Find Your Best Tours

Cat Tien National Park

Cat Tien National Park is a treasure trove of biodiversity. Here in the tropical forests of southern Vietnam live some of the world's most endangered species. The topography of the park is characterized by steep hills and largely flat areas. Numerous springs and streams in the park drain into the Dong Nai River, the second largest in southern Vietnam. The park, one of the largest in the country, was established in recognition of Cat Tien's unique wildlife and the importance of protecting it. Covering an area of 74,319 hectares, the Cat Tien National Park has preserved its original natural soil with a diverse ecological system and many rare and valuable species of animals listed in the Red Book of Endangered Animals. The landscape surrounding the Park is magnificent, and the local people have maintained practicing customs and habits full of national cultural identities. Coming along National Highway 20 from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat, at Milestone No.174 being Tan Phu cross-road, and turning left, you will see a board "Cat Tien National Park - 24km".

Let come into the forest on a trail covered with tree leaves. The sunshine was on the canopies, layer after layer. The air was humid. The cicadas resounded over the forest. Don't forget to see a 400-year-old conifer there. Going a bit further you can see another tree, called bang Lang (Lagerstroemia corniculata), which is almost 300 years old. From its trunk of nearly 3 meters in diameter, 6 ivory sub-trunks sprouted. There are many other strange trees in the forest: a red-wood tree having a diameter of 3.7m, a Benjamin fig having a fasciculate root that runs along the stream and can shade about 20 people, a banyan tree having a hollow trunk which is large enough for 3 people, to name but a few.

So far, in Cat Tien Park, 1,610 kinds of flora have been classified which belong to 75 species, 162 families and 724 branches, many of them listed in the Red Book.

Related Articles