Khon Kaen National Parks

Amphoe Chum Phae
Tham Pha Phuang Forest Park
Tham Pha Phuang Forest Park is in Ban Dong Lan, Tambon Pha Nok Khao, 123 kilometres from Khon Kaen on the Khon Kaen-Chum Phae road by Highway No. 12 and 201. A 4-kilometre road on the right then takes you to the park. Tham Pha Phuang is a huge limestone cave. Inside is a large chimney-shaped rock and lovely stalagmites and stalactites.

Amphoe Nong Ruea
Nam Phong National Park
Nam Phong National Park covers several districts in Khon Kaen and Chaiyaphum. The park headquarters is beside Ubolratana reservoir. To get to the park, take the Khon Kaen-Chumphae road to Km. 30 and turn right for 19 kilometres, totalling 49 kilometres. It is the watershed of the Chi and Phong rivers. The topography is mountainous and covered with hard timber and dry virgin forests. Numerous barking deer inhabit the park. Vantage points give great views of the reservoir. There is a natural rock pool that is shaped like a volcano cone.

Amphoe Phu Pha Man
Phu Pha Man National Park
Phu Pha Man National Park has an approximate area of 350 square kilometres. It covers a verdant forest area in Khon Kaen and Loei. Tourist spots in the park are scattered throughout and can be separated into 2 groups. The first group is in the southern part, comprising a mountain with a 90-degree cliff stretching out like a curtain. Caves large and small dot the cliff. In the evening flocks of bats fly out to hunt, forming a continuous line not unlike smoke from a mountain. There are also 2 nice waterfalls, which are Tat Yai and Tat Fa. The second group is in the north adjacent to Amphoe Phu Kradung. Tat Rong waterfall is the highlight here and there are also caves with stalagmites and stalactites. Phaya Nakharat and Lai Thaeng caves of prehistoric paintings.

To get to the park, take the Khon Kaen-Chum Phae-Wang Saphung route for 100 kilometres. Then take another road for 12 kilometres. The park headquarters is at Pha Nok Khao that is just past the Phu Pha Man district office on Road No. 201.

Amphoe Phu Wiang
Phu Wiang National Park
Phu Wiang National Park has an area of 325 square kilometres. Shaped like a smokestack, the middle part is a plain surrounded by mountains. A hard timber forest is around the plain while a dry virgin forest is on a plateau. The park can be reached by taking Highway No. 12 (Khon Kaen-Chum Phae) for 48 kilometres, then turn right on Road No. 2038 and drive for 38 kilometres to the park headquarters.

Phu Wiang is where geologists looking for uranium first discovered dinosaur fossils in Thailand. Many more locations were later found in the park. Fossils of both large herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs have been unearthed here. Furthermore, dinosaur footprints are evident at Lat Pa Chat rock plateau, comprising over 50 prints of many kinds of small predator dinosaurs in the rock formation. These prints are around 140 million years old.