Phu Kradung National Park

Phu Kradung National Park in Loei province is one of the most famous national parks in Thailand. The majority of the visitors are Thai nationals. We have included Phu Kradung in our National Parks of Eesan tour.

The park is closed to visitors during the rainy season (1 June - 30 September).

It received the title of a nationally protected forest in the year 1943, and was proclaimed a national park on the 7th of October 1959, the second national park of Thailand after Khao Yai National Park.

The park is named after Phu Kradung Mountain, a sandstone cliff containing a vast plateau on the top. The highest peak on this mountain is located at a height of 1,360 meters above the sea level.

Phu  comes from the Thai word Phukao, meaning mountain. The main trail is very developed and certainly not a hike for the fainthearted. This is a very old and historic trail about 5.5 km in length, climbing the southeastern flank of the mountain. It starts from the main park office at an elevation of about 300 m. There are eight resting places to rest on the way up. At each there are several vendors selling food and drinks, and some provide toilet facilities and/or medical services as well.

The last 1300 metres from Sam Khrae, the final resting place, to the top is the hardest and steepest part of the hike. There are ladders and ramps at parts where it would otherwise be impossible to walk. Once reaching the highest point of the trail (1288 m elevation) at the edge of the summit plateau, it is still a 3.6 kilometre walk over flat terrain to the Wang Kwang visitor center and campsite, where tents and lodging buildings are available. There are quite a few small restaurants around the campsite

Many climbers hire porters to carry their belongings to the top of the mountain for them. As a result, the main trail is often crowded with long lines of porters and following climbers. Some people hire porters to be carried themselves to the plateau. Quite a sight.There are many hiking trails to the many cliffs and waterfalls on top of Phu Kradung. There are two categories of trails on the summit plateau. The first one is the normal trails open to the public, while the second one is the trails in the closed off forest. In the first category, there's a waterfalls trail and a cliffs trail. The closed forest has two areas, named area one and area two.

While walking through these trails, one can get a glimpse of the most exotic flora and fauna present in the park that includes animals like jackals, elephants, deer, gibbons, bears and tigers. Phu Kradung National Park mainly contains dry dipterocarp forests that are interspersed with mixed deciduous, hill evergreen forests and also vast stretches of green fields. Birds inside the park include black eagle, silver pheasant, red-wattled lapwing, Chinese francolin and minivets. Also present in this park is a rare and unique species of turtle called Tao Hang.