Reliving the past, breathing in the future

Tucked away in Phitsanulok, Phu Hin Rong Kla - Thailand’s rain-drenched sanctuary of stone and story - is a place worth wandering, even in the rain.

In the mountainous north of Thailand, where the monsoon clouds gather like a curtain and the land exhales beneath the downpours, Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park comes into dramatic bloom.

Mist clings to craggy outcrops. Wildflowers unfurl across ancient stone plains. Waterfalls roar to life, cascading through dense forest.

Darunwan (Ceropegia cochleata Kidyoo), with its spiral blooms, flowers at Phu Hin Rong Kla in the rainy season.//Photo: Phu Hin Rong Kla Facebook page

But more than a place of natural beauty, Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park, which stretches over the provinces of Phitsanulok, Loei and Phetchabun—is a landscape inscribed with the struggles of ideology, memory and resistance.

Here, history and beauty walk the same trails.

From June to October, when Thailand slips into its lushest season, Phu Hin Rong Kla thrives under monsoon skies. While other destinations grow quiet, this highland sanctuary pulses with color and vitality. The air is crisp. The forest breathes. The ground glistens.

White Phror Phu Khao flowers are in full bloom, brightening the trails to Pha Chu Thong, Lan Hin Pum, and Lan Hin Taek.//Photo: Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park Facebook page

One of the park’s most surreal places is Lan Hin Pum, a stone plateau dotted with bulbous rock formations, softened by moss and scattered with tiny white blossoms of the rare Phror Phu Khao (White Caulokaempferia Alba).

Trails lined with begonias and orchids weave between rocks nicknamed for their animal-like shapes—among them, “Chang Nga Diaw” (Thunia alba). Reminding the local of a single-trunk elephant, this wild orchid is noted for its elegant, white, trumpet-shaped flowers.

“Chang Nga Diaw” wild orchid is noted for its elegant, white, trumpet-shaped flowers.//Photo: Phu Hin Rong Kla Facebook page

Nearby, Pha Chu Thong, a cliff-edge lookout, once the site of revolutionary fervor, offers panoramic views across the forested valley and high ranges. During Thailand’s communist insurgency in the 1970s, the hammer and sickle flew here after successful skirmishes.

Today, it’s a scenic stop for hikers and photographers—its legacy reimagined, but not erased.

Waterfalls that sing with rain

With rain comes water—and waterfalls, revived and roaring. The twin cascades of Romklao–Pharadorn, tucked just off the park’s main road, feel like something out of a fable.

More remote and rewarding is Man Daeng Waterfall, a 32-tiered marvel deep within the forest. Reaching it involves a challenging hike, guided by park staff along steep and tangled trails. But the reward is solitude—just the sound of falling water, bird calls, and your own footsteps.

The Asian Fairy Bluebird (Irena puella), with its vivid plumage and melodic call, offers a rewarding glimpse of forest beauty to visitors.

Memory Etched in Stone

Phu Hin Rong Kla isn’t just a national park—it’s a living archive of a dark era in modern Thai history. Between 1968 and 1982, it served as the stronghold of the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT).

CPT’s School of Politics and Military Training is a living archive of a turbulent era in Thai politics.//Photo: Phu Hin Rong Kla Facebook page

These forests and stone fields became the backdrop (and hideout) for a counter-state society built by college students and intellectuals who fled the violence of 6 October 1976 in Bangkok. Here, they lived, studied, resisted and tried to survive.

To walk the Lan Hin Pum–Pha Chu Thong loop is to step through that history. The trail begins at the School of Politics and Military Training, where over 30 wooden structures still stand—once classrooms, now relics of ideological resistance.

Nearby is a simple waterwheel—built by Chulalongkorn University engineering students on the run and powered by a forest stream.

Once used to mill rice for the movement, the waterwheel still spins to tell tales of self-reliance and ideological resistance.

Further along, visitors will encounter a guerrilla field hospital, air-raid shelters, and the movement’s administrative headquarters. Vines now soften the edges, moss veils the ruins, but the atmosphere holds.

A small on-site museum displays rusted rifles, hand-drawn maps, and weathered propaganda leaflets—each item a testament to belief, survival and ingenuity.

Earth’s Fractured Beauty

Of all the park’s features, none captures its haunting allure like Lan Hin Taek, or “The Cracked Stone Field.” This 16-acre plateau is split by deep, narrow crevices—fissures that resemble a shattered jigsaw puzzle.

Geologists say tectonic stress caused the cracks, but they feel almost symbolic, like the earth itself has opened up in remembrance.

At its most spectacular in the rainy season, Man Daeng Waterfall cascades in full force.//Photo: Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park Facebook page

In the rainy season, water fills the fractures, reflecting the skies above. Wildflowers bloom along the edges. It’s a paradoxical place—harsh and delicate, fractured and whole. Many visitors find it the most moving site in the park.

Mist and Memory at the Roof of the Park

Towering above it all is Phu Thap Buek, the park’s highest peak at 1,794 meters. Part of the Luang Prabang montane rainforest ecoregion, it links Thailand’s forest canopy with Laos’s uplands. On clear mornings, clouds roll beneath the summit like waves over a sea of tropical forest.

Day trips to Phu Thap Buek are possible, but an overnight stay is richly rewarding. As dawn breaks through mist or rain glimmers in the trees, the park shifts—layer upon layer, revealing something new with each passing hour.

There, with nature in full force, it doesn’t matter whether it rains or not.

All in all, Phu Hin Rong Kla is unlike any other place in Thailand. Here, wildflowers bloom beside former battlegrounds. A cliff that once hoisted the banner of rebellion now holds stillness and sky.

The very stones tell stories—of tectonics and turmoil, of resilience and rewilding.

To walk here during the rainy season is to walk in memory. It’s a journey through a landscape that speaks not only of beauty, but of endurance—and the quiet truth that even in fracture, something enduring can flourish.

Getting there

Located in Nakhon Thai District, Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park is about 125 kilometers east of Phitsanulok. From Phitsanulok, you take Highway 12 toward Lom Sak District. Then, turn north onto Highway 2013, which winds through the Nakhon Thai’s uplands.

Public buses run daily from Phitsanulok to Nakhon Thai, where travelers can hire a songthaew (shared pickup-style taxi) at the local market for the final 40km ascent to the park.

Accommodation includes basic rental cottages and a well-kept campground (bring your own tent)—advance booking is advised.

Thai meals, snacks, and drinks are available near the park office. For those planning to explore the park’s more remote trails, it’s recommended to arrange for a park ranger to accompany you and to pack essential supplies along with proper trekking gear.