5 Ubud Running Routes: Escape Exhaust Fumes on Rice Paths and Ridges

A path and water channel beside rice fields, photographed during the trip. This does not verify the location, distance, or access conditions of the routes below.

This is research prepared before running locally, not a first-hand running review. I first used walking reports to shortlist paths, then checked actual runners’ GPS tracks and repeat logs, along with public routes from a local running club. The rice-field path photo from our September 2026 trip does not verify the location or access conditions of any route. The pollution comparison below is relative vehicle and scooter exposure, not measured AQI.

Ubud’s central area has many stretches where sidewalks disappear and motorcycles and cars pass close by. To avoid exhaust, it is better to take a car to the entrance of a rice path or ridge, or start from a local group-run meeting point, rather than run from the main road outside your accommodation.

For a first solo run, consider Campuhan Ridge, 3.7–5 km out and back; to avoid vehicles as much as possible, Ubud Ricefield / Sari Organic, 7 km out and back. Sweet Orange–Kajeng, an approximately 2 km loop, is an option for short repeats, while the Ubud rice-path loop has a 10.1 km GPS record. If navigation is a concern or you need a long run, look at FAR Ubud Run Club’s public 4–22 km routes.

Separating running records from general popularity#

Running apps do not disclose the number of actual users across Ubud, so I did not treat different records as the same measure. I used the public membership count and description of three to four weekly runs on the FAR Ubud Strava club, along with its distance-based Strava routes, as evidence of repeated local use. On Wikiloc I checked the running category, moving time, elevation gain, and recorded coordinates. AllTrails and Tripadvisor review counts include walkers, so I treated them only as a measure of general popularity, not runner numbers. Firsthand reports were useful for recorded distance, time, surface, and heat conditions.

When checked on September 17, 2026, the FAR Strava club had 525 members. Campuhan Ridge, meanwhile, had the strongest general popularity with 906 AllTrails reviews, but that figure includes walkers. I did not conclude that a route was “the route runners used most” based solely on view or review counts.

At a glance#

Route	Confirmed distance	Vehicle exposure	Actual running evidence	Best for
FAR Ubud official routes	4, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, and 22 km	Low to moderate	Repeated operation by a local club and Strava routes	First group run or long run
Campuhan Ridge	3.7–5 km out and back	Very low	Running tag and an actual morning running video	An easy first-day acclimatization run
Penestanan–Paddy Point	Out-and-back; choose the turnaround on site	Low	Walking route checked on site; no running GPS track	A quiet exploratory run
Bambu Indah 5K	Approximately 5 km	Low	Repeated records by the same runner; exact line not public	When you have a GPX track or a companion
Ubud Ricefield / Sari Organic	Short out-and-back, approximately 3.5 km; approximately 7 km overall	Very low to low	Described as 99% runnable; actual 10.8/11.3 km check-ins	A medium-distance easy run
Sweet Orange–Kajeng	Basic loop of approximately 2 km	Low	Walking route checked on site; reports mainly focus on walking	A short repeat session

Vehicle exposure refers to the main body of each route. The urban roads connecting your accommodation to the entrance should be considered separately.

Running with local runners: FAR Ubud Run Club#

The clearest evidence of regularly organized runs is FAR Ubud Run Club. Its official description says it organizes easy runs, social runs, intervals, and Sunday long runs three to four times a week on rice paths and hilly roads. It is free and open without separate registration, but schedules and meeting points can change, so check the official Linktree again just before you go.[1]

The representative public routes and official starting POIs are below. Strava does not expose route lines while logged out, so the coordinates below are map POI coordinates corresponding to meeting places announced by FAR, not the first GPS points of the tracks. Therefore, I do not state which direction to run after the start unless it has been confirmed.

UCR Sayan 4 km — Meet at Ubud Coffee Roastery - Sayan, -8.503484, 115.2477109. 4 km route
Foci 7 km — Meet at Foci Bakery, -8.5066239, 115.2717171. 7 km route
Cloud Bakery 4 km — Meet at Cloud Bakery Ubud, -8.5235102, 115.2725165. 4 km route
TUJU 9, 12, 15, 17, and 22 km — Meet at TUJU UBUD SOCIAL CLUB, -8.4979938, 115.2652663. 9 km · 12 km · 15 km · 17 km · 22 km

Open each Strava route directly to check the direction after the start. I cross-checked that the four places above are actual meeting points against the route names and meeting places on the official FAR Linktree and the map POIs.[1]

From your accommodation, take a ride-hailing car to each POI and join the group there. There may be cafés with similar names, so show the driver the pin from the link and reconfirm the actual meeting time and route in the official announcement on the day. A 4 km or 7 km group run is a good place to start. The 15–22 km routes involve not only more distance but also Ubud’s characteristic hills and humidity, so choose them after acclimatizing locally.

