Bilar: The Man-Made Forest and Rajah Sikatuna's Gateway

Bilar is a landlocked municipality in Bohol’s interior highlands, on the main road linking Loboc to the Chocolate Hills area in Carmen, at an elevation that gives it noticeably cooler air than the coast. Most visitors know it for the man-made forest — a roughly two-kilometre corridor of towering African mahogany planted along the national highway in the 1960s — and as the gateway to Rajah Sikatuna National Park, Bohol’s primary protected forest. Around 18,000 residents live across barangays including Poblacion, Cabad, Owac, and Mahayag, working mostly in farming (coconut, root crops) with some eco-tourism employment along the forest corridor.

The park, roughly 9,000 hectares of karst limestone forest bordering Sierra Bullones to the south, was declared protected in 1987 under Presidential Proclamation No. 129, named for the Boholano chieftain Sikatuna who sealed the blood compact with Miguel López de Legazpi in 1565 near present-day Loay. The mahogany corridor dates to a 1960s government reforestation program addressing agricultural-clearing forest loss; it now draws steady drive-through traffic from organized Bohol interior tours (Chocolate Hills, Tarsier Sanctuary, Loboc River), even though few visitors stay overnight. The parish, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, marks its 24 June feast; Cebuano is spoken throughout.

The park itself holds hiking trails, wild Philippine tarsiers, and Mag-aso Falls within its boundaries — a multi-tiered waterfall with swimmable lower pools reached by a short trail. It’s also one of Bohol’s better bird-watching sites, with the endemic Visayan tarictic hornbill recorded here.

What’s here, briefly

• Man-Made Forest — a 2km canopy of planted African mahogany along the highway, photographed from the road or walked on forest trails.
• Rajah Sikatuna National Park — protected forest with hiking trails, wild tarsiers, and birdwatching.
• Mag-aso Falls — a multi-tiered waterfall inside the park, swimmable at the lower pools.
• Banat-i Cultural Village — a small site near the man-made forest presenting traditional Boholano crafts and music.

Getting there

From Tagbilaran, take the Loboc–Bilar road; buses and vans from Dao Terminal bound for Carmen or Sagbayan pass through, a 45-minute to 1-hour ride. The man-made forest sits directly on the national highway, impossible to miss travelling from Loboc to Carmen; jeepneys on the Loboc–Carmen route stop in Bilar’s poblacion on request.

Travel tips

The man-made forest is busiest between 9 a.m. and noon when tour vans pass through — arrive before 8 a.m. or after 2 p.m. for a quieter visit. For Rajah Sikatuna National Park, register at the DENR ranger station at the entrance and hire a local guide for trails beyond the immediate area. Accommodation in Bilar itself is limited; Loboc, 20 minutes west, has better guesthouse options for those basing in the area.

Other places to consider

• Loboc — the river town with better accommodation, 20 minutes west.
• Carmen — the Chocolate Hills viewpoint town further along the same road.
• Sierra Bullones — the neighbouring municipality bordering the protected landscape to the south.
• Batuan — another Chocolate Hills-zone town on the road north.

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Location and travel detail reflect publicly available information as of 2026-07-16. Confirm ranger station hours and guide availability before visiting. bohol-philippines.com earns a commission on bookings made through partner links at no cost to you.