Tegallalang Rice Terraces

Spectacular UNESCO-listed subak rice terraces 9 km north of Ubud

The Tegallalang rice terraces, about 9 km north of Ubud on the road toward Kintamani, are among the most dramatic in Bali — a cascade of green terraces dropping down a steep river valley, maintained by the traditional subak cooperative water management system. The view from the road above is the classic image, but you get a better sense of the scale and beauty by walking down into the terraces on the paths between the paddies.

Go in the morning for the best light and before the tourist stalls along the rim get busy. The path down takes about 20 minutes; various cafes with valley views are strung along the top. The terraces are actively farmed and look different across the growing cycle — deep green when the rice is young, gold when it's ready to harvest, and flooded into a mirror when newly planted.

things to do sight
A story
The Balinese subak irrigation system, which manages water distribution across the terraced rice fields, was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2012. The subak is not just an engineering achievement — it is a social and spiritual institution, managed through a network of water temples and offerings to the water goddess Dewi Danu. When the Green Revolution of the 1970s pushed chemical fertilisers and new rice varieties that disrupted the old planting cycles, pest infestations increased dramatically. It took decades for the value of the traditional system to be officially recognised.