Khao Yai Cha Am - New Road or What?

[Ratsima]

Khao Yai is that big hunk of limestone that pokes up across from Santorini and behind Camel Republic. I was cycling in the area last week and noticed what appears to be the construction of some sort of road. It extends from the entrance to Khao Nang Phanthurat Forest Park around the north end of the mountain and all the way south to Camel Republic.

There used to be a very nice trail along the base of the West side of the mountain; well worn and nicely compacted, so great for walking and cycling. Now a bulldozer has ripped it to shreds leaving boulders, exposed roots, downed vines and lots of pockets of loose soil. It's still OK for walking, but I fell off my bike twice when the front wheel hurried itself in loose soil.

Does anyone know what this is all about? Most of the route is too narrow to be an actual road, but maybe some sort of access or construction road.

I've attached an approximate map.

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[Ratsima]

A new bike path is being constructed with goes from the entrance to Khao Nang Phanthurat park around the north end of Khao Yai and then south as far as the old PTT station with the KFC. The path runs along the base of Khao Yai and is being paved with concrete.

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Just off the path behind Khok Setti (the brick Dvaraviti chedi) is a short but steep stairway leading up to what was once a shrine but is now a nice observation point. There are lots of prickly pear cactus along the way.

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You can barely see the roof of the shrine here.

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That’s “Jurassic Mountain” on the left.

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[Ratsima]

I can understand why someone felt the need to combine these posts. However, now that we know the purpose of the construction it would be appropriate to change the title of the thread to something reflecting the fact that the new road is a bike path. Leaving the original title is more than a little misleading.

Thank you.

[Ratsima]

The new bike path seems to be finished, such as it is. Here's a complete GPS track. The path is just under 6K.

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The northern end begins on the road to Khao Nang Panthurat just past the Mon Brick Chedi. The south end ends rather uncerimoniously behind the old KFC at the now-closed PTT station.
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The GPS track shows where I reached this dead end and backtracked to get back to the highway.
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The path goes past the steps up to the cave at Wat Tam Jaeng.
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They had just removed the forms for the final paved section when I rode the path on December 2, 2020.
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The path itself is quite beautiful and goes by some big trees and limestone cliffs. It's nice and shady almost the entire way. There are some steep parts and places where much of the path is covered with arboreal detritus. Here are some more photos:
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[Ratsima]

Here's the GPX file if anyone is interested:
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KhaoYaiChaAmBikePathgpx.gpx.zip

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It had to be zipped to upload.

[Ratsima]

I first posted about the Khao Nang Phanturat Bicycle Trail when construction began two years ago and long before I knew what it was. Enough was paved by September of 2020 to actually ride it. Unfortunately, it remained technically closed until recently. However, I continued to ride and enjoy it.

I went again last weekend and was surprised to see this sign:

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It appears that the bike trail is now officially open. It also appears from the sign that the trail now completely encircles Khao Yai at a distance of 10K. I wondered how such much of the trail could be completed in such a short time, but I thought I'd try it out. I had plenty of time and 10K would take much less than an hour.

Note that the sign is somewhat misleading. The bike path is the gray line that goes all around Khao Yai. The yellow lines denote hiking trails within the national park. These are completely unsuitable for cycling. Also, the map legend at the lower left refers to points on the hiking trails and not the bike path.

After setting out on the newly opened and expanded bike trail I was somewhat disappointed by the complete lack of maintenance on the trail. Much of it is covered with vegetative detritus including leaves, fallen branches and lots of little twigs. At one point my bike tire kicked up a branch which whacked me in the shin. A bit later a long twig got stuck in my front spokes.

As I got to what used to be the end of the paved trail I encountered this:

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The pavement, which is about three meters wide, is so overgrown that you have only a very narrow opening in which to pedal. A bit further I came to this:

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Yep, the end of the pavement.

So, the sign is pretty much a complete lie when it comes to the bike path. It is not paved all the way around and it is not very will maintained. It will soon become impossible to ride.

I guess it's a lot easier to put up a sign than it is to actually complete and maintain the project.

What a shame as it is a very beautiful area.

[REEM]

There are a lot of monkeys in that area, I have climbed the trails inside the park and the monkeys were quite aggressive at times. Anybody going there should take a big stick with them. (And plenty of industrial strength mossie spray too) Were there any monkeys on the cycle path?
The small park has undergone some welcome upgrades lately so I wonder why the cycle path has been allowed to deteriorate.

[Big Boy]

Things grow so fast in Thailand, maybe it hasn't really been neglected for too long.

[Ratsima]

The cycle path isn't that old. Construction was started just two years ago and it's only been officially open for a few months. It might have been a good idea to give it a thorough sweep and trim before opening to the public. I've never seen any sign that clearing or brush cutting has been done along the trail. It has just been let go.

And, yes, there are plenty of macaques all along the bike path. If I ever park my bike to take a short hike I always take everything with me in my bike bag. When I was there a few months ago I hiked up to the interesting cave at Wat Tham Chaeng. Along the way I sat on the steps to rest a bit when a macaque started pelting me with seeds from the tree in which he was perched. Nasty devils.
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[STEVE G]

Would that that overgrown cycle track be doable as a 10km walk?

[Big Boy]

and if it is, is the track wheelchair friendly?

[Ratsima]

Only part of the trail shown on the map is paved. Parts of it are quite steep. It would be tough in a wheel chair. I’ve only ventured a few hundred meters on the unpaved part. It was not a pleasant cycling experience.

If you scroll back in this thread you’ll come to a map with an overlaid GPS track (blue) which is the paved part.

[Big Boy]

That's a shame, I wouldn't go off path. I don't mind steep(ish), but only on a solid surface. Thanks anyway.

[Ratsima]

I checked the GPX file for the trail. The elevation gain is about 77 meters. That is almost all at the beginning of the trail from the National Park entrance end. It's steep in places, but all paved.

Further south the trail flattens out. You could possibly park at Wat Tham Chaeng (วัดถํ้าแจง) and then make your way to the trail. They are doing a bunch of construction at the wat, so getting from the parking area to the trail might be a bit dodgy at the moment. On Monday I cycled from the trail to the parking lot and back. It was doable on my bike (not a mountain bike).

The Google Maps directions to the wat are good. You can actually see bits of the bike path in satellite view.

Once you get on the trail it would be fairly smooth and level going a few K north, south or both. Wheelchair should be fine and very enjoyable. Lots of shade with plenty of big trees and some nice limestone outcrops.

Good luck. Bring water. Take photos.