#2 How long does it take to climb Rinjani?
The length of time it takes to climb Rinjani depends on the route and your fitness level. Most treks to the summit take between 2 to 4 days, with the longer and more challenging routes taking up to 5 days.
Shortest: two days, one night
The shortest trek is from Senaru to the crater rim (two days, one night). This starts at the top of the village (601m) and ascends through the forest to Pos II (1500m) and Pos III (2000m); you then leave the forest for the steep slog up to the rim (2641m).
Most people take six to seven hours to reach the sheltered camp area where you overnight; from where it’s about thirty minutes to the rim the next morning for sunrise, with classic views across Segara Anak to Gunung Baru. You can return to Senaru the same way.
Most popular: three days, two night
The most popular trek is a longer version of the above: from Senaru to the crater rim and down to the lake (three days, two nights). From the crater rim, a path (2hr) descends into the crater to the lake (2050m). It is steep and scary at the top, with metal handrails and occasional ropes, but gets better. You can bathe in the lakeside hot springs if there are no religious ceremonies going on and will probably camp nearby, walking back to Senaru the next day. You can also combine the lake and summit from Senaru (four days, three nights).
From the lake, a different path (3hr; pretty steep) climbs to the rim on the Sembalun side and a site called Plawangan II (2639m), where everyone aiming for the summit overnights. From here it’s an extraordinarily steep haul up to the summit of Rinjani (3726m; another 3–4hr, usually done for sunrise, then 2hr back down to Plawangan II). Trekkers usually descend via the shortest route, to Sembalun Lawang.
Longer trips of up to six days, featuring the “milk caves” and hot springs around the lake as well as the summit, are also possible.
2018 earthquake
In the 2018 earthquake, the trail to the crater rim, via dense forest (6hr) and then down a very steep path to the southern side of the lake (3hr), was obliterated, making the rim inaccessible, but its scenery and waterfalls make trekking worthwhile and are likely to be a lot quieter than the main routes. The return route is the same unless you want to tackle the summit, in which case you need to arrange to get paddled across the lake to the Sembalun side.
The second new trail, at Tibanuh, is the steepest of the four. As with the Aik Berik, the summit is not reachable from here.