Pang Sida - Huai Nam Yen Waterfall

[Trekker]

The Huai Nam Yen waterfall trail is accessed from the Huai Nam Yen Ranger station and camp site which is located at km 20 on the Pang Sida Park road (3642) inside the Pang Sida National Park, Sakeo. The trail is not a long one but is the epitome of a forest/jungle trail and is one of the nicest I know of. It is very easy to follow and crosses two small streams and a waterfall (Huai Nam Yen) - most of its length it runs by the side of a mountain stream that is a delight with the sun light dappled by the trees but sparkling off the water.

Important facts

Length of trail :: 1.8 km
Hiking time :: 1 hour max for full trail
Difficulty level :: easy (scale : easy, moderate, hard, ouch)
Terrain :: Mixed Evergreen following mountain stream
Minimum essentials :: none


The Trail ::

Key::

HNY Camp = Huai Nam Yen Ranger station, campsite and carpark
Stream 1 - the track crosses over a small stream that enters the main stream that you are following
Namtok Hny - The Huai Nam Yen Waterfall (see below) - the main sight on the trail, after relaxing here for a while you must cross over the top of the waterfall to pick up the track again
Stream 2 - another very shallow stream that you need cross
Finish - the track takes you onto the road, you then follow the road back to the camp

Elevations by Km (note: only 32 meters across whole the trail length!)::

[Trekker]

[Trekker]

The GPX file (GPS track) for the above Pang Sida trek. You can simply load it to your own GPS if you want to follow the track. Its an easy track to follow though so you dont really need it.

Pang Sida Huai Nam Yen.GPX

(11.04 KiB) Downloaded 43 times

[Trekker]

Recently I returned to the Huay Nam Yen trail and decided to take advantage of the dry conditions to venture downstream from the Huay Nam Yen waterfall confluence. The waterfall is the confluence of 3 streams, one of which runs (trickles at this time of year) year round and 2 that dry out in the hot season.

Using the waterfall as the starting point we headed downstream of the waterfall by following the river bed and animal trails. Its quite a dodgy trip s its very slippery even at this time of year and the journey stops at a large forest pool clearing. There is evidence of elephant and wild pig throughout the short route. The pool could be circumnavigated by using the elephant trails but we decided to head back and try our luck upstream.

Back at the waterfall we decided to take the more northerly of the 3 streams, one that was dry and climbed its length until the sandstone boulder stream bed became a smaller confluence of other streams. Taking this route gives you a chance to see what the stream conditions are like as during the rainy season it would be simply impossible. The stream is made up of sandstone boulders and is quite a climb in some places, it also takes you across (or under if you wish) the roadway. There are a plethora of orchid species, lichens and mosses surrounding the stream - all eagerly awaiting the return of the rain.

Its a nice little "adventure" that will show some of what the "deep forest" looks like without actually venturing too far from safety.

PLEASE NOTE: This is not an established trail - it is all "off piste". Do not attempt if there is rain, the rocks would be too slippy and flash floods are a possibility!

The "trail" is shown as the red line on top of the Huay Nam Yen waterfall trail on the first diagram:

The track shown in a flat perspective

HNY-track.jpg (78.33 KiB) Viewed 124 times

The trail shown on google earth

HNY-stream-view.jpg (195.14 KiB) Viewed 124 times

The elevations of the steam route (its one way so the total you would walk is about 2.3 k on the steam

HNY-stream-ele.jpg (30.93 KiB) Viewed 124 times

Huay Nam Yen Stream.GPX

The GPS file

(24.23 KiB) Downloaded 25 times

[Trekker]

By the way - the HNY Waterfall trail is an established nature trail and if you would like to be guided on it by a ranger just ask for Khun Prasert or Khun Somchai at the HNY ranger station (you can phone the park headquarters and let them visitors centre know of your arrival in advance if you prefer). It is very interesting to take the trail with a guide, they have a lot of local and biological knowledge.

[Trekker]

Some of the smaller forest life on this trail....

[Trekker]

More....

Camoflague

pangsida-1.jpg (121.05 KiB) Viewed 115 times

Flatid nymph (to read more about these see the articles in the blog on the main page of the site)

pangsida-2.jpg (63.01 KiB) Viewed 115 times