Explore The northeast: Isaan
- Khao Yai National Park
- Khorat (Nakhon Ratchasima)
- Phimai
- Phanom Rung and Muang Tam
- Surin and around
- Khao Phra Viharn (Preah Vihear)
- Ubon Ratchathani
- Around Ubon
- Yasothon and around
- Khon Kaen
- Udon Thani
- Ban Chiang
- Loei
- Phu Kradung National Park
- Nam Nao National Park
- Phu Reua National Park
- Chiang Khan
- Nong Khai
- Around Nong Khai
- Nakhon Phanom
- That Phanom
- Mukdahan
The most accessible and popular of the parks in Loei province, PHU KRADUNG NATIONAL PARK protects a grassy 1300m plateau 80km south of Loei whose temperate climate supports a number of tree, flower and bird species not normally found in Thailand. Walking trails crisscross much of sixty-square-kilometre Phu Kradung (Bell Mountain), and you could spend three days here exploring them fully – you’ll need one night as a minimum, as the trip from Loei to the top of the plateau and back can’t be done comfortably in a day. The park is at its busiest during weekends in December and January, when the main headquarters up on the plateau is surrounded by a sea of tents.
The attractions of the mountain come and go with the seasons. October is muddy after the rains, but the waterfalls that tumble off the northwestern edge of the plateau are in full cascade and the main trail is green and shady. December brings out the maple leaves; by February the waterfalls have disappeared and the vegetation on the lower slopes has been burnt away. April is good for rhododendrons and wild roses, which in Thailand are only found at such high altitudes as this.
Among the park’s wildlife, mammals such as elephants, sambar deer and gibbons can be seen very occasionally, but they generally confine themselves to the evergreen forest on the northern part of the plateau, which is out of bounds to visitors. In the temperate pines, oaks and beeches that dot the rest of the plateau you’re more likely to spot resident birds such as jays, sultan tits and snowy-browed flycatchers if you’re out walking in the early morning and evening.
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The trails
The trails
The challenging main trail leads from the Sri Taan visitor centre, at the base of the mountain, 5.5km up the eastern side of Phu Kradung, passing occasional refreshment stalls, and becoming steeper and rockier on the last 1km, with wooden steps over the most difficult parts; most people take at least three hours, including rest stops. The main trail is occasionally closed for maintenance, when a parallel 4.5km trail is opened up in its place. At the end of the actual climb, the unbelievable view as your head peeps over the rim more than rewards the effort: flat as a playing field, the broad plateau is dotted with odd clumps of pine trees thinned by periodic lightning fires, which give it the appearance of a country park.
Several feeder trails fan out from here, including a 9.5km path along the precipitous southern edge that offers sweeping views of Dong Phaya Yen, the untidy range of mountains to the southwest that forms the unofficial border between the northeast and the central plains. Another trail heads along the eastern rim for 2.5km to Pha Nok An – also reached by a 2km path east from the main visitor centre – which looks down on neat rice fields and matchbox-like houses in the valley below, an outlook that’s especially breathtaking at sunrise.
