Cycling in the Central Highlands of Thailand

I recently travelled to the provinces of Uttaradit, Pitsanalok and Petchabun for a long weekend in February 2013 for some sightseeing and biking.  The journey from Bangkok was long (10 hours driving in total) and tiring but we finally reached our first destination, Phu Soi Dao National Park in Uttaradit province, which straddles the border with Laos.  

Phu Sao Dao is famous for the hike to the top of Phu Soi Dao mountain which, at 2000m is a cool climate perfect for a picturesque scene of pine trees and flower meadows, and making it perfect for camping fans.  The distance from Bangkok and the relative difficulty in the trek makes it far quieter than other National Parks in Thailand.  

View of Phu Soi Dao from the National Park headquarters.

The walk is 6.5km and starts from Phu Soi Dao waterfall near the headquarters, however unfortunately for us, as it is the dry season most of the vegetation was dead so the walk was not recommended to us and so we stayed for a night in the park headquarters.  According to the park staff August is the best time for making the trip.  The roads through the park are great for road cycling, there was very little traffic, the climate was refreshingly cool and the winding roads through the jungle were great fun.  Phu Soi Dao waterfall is just 1km from the headquarters and is quite nice for a quick swim, although it's quite heavily promoted don't expect a stunning waterfall however.

Winding roads around Phu Soi Dao National Park.

For mountain biking enthusiasts I found a few trails near the park entrance, one of which required a steep climb, gaining 600m in altitude without easing off. After an hour of pushing 90% of the way I reached the summit of a 1,200m mountain which had stunning views of the surrounding area.  The sun was setting by the time I got to the summit so had to turn back, however I am sure there are some amazing trails in the mountains.  There were also some trails leading into the jungle which were fun to explore.

  

The views were worth it after the arduous climb to the mountain summit.

The next day we travelled South to Pitsanaluk province and onto Petchabun where we stayed the night, again time was limited but I managed to go for a a few bike rides through Thung Salaeng Luang National Park and near Khao Ko in Petchabun.  This area has a lot of potential for mountain biking, again the climate is perfect with temperatures at midday around 25 degrees because of the altitude (in Petchabun we were around 700m above sea level) and with relatively few visitors there was a lot of open space for exploring on the bike.  

Cycling in Petchabun

For the most part I followed dirt farm trains over and around the hills, Khao Ko has an almost European feel with rolling hills covered in grass, there were so many trails for exploring and a 25km off road trail to Phu Hin Rongkla National Park was also inviting but again with limited time I will have to do another time.  I didn't come across any bikers over the 3 days but it definitely warrants exploration, Uttaradit is perhaps too far unless you have a lot of time on your hands but Petchabun is 5-6 hours from Bangkok so is doable in a long weekend.  

One of the many farm trails in Khao Ko in Petchabun

For more information on trails you can visit Action Sport Asia  which is a leading resource for information on cycling in Thailand.