Ba Be National Park Vườn quốc gia Ba Bể
Limestone forest around the mountain lake
Ba Be National Park is the limestone forest and lake you stay inside. The trip is the boat, Puong Cave, Dau Dang, and the Tay villages at Pac Ngoi and Bo Lu. Go to Cao Bang if Ban Gioc is the point. The fee and the gate hours are Check on arrival.
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Forested karst and the lake, seen from the water
Photo: Daniel Vaulot · CC BY-SA 2.5
You stay inside the park for the lake, the Nang, Puong Cave, Dau Dang, and the Tay villages. Decision 83/TTg of 10 November 1992 established it from the former forbidden forest of the lake. Management sat with the Cao Bang People’s Committee from 1992 to 1997, the agriculture ministry until 2003, Bac Kan until 1 July 2025, and the Thai Nguyen People’s Committee after that. A 1995 freshwater-lakes conference in the United States named the lake one of 20 special freshwater lakes to protect. It is also called one of the 20 largest natural freshwater lakes in the world.
Photo: Ekrem Canli · CC BY-SA 3.0
The park is 10,048 ha. One split is strict protection 4,010.70 ha, ecological restoration 5,375.60 ha, admin-service 57.40 ha, and an inner buffer of 604.0 ha, plus an outer buffer of 25,309 ha. Another split of the same 10,048 ha is 3,846 ha strict, 6,162 ha restoration, and 40 ha admin.
Plant and animal counts also disagree. One count is 909 terrestrial plant species, 316 terrestrial vertebrates (40 mammals, 233 birds, 27 reptiles), 16 amphibians, and about 107 fish. Another is 1,268 higher plants, 182 orchids, 470 vertebrates, and 106 fish, of which 20 have not been seen since the 1970s. A third figure is over 1,800 living species of flora and fauna together. These counts are not one total.
ASEAN recognition is dated 2003 and 2004. Ramsar designation is 2 February 2011, site 1938, the third in Vietnam. In 2012 the Prime Minister ranked the lake a special national scenic site, Decision 1419/QĐ-TTg. It sits on the UNESCO tentative list as Ba Be – Na Hang, submitted 31 May 2017. A 2006 nomination was deferred in 2007. That list is not an inscription. The walk from Keo Siu to An Ma is a separate outing through forest called primary. The hours for that walk are Check on arrival.
Getting there and around
Pac Ngoi and Bo Lu sit on the lake, inside the park. Cho Ra is the commune on the north edge. The north edge is xa Cho Ra, the south xa Nam Cuong, the east xa Dong Phuc, and the west xa Na Hang in Tuyen Quang. An older outline names five communes: Nam Mau, Khang Ninh, Cao Thuong, Quang Khe, and Cao Tri.
From Pac Ngoi
You are already in the park. The morning is the boat from the village landing. Minutes from the house to a gate are Check on arrival.
From Hanoi
By road. The distance is 250 km northeast, about 240 km northeast, and 250 km north. Bac Kan city is 68 km from the park. The minutes are Check on arrival.
Hours and fees
- Hours
Check on arrival
- Closed
Check on arrival
- Admission
Check on arrival. The lake boat, Puong Cave, and Dau Dang are part of the same visit, not a second ticket.
Also in Ba Be
Ba Be Lake Hồ Ba Bể
Ba Be Lake is the mountain water you cross by morning boat.
Pac Ngoi Thôn Pác Ngòi
Pac Ngoi is the Tay stilt village where you sleep on the Leng, against the lake.
Dau Dang Waterfall Thác Đầu Đẳng
Dau Dang is the stacked fall you reach by boat, west of the lake.
Puong Cave Động Puông
Puong Cave is the river passage you ride through by boat on the Nang.
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