Johor Bahru, known as JB or Jojor, is a city of 800,00 located at the southern end of the Malaysian peninsula, along the north bank of the Straits of Johor. It’s across from, and is the gateway to, Singapore. The causeway connecting JB and Singapore is the busiest border crossing in the world. The situation for running in Johor Bahru isn’t great. There’s the waterfront and a series of small parks. A lot of the major roads lack sidewalks — so one has to go to a specific spot for a run.
One of the best places for a run in Johor Bahru is the 2.5 km along the waterfront, which can be extended to the Botanical Gardens. The other options for running in JB are a number of small parks. The most popular are Taman Merdeka Park, Adda Heights Park, Setia Indah Park, and Hutan Bandar Forest Park. There are running tracks at UTM Stadium & Mount Austin Stadium. Another good option is the Masai area east of the city center, where there’s some decent running in the upscale Senibong Cove & Permas Jaya neighborhoods. For trail running, head to Bukit Batu Putih, which has extensive hiking trails.
Notes: See also our running guide for Singapore, which is just across the causeway and is also reachable by a 5-minute train. Runners should also note that JB’s weather is consistently hot and humid year-round, with copious rainfall.