1. Penestanan–Paddy Point / Bambu Indah 5K#

The two names may look close, but they are not the same route. Penestanan–Paddy Point is a rice-path out-and-back that a first-time visitor can follow, while Bambu Indah 5K is a separate route repeated by an actual runner whose full GPS line is not public.

1-A. Penestanan–Paddy Point rice path#

Starting pin: Penestanan stairs, -8.5032466, 115.2526753
Access: From central Ubud accommodation, take a car to the stairs’ entrance. It is better to start from this pin than to use the main road as a warm-up.
First section: Climb the long staircase into Penestanan village. At the top of the stairs, turn immediately right toward Yellow Flower Café, or continue straight past Villa Nirvana and turn right onto the narrow stairs descending toward the river. Cross the small bridge and climb the stairs on the other side, then head west toward Villa Tavatimsa. At the Paddy Point / Villa Kalawai sign, turn right onto the rice path. Detailed photo directions are available in the Penestanan on-site walking report.[2]
Turnaround and return: Use Paddy Point in the north as a reference for where to turn around, then return the same way. This is not a publicly GPS-verified 5 km route, so use your watch to set the distance on your first run.
Caution: The riverside stairs and bridge are slippery when wet. Terracotta Restaurant / Jalan Raya Lungsiakan is the northern access point; it is a different path from the Ubud Ricefield Walk on the Abangan side.

1-B. Bambu Indah 5K#

Reference landmark: Bambu Indah, -8.5121895, 115.2384593
Confirmed scope: Tom’s Runs’ 5K record and repeat record show that there was an approximately 5 km route passing Bambu Indah. However, the exact starting point and turn-by-turn directions cannot be confirmed from the public posts.[3][4]
How to do it: Choose this only if you are staying there or have a GPX track or local companion. Take a car to the public entrance of Bambu Indah, but do not pass through the resort grounds without permission. This is not a verified 5 km loop that a first-time visitor can create from the pin alone.

2. Campuhan Ridge Walk out and back#

Recommendation: the easiest choice for your first day

Starting pin: Warwick Ibah Luxury Villas & Spa, -8.5046466, 115.255729
Access: Take a car from your accommodation to the Ibah entrance. Setting Warwick Ibah as the destination is more accurate than using the scattered map pins labeled Campuhan Ridge Walk.
First section: Enter at the Ibah sign on Jalan Raya Campuhan. At the fork by the second sign, follow the Going to the hill arrow down the slope to the left. In front of the bridge and Pura Gunung Lebah / Mount Lebah Temple, follow the Karsa Kafe 2 kilometres sign down the stairs, continue along the temple wall, then climb to the paved ridge on the right. The on-site photo guide shows this sequence as well.[5]
Turnaround and return: Continue approximately 2 km toward Karsa Kafe and return the same way for approximately 4 km. Go about 0.5 km farther along the northern village road before turning around for approximately 5 km. This is an out-and-back, not a loop.
Caution: Ridgewalk start from north and Bangkiang Sidem are the northern entrance. When starting from the south, if you cross the large road bridge, you have gone past the entrance. The opening section is uphill, with gaps between tiles and stairs, so walk after rain.

3. Ubud Ricefield Walk / Sari Organic 7 km#

Recommendation: a quiet medium-distance run of around 7 km

7 km starting location: Google Maps starting pin (-8.504463, 115.257750). This is the narrow lane entrance just north of Jalan Raya Ubud, immediately beside Abangan Bungalow.
Access: Take a ride-hailing car to Abangan Bungalows & Gallery. Get out on the main road and start running from the narrow lane.
Finding the entrance: Head west from Ubud Palace toward Campuhan and look for the Ricefield Walk and Sari Organik signs on the north side of the road. The entrance is before the downhill stretch toward Campuhan and the overhead water channel.
7 km route: Starting pin → northern lane → rice paths toward Sari Organik and Subak Sok Wayah → turn around on the paved road to the north at approximately 3.5 km → return the same way
Distance: The TrailRunProject base route is 7.0 km out and back, with approximately 75 m of elevation gain and loss.[6]
Advantage: Most of the route is made up of narrow paved farm lanes, allowing you to avoid heavy car traffic.
Caution: This western rice-path corridor is the same route toward Sari Organic and Subak Sok Wayah. It is a separate route from Jl. Kajeng and Sweet Orange in the east, with a different starting point. On your first visit, do not force a connection between the two rice paths; returning the same way is safer. You may occasionally share the path with scooters, and shade is limited.

