Phu Kradueng National Park

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This is the ultimate destination for many Thai trekkers. The goal is to hike up to the summit and conquer the distance of 1,325 meters above sea level. At the top of Phu Kradueng is a wide plain of about 60 square kilometers. There is a cold-climate pine forest and a grass field full of wild flowers and orchids that bloom in different seasons. In addition, there are several lovely waterfalls and an observation point that is provides spectacular views during sunrise and sunset.

To get there, take Bangkok-Loei bus and get off at Pha Nok Khao, the boundary between Khon Kaen and Loei. From there, take a mini - bus or songtaew to the park office at the foot of the mountain and walk up Phu Kradueng for 6 kilometers.

The park is open during October to May and closed during the rainy season to rejuvenate the flora and fauna. Park attractions include: Pha Nok Aen, the cliff that offers a breathtaking view of the crimson sunrise, Pha Lom Sak, a sandstone ledge jutting into space providing a fine view of the hills and valleys and Pha Yiap Mek, where cottony clouds suggest a misty world of shadow figures.

The park is open to visitors from 7.00 a.m. until 2.00 p.m. daily and is closed for forest regeneration during 1 June – 30 September every year.

Admission : Adult 400 baht, Child 200 baht

Facilities : Phu Kradueng National Park provides accommodations and has stores selling food and drinks. Call the Park at 0 4287 1333 or 0 2561 4292 – 4 (Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants in Bangkok) or click www.dnp.go.th for more information and reservations.

last updated 2017-06-11 11:56:10 view 86876

Direction to Phu Kradueng National Park

Phu Kradueng summit plan , 1,325 meters above sea level with around 60 square kilometers of Phu Kradueng is a wide plain, from the bird eyes view, it look similar to the heart shape as shown in the picture above, 1/3 of the area in the south is available for tourists, include continuous cliff that can be divided to 7 viewpoints from the east to the west as follows: Nok Aen Cliff, Mak Dook Cliff, Jam Sin Cliff, Na Noi Cliff, Yeab Mek Cliff, Dang Cliff and Lom Sak Cliff. And many waterfalls spread in this area. The rest of the area that mentioned above, in green color is the area of evergreen forest (Pa Dip in Thai), normally not allow to get in. However some of this area will be opened for only 3 months in the winter, this trail need a leader per group and extra fee, contact the tourists service center for more info.

Transportation to Phu Kradueng Most of Thai tourists using the bus from Mor Chit in the evening, we arrived Pha Nok Khao in early morning and use songtaew from there to National Park office. Normally we need Sherpas to carry the luggage, we have to register and weigh it, the cost is depend on the weight of the luggage by 50 baht per kilogram.

Hiking to the summit , after registered we start the mission, hiking on 6.5 kilometers to the top of Phu Kradueng. in the long weekend many people from many provinces come here to conquer this trail. Thai tourists said that "we must go Phu Kradueng at least once". Many people used Phu Kradueng as the first hiking trip, some of them never do hiking again, some of them are hiking lovers and many people love Phu Kradueng and come back many times. This is what happen with the people who ever conquered Phu Kradueng. In the other hand, many couples use this trail to prove their love, believed to if you with your lover can conquer Phu Kradueng you will have steady married life. And if he or she does not love you, you will realized it.

Congratulation to Phu Kradueng conqueror , normally it takes about 4-6 hours from the start point to the top of Phu Kradueng, called Lang Pae in Thai. It does not mean that we finish, from here we have to walk on the plain route to camping site that is around 1.5 kilometers. Tourists will be in the line to take the photo with this sign. Once we arrived the camping site we have to wait for the luggage that carried by the Sherpas, put the tent on the area you've booked (only in the long weekend we have to book the tent area because of too many tourists). And it is time for launch (may be we can have launch during hiking it depend on your time) we walk to the food court, only in Phu Kradueng that have the foods and drinks shop on the top of mountain and this is the reason why many people use this trail as their first hiking trip. A lot of people come visit Phu Kradueng every year, the deers do not scare of people and some time they will stole your purveyance or damage it, these deers are very smart, they can open the bag and eat the bread inside.

Fog in the morning , one of the reason to come to Phu Kradueng is to enjoy the cool weather some time the temperature can be down to 8° Celsius, this is very cold for Thai people.

Wide plain on Phu Kradueng , some of the photo shown how is Phu Kradueng look like. Hiking from the foot until the top and walk to the camping site is not enough to say that "I have been to Phu Kradueng". There are many attractions spreed on a large area. We have to walk a lot every day to go to these attractions. Most of the area is pine forest and the meadow.

Wildflowers. What to see on Phu Kradueng are the wildflowers and some time you may see the wild elephant, be aware that wild elephant different from the elephant that you saw in Ayutthaya , Pattaya or somewhere else, wild elephant are not friendly they will angry and attack people. Drosera burmannii is one of the wildflowers that found a lot on Phu Kradueng.

Nok Aen Cliff , now I will walk you through the viewpoints of Phu Kradueng we should start at Nok Aen cliff because here is only one of viewpoint for sunrise. We have to leave the camp in early morning around 5.00 a.m. The distance from the camp is about 1.5 kilometer. Tourists have to wait for a leader at the tourists service center, otherwise you may get attacked from the elephant or other wildlife.

Mak Dook Cliff is the 2nd cliff on Phu Kradueng from here until the end of cliffs are face to the west, so we can see the sunset at every cliff depend on your time. I and my friend have tried to do that but some times we can not take a beautiful photo from some cliffs so we have to go back again in another day. From the camp we can walk to Mak Dook cliff directly about 2.2 kilometers. Note: You need a flashlight when you walk back to the camp.

Jam Sin cliff (Jam Sin in Thai means Hibernate), is a small rock cliff only 667 meters from Mak Dook cliff, here is the place to watch the sunset as well, but no shops. The view from this cliff look similar to others so not many people will come here.

Na Noi cliff , is 550 meters away from Jam Sin cliff. We can walk from the camp directly the distance is about 3.2 kilometers, Na Noi cliff has a shop for drinks and snacks.

Yeab Mek cliff is a wide rock cliff located at almost the center of the cliffs on Phu Kradueng . From here we can see Phu Rue same as others. There are several routes can be use from the camp as follows Walk to Mak Dook cliff, Jam Sin cliff, Na Noi cliff and Yeab Mek cliff , this route is about 5 kilometers. Walk to Na Noi cliff and Yeab Mek cliff , this route is about 4.5 kilometers. Walk to the last cliff see many waterfalls and walk to Lom Sak cliff , Daeng cliff and Yeab Mek cliff , this route is about 12 kilometers. At Yeab Mek cliff there are many shops, many tourists wait for sunset here.

Daeng cliff (Daeng means Red), is 1907 meters away from the Yeab Mek cliff and about 2417 meters from Lom Sak cliff, this cliff has the shops. In daytime the scenery is beautiful but for sunset we recommended to go Lom Sak cliff.