Chocolate Hills: Color-changing mounds in the Philippines that inspired the legend of the mud-throwing giant

The Chocolate Hills are a geological formation of 1,776 limestone grass-covered mounds located in the Philippines.

The landscape is lush and green during the rainy season from February to May, but during the dry season the hills turn a cocoa color, giving this formation its name.

Chocolate Hills was declared a National Geological Monument of the Philippines in 1988 and was granted protection as a Natural Monument in 1997. There are no other geological formations in the world quite like the Chocolate Hills. Only one region, the Indonesian island of Java, has similar but impressive geology.

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The hills range in height from 100 to 390 feet (30 to 120 meters) and taper at the top. These are examples of what geologists call “mogotes.” It is a steep-sided hill that occurs in tropical karst landforms, areas with soluble bedrock, and where sinkholes and cave systems exist. According to a 2001 research paper, numerous underground caves and springs have been recorded around Chocolate Hill, and some caves may exist directly beneath Mogote itself.

Evidence suggests that the Chocolate Hills were formed at or just before the start of the last Ice Age (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago), when tectonic movements uplifted coral and other marine deposits. These deposits were exposed to rainfall and erosion, carving the landscape into regular hills.

Local myths have attempted to explain how the Chocolate Hills were formed. According to one legend, this mound was formed after a mud-throwing battle between two giants. Another story says that the area was once inhabited by giant children who, competing to make more mud cakes, baked it under half coconut shells, which eventually became Chocolate Hills.

The land between the hills is flat and cultivated with rice and other crops. When the Chocolate Hills were declared a natural monument in the late 1990s, farmers, small-scale miners, and landowners, fearing that environmental protections would restrict their property rights and livelihoods, rose up against the government.

According to a 2001 article, these protests escalated into violent clashes between the military and a guerrilla group called the Chocolate Hills Commando. Two armed battles occurred, one of which left 10 people dead in October 1999.

Balancing the diverse and sometimes conflicting needs of environmental protection, tourism, and local populations remains a challenge today. In 2024, a resort is built in the middle of the Chocolate Hills, sparking a public outcry.

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