Phu Kradueng Mountain

I went with Lam to recce Phu Kradueng mountain in Thailand from 4-10 October 2019. We spent 4D3N up in the mountain. It is a camping-friendly site complete with tents and clean toilets; besides, sleeping equipment (mattress, blanket, pillow), food and groceries are easily and readily available at a reasonable fee – just bring sufficient Thai Baht will do.

In hiking up the mountain, one can let porters carry the bags. They have a very good porter service system where all bags are weighed and tagged. Each porter will then carry the load according to one's ability. At the mountain top, luggage is reclaimed by ID and payment is paid directly to the porter; for every kilogram, the porter fee is 30 Baht.

I could not ever imagine that at the peak of a mountain, it is a flat land with many cliffs and waterfalls. This is a fun and enjoyable place for hiking, camping and cycling; we will sure go again next year, do let me know if you would like to join us.

Do CLICK HERE to view 50 photos courtesy of yours truly, KC Leong.

 Day 2 cycling around the mountain top visiting view points and waterfall

About Phu Kradueng Mountain: 

(1) It is located about 500km north of Bangkok;

(2) Trailhead to the peak = 5.5km (moderate hiking pace takes about 4.5 hrs); 

(3) Peak to the National Park Office/campsite (walking on flat land) = 3.5km (about 1 hr);

(4) There are five (5) food/drink stations lined from foothill to the peak;

(5) Difficulty level: moderately tough (similar to hiking from Kem Lolo to Kem Pacat of Gunung Nuang, Selangor); 

(6) Area of flat summit plateau of the mountain where major attractions are held = 60 km²

Note: the hiking photos are in Lam's camera.

 They even have designated area for parking of bicycles at popular view points

 Shop selling food and drinks at every view point area

 Blue sky and scenic view

 Signature landmark of Phu Kradueng ... Lam in action at Lom Sak Cliff with the protruding rock and the lone pine tree. Most popular and perfect place for viewing sunset; returning to campsite takes about one hour on wide-tyre bicycles.

 Yours truly double up as the model for this photo

 Sunrise view ... we gathered at the park office at 5am and a ranger would guide us to arrive at this view point

 There are about six (6) waterfalls at the mountain top

 Neatly arranged tents; there are a few hundred tents being set up here. The tents under the trees would be cooler in the afternoon; at night, the entire mountain top is quite cold starting from October onward.

 National park workers cleaning and drying the sleeping equipment (mattress, blankets and pillows) under the sun. On 5 October 2019 (Saturday), there was a trail running event been staged here; we were told that 1,000 people camped here involving 300 porters to send goods/bags up to the campsite.

 Neatly stacked mattress ready for the next campers

 There are many clean toilets surrounding the campsite

Many eatery shops where food and drinks are abundance. They sell Thai style rice and noodles, mixed rice, stew pork rice, steamboat, soy milk, raw papaya salad, canned food, biscuit, chocolate bars, soft drinks, etc. They also sell hiking and camping related stuff.

Posted by KC Leong