When driving from Kuala Kubu Bharu towards Bukit Fraser you cannot help but notice the Selangor Dam and reservoir.
The dam is 800m long, 110m high and 400m wide at its base, making it one of the largest in Malaysia. The reservoir it created has a capacity of 235 million cubic metres of water.
It was completed about 10 years ago to supply water to the rapidly growing population of the Klang Valley. The land where the lake now lies used to be home to 84 families of orang asli. These people were relocated to Kampung Gerachi and Kampung Pertak where new homes were constructed for them. They probably did not have much say in the matter but securing reliable water supplies for thirsty Kuala Lumpur presumably takes priority.
Parts of the original KKB to Bukit Fraser road also had to be realigned and shifted to higher elevations before the valley was flooded.
There is a visitor centre at the dam called SPLASH Info Centre (SPLASH being the short name of the concessionaire operating the dam). It was closed when I went but is supposed to be open to the public between 9am-1pm and 2pm-4pm from Tuesday to Sunday.
Apart from the visitor centre there is not much you can do here except admire the view. Swimming, boating and fishing are not allowed although I saw people fishing off one of the bridges (next to the No Fishing signs).
