The Holiday and Travel Magazine: Phu Pha Thoep National Park (Mukdahan National Park)

Sunday 9 September 2018

Phu Pha Thoep National Park (Mukdahan National Park) - Mukdahan Province

Formerly known as Mukdahan National Park, Phu Pha Thoep National Park is a small protected area covering 48.5 km² in Mukdahan Province east of Thailand only 17 km south from Mukdahan city near the border to Laos.

The forests are mainly mixed deciduous and dipterocarp forest, in deepers areas up on mountains there are few areas with evergreen forests along some cliffs. There are no bigger mammals in the park apart from deer, boars and flying squirrels. Interesting birds are red junglefowl and green peafowl. Some 10 species of flowers bloom on some parts of the park around October to November every year. The highest point in the park is Phu Jongsi at 420 metres.

This 49 square kilometers park in Mukdahan province (north eastern Thailand) is famous among local people for its beautiful natural rock formations. Phu Pa Teub cliff consists of rocks and rock layers loosely placed on top of each other. The park contains several high hills, and is a watershed for the Huai Ta Luak, Huai Ling and Huai Rua rivers.

Established in 1984, this National Park is well known for its bizarre shaped rocks, not unlike what you would see in a ‘Road Runner’ cartoon. Five hundred meters beyond the large rock plateau (a five minute walk from the park office) is a small shrine and after another 500m there is a very pleasant lookout from where you can see the Mekong River and most likely some illegal rice cultivation.

Besides the strange formations there are also caves, prehistoric rock art (as at Pha Taem in Ubon Ratchathani Province) and some wildlife. In the wet season there is an impressive waterfall a three hour walk away but in the dry season the waterfall is non-existant. There are a few trails for hiking and if the park officers have the time they’ll be happy to show you around.

Visiting
Despite being small, the park has enough trails and attractions for one or two days stay. The park is mainly known for it's peculiar "mushroom shaped" rock formations, other attractions are viewpoints, waterfalls and a cave. Right behind the visitor center a trail starts uphill and continues along a rock-floor plateau at the ridge of Phu Pha Thoep mountain and than splits in several directions, it leads to most attractions in the area. This easy to moderate trail is signposted but can be a bit confusing when passing the rock group further uphill. On top of the mountain the signposting becomes better.

The visitor center area has few shops, various facilities, a smaller campsite and few bungalows. The bungalows are spacious rooms with single beds on floor, costs 100 Baht per person on availability and can be arranged on spot. The rooms have around 8-10 beds each. There are no restaurants at the visitor center area but it is possible to buy instant noodles from the shops, few stalls sells food only during the week-end and holidays when the park gets more crowded by the local tourists. There are few restaurants few kilometers outside the park along the main road.

The entrance fee is 200 Baht for foreigners (100 Baht for children) and 40 Baht for Thai citizens (20 Baht for children). There are English brochures to be picked up from the visitor center with information about park, attractions and a map.

Get there
Operating from Mukdahan, blue songthaews running along road 2034 right outside the park every 30 minutes, the visitor center area is another 2 km from the road where songtaews passes, there are no public services for last 2 kilometers. It takes around 30 minutes for the songtaews to reach the turnoff road to the park. The last songtaew back to the town may pass by around 16:30. It is also possible to hire tuk tuk from the town for a round trip, 500 Baht or more (2016 price). The park turn-off is between kilometre 14 and 15, and is about a 20 minute (1,300 m) walk from the main road — look for the signs in English. To get there, catch a blue songtheaw from outside the morning market on the western side of Samut Sakdarak Rd – about 200 metres to the south of the Mukdahan Hotel.