Kaeng Krachan - Pakarang Mountain route

Firstly you will notice the are two tracks shown on the image (click on the image to see it bigger), the reason for this was that we were trying to find the Khao Pakarang route from information that was available on the internet ( see the alternative KK post which shows information sourced from the interet) and found the origional track (in red) at 11 km into the park, just after the second of the two road bridges. This track shows much sign of animal life is an elephant route also, passing through 3 streams and recent evidence of mammals at each water source (deer, gaur, elephant) with footprints and scat. We also saw dusky langur and heard banded langur on the trail. After the 1 km the trail become harder to follow as there are so many animal tracks and routes but judging from this image you should follow the stream to join up with the main track.

By far the easiest way to find the trail is at Bang Krang Camp (the GREEN trail on the image). Head for the Bang Krang Nature Trail and keep walking up the old road rather than going on the nature trail. You will come to a small metal barrier across the road and thats the starting point. The trail is very easy to follow as it is an old rangers road to what was a ranger camp that has been abandoned after being destroyed by elephants. Its a delightful trail and very little change in elevation, it meanders through the valley bottom and crosses forest streams several times. these streams are an excellent place to rest or laze and take in the tranquility of it all. The stream themselves are packed with life and deserve a good inspection.

The trail is criss crossed by hundreds of animal tracks and routes and evidence of elephant, deer and gaur is everywhere as were Dhole tracks. The trail culminates at an abandoned forest ranger station. If you don't like sweat bees remember to take a hat as there were a lot of these harmless insects at the station.

Apparently the track should also lead to Khao Pakarang at around the 4 km mark but we did not see the spur - if anyone knows were the track spur is pls let me know. Pakarang is supposed to have Gibbon and Langur but we did not hear any of those in the valley (probably as the habitat did not suit them as the valley is not primary forest like the sides of the mountains).


Important facts

Length of trail :: GREEN trail 17 km (round trip)
Hiking time :: 4 to 5 hours (includes return)
Difficulty level :: easy (scale : easy, moderate, hard, ouch)
Terrain :: along a river course and through mixed evergreen forest
Minimum essentials :: 1.5 L water (note you can fill up at the streams if you run out), sugar source, snacks

The GPS track for the above Kaeng Krachan trail can be downloaded by clicking below

Thanks a lot for this post and your other KK posts. I live up in CM but have come down to Hua Hin for a few months and want to do some exploring, especially of KK national park.

I have got hold of all the military maps available for the area from the Royal Thai Survey Department see http://cmhike.com/2010/09/new-thai-mili ... -released/

Have scanned the maps and made them into Google Earth overlays that I can also use in my Garmin Oregon 450 GPS, I attach a screen shot of the areas covered.

There is another trail marked on the military maps opposite to this one. The foot trails marked on the military maps are not always entirely reliable. But did you see any evidence of a trail there? I attach another screen shot from Google Earth.

I have two very well behaved dogs with me and normally take them on hikes with me. I am wondering if I can take my dogs with me to explore this area. I think they will have to stay on leash if there is wildlife in the forest. Most National Parks have a blanket policy of not allowing in dogs although often rangers keep dogs in the parks, I wonder whether I will be able to bring my dogs in.

Here is the trail marked on the other side of the track.

There appears possibly to be a trail parallel to the one you explored??