TrailRunProject describes the 7 km Ubud Ricefield Walk as 99% runnable, and actual runner check-ins remain on the site. Its directions also describe entering the northern rice path near Abangan Bungalow and returning the same way from the northern paved road. One runner covered 6.7 miles, approximately 10.8 km, in 1 hour 5 minutes including the approach and extension; another recorded 7 miles, approximately 11.3 km. Not every check-in covers the same distance just because the base map is 7 km, so consider the accommodation approach separately.

Reports on Kajeng describe it as “mostly paved and beautiful,” while noting that rain creates mud and that the narrow rice embankments require balance. It is better suited to an easy run that avoids nearby people and scooters than to a record attempt.

4. Short Sweet Orange–Kajeng loop#

Recommendation: a short morning run for accommodation near the palace

Easiest starting pin to find: Jalan Raya Ubud × Jalan Kajeng (-8.506461, 115.261556). In Google Maps, search for Pura Taman Kemuda Saraswati (Ubud Water Palace) or Kajeng Market, then find the Jalan Kajeng entrance immediately beside it. This coordinate is an intersection pin linked by the walking report, not a named trail POI.
Access: From Ubud Palace, walk a short distance west along Jalan Raya Ubud. If your accommodation is farther away, set Pura Taman Kemuda Saraswati as the ride destination and start at the Jalan Kajeng entrance.
Entrance signs and first section: Enter Jalan Kajeng and pass through Kajeng Market. When the road narrows at the end of the market and becomes a pedestrian- and bicycle-oriented path, continue toward the rice fields. Local scooters use the route, so watch for them in both directions.
Short loop: Jalan Kajeng entrance → Kajeng village and market → Kajeng rice path → Sweet Orange Warung → Subak Juwuk Manis → narrow lane beside Puri Lukisan Museum (-8.505936, 115.260335) → descend toward Jalan Raya Ubud and return to the starting point, forming a loop of approximately 2 km. You can also take the route in the opposite direction.
Alternative starting point: If you want to enter the rice path directly from the west, search for the lane beside Puri Lukisan Museum. On site, looking for signs toward Subak Juwuk Manis is more useful than searching only for the building name.
Distance: The basic loop is approximately 2 km. A walking report gives approximately 3 km if you add the out-and-back branch until you see the Juwuk Manis Hotel sign. Farther north, the path may become narrower and overgrown, so do not count it as part of the running loop.
Character: It is a loop. If 2 km is not enough, repeating the same loop two or three times is better than forcing your way through uncertain connecting paths to the north.

The detailed Sweet Orange walking report describes the Kajeng entrance as the intersection of Jalan Raya Ubud and Jalan Kajeng, identifies the narrow lane beside Puri Lukisan Museum as an alternative approach, and distinguishes the basic 2 km loop from the extension toward Juwuk Manis.[7]

5. Short Sari Organic out-and-back#

Recommendation: a scenic run for days when 7 km feels too much

This is not a different route from number 3, but a shorter version of the same western rice path between Abangan and Subak Sok Wayah.

Starting pin: The same entrance beside Abangan as number 3, -8.504463, 115.257750
Access and entrance: Set Abangan Bungalows & Gallery as the car destination. Follow the To rice field walk / Sari Organic sign north of Jalan Raya Ubud and turn onto Jalan Subak Sok Wayah. At the Y-shaped fork, take the western road on the left, then follow the narrow pedestrian path on the right; the path bends north and the rice fields begin.
Route: Pass Cafe Pomegranate, turn around near The Rice Joglo, and return the same way. The short variation in the 2025 on-site walking report is approximately 3.5 km out and back, but the distance depends on the turnaround point, so use your watch to measure it.[8]
Form: This is an out-and-back, not a loop. For 7 km, continue farther north as in route 3.
Caution: Do not connect to Sweet Orange via the narrow northern bridge and overgrown side paths. Sweet Orange is the eastern loop that starts on Jalan Kajeng.

