See my Vlog below and visit my youtube channel Xerd DC Watch, like, share and subscribe.