Kaeng Krachan National Park

Kaeng Krachan covers a wide block of the Tenasserim hills west of Phetchaburi, forest running unbroken over ridge after ridge, and most of it has no visitor access at all. What people use is a single rough track climbing from the reservoir to camps at Bang Krang and Phanoen Thung, and the interest is on that road: hornbills crossing at canopy height early and late, gibbons calling from the slope below, butterflies massed on wet gravel at the stream crossings, and cloud filling the valleys under the upper camp at dawn. Elephants use the same track, which is why traffic runs in timed one-way slots. Big cats are present and almost never seen.

What you actually see

• Dawn from Phanoen Thung - cloud lying in the valleys below the upper camp.
• The stream crossings - butterflies gathered on wet gravel near Bang Krang.
• Hornbills - several species crossing the road above the canopy in the first and last hours.
• The one-way climb - a rough mountain track driven in timed slots to keep vehicles apart.

When to go

The park usually shuts for the wet months and reopens around November, and the dry season through to April is when the upper track is drivable. Cloud below Phanoen Thung is a cool-season thing, best in December and January, and seeing it means sleeping at the camp. Book accommodation ahead, since both camps are small.

Honest expectations

The track is rough, dusty and slow, and taking an ordinary car up it is a bad idea. Camp facilities are basic, cold at night and often full at weekends. Wildlife is luck: plenty of people drive the road for two days and come away with leaf monkeys and little else. Leeches appear after rain.

Nearby

Phetchaburi town and the Gulf coast at Cha-am are an hour or two away.