Khao Men Trek / 499 Hill (Yong Waterfall National Park)

 

This trek is Nakhon Si Thammarat province.  It's only 24km away from Khao Luang (tallest mountain in South Thailand), point to point.

Klongjang Waterfall is very close to the start point for the trek.  It's a mid-sized fall.  I have not been to Yong Waterfall the National Park is named after, that's close to Thung Song (main town in the area).  Klongjang WF is free entry whereas Yong WF has the dual-pricing which was one of the reasons I skipped it.

Sign points right to Klongjang WF and left to Khao Men (which is also called 499 Hill).  It looks like a big effort to get to the top but actually the road part takes you a fair way up so you skip about 300m of elevation gain.  Once you get to the end of the road it's only a 3km hike.  By the way that road is paved but it is very steep, maybe some older cars or cars with small engines might burn their clutch out.

The trail is a moderate difficulty.  Should be achievable going up in under 3 hours for your average person, and coming down in under 2 hours.

 

 

 

Typical section of trail near the top:

 

It was quite early morning so the clouds and mist hadn't really cleared properly.  For panoramic views you'd be better aiming to arrive at the summit in the afternoon.

 

 

It says the elevation is over 1300m but that's exaggerated, it's a little less.

 

 

 

 

 

And here's Klongjang WF mentioned at the start. 



You might notice some of the pictures in this post have bright blue skies and some are overcast, it's because I went to this waterfall before I knew about 499 Hill and that's when I saw the sign.  So after that first trip I did a bit of searching and next time I was in the area I did the hike.

 

I don't remember any near the top.  The mid-section of the trail follows a streambed for quite a long way but it was dry when I went.

I think when the organised Thai groups do this trek they do it over 2 or 3 days, they camp near the top and then the next day they go to another peak which is covered in grass - ทุ่งหญ้า ลานสวรรค์ - and then finally come out from the forest via Nan Plio Waterfall and/or Nan Tak Pha Waterfall and then they get a lift back to where they started from.  Not 100% sure on the route but I've noticed some posts on Facebook and elsewhere which indicate that it is something like that.

www.facebook.com/TarzanAdventure/photos/...80/5099801103419470/

Pretty sure this is the grass peak because they've tagged it 'Heavenly Meadows' (translated) and the Google label translates to 'Grass Field Heaven':

www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=55460659220...et=a.996779120349977