Tangkahan

A good place to enjoy the natural panorama, accompanied by the sound of a very swift and green river flow. Lots of birds chirping and the leaves blowing in the wind. The distance from the highway takes up to 2 hours of travel. There is an elephant ecotourism accompanied by a guide and there is also lodging, even a bathing place for fresh rivers. So beautifull view.

*edited* I was there in 2018. I got my first experience to be so close with elephants. The time was perfect, the weather, the people, the scenery.

This place is exceptional. You can find in-jungle-experience, river tubings, hot springs, and the most important: elephants!

This village is next to the jungle. Best way to come from Medan. We were coming from Bukit Lawang it was 35 km but the road was really bad no asphalt just rocks we couldn’t go faster then 10, 20 km/h. From Medan is easier way to come here. On the way you can see palm tree plantations and the palm oil factory is there but they didn’t invest to fix the roads in that area. Tangkahan has a beautiful wild life and nature. It’s famous about the elephants you can wash them in the river and take a jungle track on them. Their trainers are also so helpful ,friendly and patient. They also speak English. The nature is beautiful. There are waterfalls, natural spring water,river , the jungle is on the other side of the river. We stayed in the Green Lodge which is next to the river. The best thing about this location is the elephants are coming this way every time they go to the river to wash them . The entrance is right next to the Green Loge.

natural place to have a water recreation
the water is fresh, and little bit high tide when we visit.

The way to get here is quite challenging, make sure you prepared enough. You better come here in a clear day, or book a room in advance. There's lots of photo spots, you can enjoy the river, camping, waterfall, and elephants! The staff here's nice and friendly. Last but not least, please don't litter.

Awesome👍🏻.
Activity: Trekking, Tubing, Elephant Riding, Elephant Bathing.
I try the tubing and it was great. River has clean water and scenery is nice. We do stop and do short trekking to visit some small waterfall and hot spring area.
Elephant bathing was fun (I'm just watching at the side though). Do plan a minimum 2D1N if you want to do other activity as well.

The Hidden paradise in North Sumatera. The weather is fresh, beautiful view. In here you can do trekking, tubing, bathing an elephant, riding on an elephant, creating your unforgettable memory

Great place to get more experinces in knowing more about environmental protection,especially elephant. You also could select several tourism packages,such as river tubing,elephant riding and clean elephant up

Amazing adventures with my kiddos

Hidden Paradise

Great experience to see elephant conservation center

Wonderful place and it make you always come back again here.

The emerald blue river that rushes through this little jungle village is absolutely stunning, fringed by the lush tropical greenery of the rainforest. This is exactly what I had been hoping for! To get to the other side of the river, I had to hop on a local bamboo raft but I believe it has been replaced with a suspension bridge. Bringing a backpack is easier than a suitcase when it comes to crossing the river! The ambiance is so peaceful! You can see monkeys sitting high up in the treetops, not interested in humans at all.

Perfect place to learn about wildlife (especially elephants) and nature conservation. Clean river and environment will keep you fresh and happy!

Fyi, there's a lot of fishes down the water surface ;)

Great place, you can ride ($70 for an hour)and/or wash ($15)/interact with elephants with proceeds going towards the elephants and rural community. Nice people as well! You can get there in 2.5 hours from Bukit Lawang by car. ($40)

Nice place and nature.

Great experiance - washing, feeding, kissing, walking and riding elephants.

For outdoor activities, tangkahan is a good place to go... go tracking across the forest which full of leeches, bug and etc... give first hand experience to the children. Good place and sure go back to experience more

We took about 4 hours road trip from Medan to reach Tangkahan. There is a tourist information center near to central parking lot where we could order the trip, then we chose river tubing ang bathing the elephant. During river tubing, we visited 2 waterfalls and an unique hot spring in the river. In the afternoon after tubing, we went to bath the elelphants where we could brush their skin and interact with them closely. The elephant would spray waters from its trunk to visitor. That was a quite short one day trip, hopefully i can be there for a longer time and stay some nights. Great experience