Niah National Park

Niah National Park is a protected area in Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, centered on the Niah Caves limestone complex. Located about 110 km southwest of Miri near Batu Niah, it is renowned for its vast cave chambers, archaeological heritage including 40,000-year-old human remains, and surrounding lowland rainforest. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2024, it combines natural, archaeological and cultural significance.

Visitors can expect a rainforest setting with a short boat crossing over the Niah River followed by a 3 km plankwalk trail to the caves. The park features the enormous Great Cave with its large mouth and interior chambers, the Painted Cave with prehistoric wall paintings, and secondary caves such as Traders Cave and Moon Cave. Interiors are dark and house bats and swiftlets, with boardwalks, staircases and viewing areas. A small archaeology museum near the park headquarters displays finds from the caves.

Niah Caves contain evidence of human occupation dating back at least 40,000 years, including the Deep Skull discovered in 1958, among the oldest modern human remains in Southeast Asia. Excavations since the 1950s by Tom and Barbara Harrisson and later teams revealed Paleolithic tools, burials, and food remains. The Painted Cave preserves Neolithic rock paintings and boat coffins. The park was gazetted as a National Park in 1974 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2024.

The caves are an important archaeological and cultural landscape documenting early human settlement, burial practices and rock art in Borneo. The Painted Cave paintings and associated coffins reflect Neolithic cultural traditions. The site remains significant for research on human prehistory in Southeast Asia and is managed as a protected heritage area.