Ob Luang National Park - Thailand Travel Guide

Ob Luang National Park

Ob Luang National Park is an amazing attraction comprising both splendid natural charms as well as mysterious scenery. Under a bridge connecting the two sides of the narrow, steep gorge, a zigzagging river flows, framed by teak forests and mountains. During the rainy season, the flowing rapids crashing on the boulders and through the ravine are a dramatic picture of nature's strength. Subject to erosion by the strong currents of the river, the rocks and cliffs form the canyon and strangely shaped rock formations. The water has to force its way over rocks and boulders that obstruct the course making a magnificent sight.

The National Park covers a total area of 553 square kilometers of steep forested granite hills, adjoining the much higher mountains of Doi Inthanon Park to the northwest. The elevation ranges from 200 meters to 1,656 meters along the Mae Jaem River to the northeast. The national park forms the watershed of Mae Jaem River the main water tributary of the Mae Ping River. The area is full of high, steep cliffs with a narrow passage creating strong currents and powerful echoes. The mountain ranges were all formed by the same folding winds in the Cretaceous and Triassic periods yielding granite, granodiorite and mitmatile granite.

The river rushes through the dramatic Ob Luang Gorge, the National Park's central feature. In English, "ob" and "Luang" in northern Thai language means canyon and grand respectively. The narrow ravine with sheer sides and a raging torrent at the bottom is a good reason a visit. The informative exhibition of the nature trail in the national park office offers a fantastic introduction to the uses of northern Thailand's forest by humans during the stone age to the present day as well as vertigo-inducing views of the gorge.

The mountain (or Doi) of Pa Chang has soaring brownish black cliffs of mitmatile granite that resemble a sleeping elephant. Here is a view point from which can be seen beautiful Mae Bua-Come Waterfall below. The cave was the home of prehistoric people who painted their daily life style as well as the elephant in different colors on the rocks.

Approximately 4,000 - 5,000 years ago, a group of gatherers and hunters, "Hoabinhians", camped under a rocky overhang on the side of a narrow valley. Filled with dense tropical rain forest and teeming with wildlife, this valley area became feeding ground because animals kept migrating between the rainy season and dry season. Meanwhile, during this Stone Age the hunters most likely sat under the rock shelter and used their unpolished stone - flaked axes to craft the wooden weapons needed for killing and butchering the carcasses. They brought the meat back to their shelter for cooking over open fires. With plenty of food to eat, in their leisure time they depicted their hunting activities in red and white paint on the cliff wall. These paintings with faint and fragmented remains can still be seen today. Carbon testing showed that the findings are about 28,000 years old.

Thousands and thousands of years later, was the Bronze Age and the first period humans used bronze tools, jewelry and pottery. They left behind signs of a more advanced civilization. Their tools were used for clearing the forests and establishing agriculture.