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| Khao Lak | |
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| Khao Lak - Lam Ru | |
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| national park | |
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Partly encompassing the coastal beauty of Hat Khao Lak is the Khao Lak-Lam Ru National Park. It was initially established as a terrestrial Park but in 1995 it was transferred to the Marine National Park division due to
the inclusion of several marine resources. This 125 sq km National Park now offers a lovely collection of sea cliffs, hills, and beaches in addition to dome shaped granite mountains from the Cretaceous period and tropical evergreen forest.
The particular geology of the whole region had an earlier economic impact, as tin was once extracted from one or two areas outside the park, although now there are no traces of this former economy.
The Park runs in a West-East direction and geographically covers two parcels of comparable area, joined by a narrow band of jungle. The coast around Hat Khao Lak thus only represents a small portion of the overall Park.
The headquarters of the park are located 50 meters off highway 4, on the picturesque headland of Leam Hin Chang immediately south of Khao Lak.
There is a relatively varied range of flora and fauna, considering the park's size. Most of the true tropical evergreen forest occurs on the forrested hills closer to Khao Lak. Here there is effectively a three level canopy overlooked by a few emergent
forest giants. The forest has many climbers including Rattans, and is also rich in epiphytes such as orchids and ferns.
Species of fauna include langurs, macaques, black drongos, Asiatic black bear, reticulated python, gold whiskered barbets, black giant squirrel, wild pig and hornbills.
The Park is ideal for hiking, forest walks and viewing wildlife.
There are also a number of waterfalls, and two in particular are quite popular:-
Chong Fah is the closest to Khao Lak. This waterfall is a single 10m drop with a pool at the base which is good for swimming. A forest trail leads up into the interior of the park from here. Buddhist monks once had a forest retreat nearby, and remains of their shelter are still visible.
The waterfall is accessed initially via a tarmac road at Bang Niang; thereafter an offroad vehicle (or motorcycle or simply good footware) is required for the remaining rough jungle track. The waterfall is a further 10 minutes walk from the end of the track.
The most popular waterfall is Lam Ru (Nam Tok Lam Ru), in the area of Kradai ridge, close to Kapong, which is about 30km from the Park HQ. This is a pretty five level fall, of medium height, and flows throughout the year. Several varieties of birds are close by. Approach the waterfall via Kapong on
route 4090.
Other waterfalls are:-
Ton Pling which is close to km marker 55 on route 4 just south of the Park HQ.
Hin Lad waterfall which is just a few kilometers after Lam Ru.
Although not within the official park, there is also the Sang Fong waterfall, which lies west of Kapong off route 4090, and the Kapong hot springs and associated natural pool, at a temperature of 65C.
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