Kimanis–Keningau Highway

Kimanis–Keningau Highway is a state highway in Sabah, Malaysia, connecting the town of Kimanis to Keningau. It also acts as an alternative for Federal Route 500 from Kota Kinabalu to Tenom which is nowadays somewhat under-use. The 53-kilometre (33 mi) highway began as a main logging road before being upgraded to a full two-lane highway. The highway was opened to traffic in 2006.

Kimanis–Keningau Highway
Route information
Length	53 km (33 mi)
Major junctions
West end	Kimanis
Major intersections	FT 1 Federal Route 1 FT 500 Malaysia Federal Route 500 Interior North-South Highway
East end	Keningau
Location
Country	Malaysia
Primary destinations	Crocker Range National Park Kota Kinabalu (from Keningau/Tenom) Keningau (main destination) Tenom (via Keningau)
Highway system
Highways in Malaysia Expressways Federal State

One of the very steep slopes along the Kimanis-Keningau Highway

Even though the highway is relatively short and is in very good condition, it is notorious for its very steep gradients along the way, ranging from 10% to about 25%, making the Kimanis–Keningau Highway as the steepest highway in Malaysia. As a result, climbing road lanes are provided at steep sections.

A gravity hill induced by optical illusion is located 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Keningau. It is reported that at the gravity hill, there is a slope which appears as a downhill slope, but is actually an uphill slope.

Rest and restaurant stops

There are at least three popular stops along the highway:

• Jabatan Perhutanan Station
• Dimie Mountain resort
• Oyong Restaurant

These stops are popular for motorists especially lorries, buses and tourists. The punishing steep gradient made it necessary for the lorries to make frequent stops and replenish their water-cooling tanks. From the high vantage point of Dimie Resort there is a panaromic view of the Brunei Bay and the Klias Bay to the west and glimpse of the Keningau Plain. The Liawan river and the Pampang river, which flow into the Keningau Plain, arise from the divide provided by the Crocker Range.

List of interchanges

Km	Exit	Interchange	To	Remarks
		Kimanis	FT 1 Federal Route 1 North Kota Kinabalu Papar South Beaufort Sindumin	Roundabout
		Shell Layby	Shell	Keningau bound
		Bongawan Estate	North Papar South Bongawan	Roundabout
		Kimanis–keningau Highway R&R Complex		R&R complex Kimanis bound
		Layby		Keningau bound
		-- m above sea level		Kimanis bound, engage lower gear
West Coast Division Papar district border
West Coast-Interior division border
Interior Division Keningau district border
		-- m above sea level		Keningau bound, engage lower gear
		Crocker Range National Park -- m above sea level
		Jalan Masak Roundabout	South Jalan Patikang Ulu Tenom	Roundabout
		Keningau	FT 500 Federal Route 500 Interior North-South Highway Northeast Tambunan Ranau Kota Kinabalu Southwest Tenom Melalap Sook ||Roundabout

See also

• List of gravity hills

Notes

• Many local people especially Keningau compare that Kimanis–Keningau Highway is like Mount Haruna or manga series Initial D under the fictional name Akina (秋名) because of their structure road is almost same with Mount Haruna.