Candidates over 10 km confirmed by GPS#

These are not recommended routes based on guide articles; they are actual records with a running category, moving time, and GPS coordinates. View and download counts indicate interest in the upload, not the number of people who actually completed the route.

10.1 km Ubud rice-path loop#

Trail run nelle risaie di Ubud
10.07 km loop, 93 m elevation gain, 54 minutes moving time.[9]
The only location shown on the public Wikiloc page is near Banjar Padangtegalmekarsari; the starting POI name and first track coordinate could not be confirmed in the public HTML or map metadata. Starting point: open the Strava/Wikiloc link directly.
The direction after the start could not be confirmed from the public page, so no directions are provided.
The route is mainly through rice fields and narrow farm lanes and is marked as having technical surfaces, so take care after rain.

13.8 km Campuhan and northern extension loop#

Ubud Bali ridge trail and more
13.79 km loop, 297 m elevation gain, 1 hour 25 minutes moving time.[10]
The only location shown on the public Wikiloc page is near Banjar Taman Kaja; the starting POI name and first track coordinate could not be confirmed in the public HTML or map metadata. Starting point: open the Strava/Wikiloc link directly.
The direction after the start could not be confirmed from the public page, so no directions are provided.
This medium-to-long route combines ridges, rice paths, and village roads, so it is more difficult than the short Campuhan out-and-back.

12.4 km Tegallalang rice-field loop#

Tegallalang ricefields
12.44 km loop, 236 m elevation gain, 1 hour 8 minutes moving time.[11]
The only location shown on the public Wikiloc page is near Banjar Kedisan Kaja; the starting POI name and first track coordinate could not be confirmed in the public HTML or map metadata. Starting point: open the Strava/Wikiloc link directly.
The map center coordinate on the public page is not shown as the starting point, so do not use it as the starting coordinate. The direction after the start could not be confirmed either, so no directions are provided.
This is outside central Ubud to the north, so it is better to take a car to the starting point.

Scope of GPS starting-point verification: The three Wikiloc pages show the distance, elevation, whether the route is a loop, and a nearby administrative place name, but in their logged-out public state they do not expose the actual first track point or the name of the starting place. I therefore did not guess coordinates for the three routes above. Open the relevant link directly in the Wikiloc app or website to confirm the exact pin.

What running reports say about the surroundings#

A trail runner who actually ran through Ubud’s rice fields and forests recorded that villages and rice paths were quiet early in the morning, while cars, motorcycles, and tourists increased on the main roads a few hours later. In the forest there was mud, narrow rice embankments, streams, and bridges, and the runner also encountered snakes and dogs that chased them.

The Travel Runner video of Ubud likewise recommends going a few blocks beyond the city center to the rice paths to avoid urban traffic. The rice paths are mostly small dirt tracks and begin with an uphill section, so do not treat them as simple flat-road runs.

A report in Reddit’s Running around Ubud discussion says the writer repeatedly ran around a local soccer field south of Monkey Forest, reaching half-marathon distance. The description of a quiet location away from traffic with shade, toilets, and seating makes it useful as a long-run repetition candidate, but the exact distance and location of one lap are difficult to establish from the public post alone, so check one lap on site first.

Practical ways to reduce exhaust exposure#

Run just after sunrise, around 7 a.m. An actual report says it was already hot at 7<30> a.m. Running when it is too dark can be more dangerous because you cannot see the surface, dogs, or scooters.
Do not use the main roads even as a warm-up. Skip Jalan Raya Ubud, Monkey Forest Road, Jalan Hanoman, and Jalan Raya Pengosekan by crossing them in a hotel car or ride-hailing vehicle.
Keep rice-path runs easy. The paths are narrow and shared with pedestrians and scooters, so they are not suitable for tempo runs or intervals.
Turn around as soon as you smell smoke. Even on a rice path, burning rubbish or field edges can make the air worse.
Walk the stairs and stone paths after rain. Wet stone, moss, and muddy rice embankments can be slippery even in running shoes.
Assume there may be dogs or snakes. Keep your earphone volume low and slow down on narrow, grassy paths.

Use walking reports for paths and atmosphere only#

The Korean-language posts below are useful for checking the atmosphere and surfaces on site, but most are walking reports. I did not use them as evidence for actual running distance or pace.