When is the rice, and when are the festivals?

Late May to early June is the green crop, and September and October are the gold crop. Both of those windows are also called golden. Lễ hội Căm Mương, the new-rice rite, and the valley culture day have no 2026 date. The Jungle Marathon distances are 70 km, 50 km, 25 km, and 10 km, with the 70 km start at 04:00. The race morning is not 19 Oct 2026.

Thanh Hoa

Pu Luong

A nature reserve of terraced rice valleys and limestone mountains in Thanh Hoa province. Stay in a Thai or Muong stilt house, walk among the rice terraces, visit the Pho Doan market, and eat Co Lung duck and bamboo-tube rice. One night suits hikers and travellers who want quiet countryside.

●●●●○ Worth a special trip for the limestone rice valley

Green late May, gold in September Dining and F&B Terraces on two calendars Stilt houses of the Thai and Muong Shopping

Photo: Wakada111 · CC BY-SA 4.0

TimeOne night in the valley

Get thereHanoi by road, about 160 km southwest, and also about 210 km. A limousine from Giáp Bát or Mỹ Đình is about 4.5 hours. No minute count sits beside either kilometre. Rail: Check on arrival. Area: Decision 495 of 27 Mar 1999, 17,660 hectares. Also 17,662 hectares, of which 13,320 hectares are strict protection and 4,343 hectares are restoration (those two zones add to 17,663). Decision 3001 of 8 Nov 2001, 16,982.6 hectares. Decision 2463 of 16 Jul 2013, 17,171.03 hectares. Decision 1976 of 30 Oct 2014, 17,171.53 hectares. Decision 3392 of 31 Aug 2021, 16,986.16 hectares, with a strict-protection subtotal of 10,953.27 hectares. Also strict 12,561.60, restoration 4,300.4, service 216.03, and other land 93.0, which add to the 2013 total rather than to 16,986.16. More than 17,600 hectares is also given.

Best monthsLate May–early June and September–October

You wake in a stilt house to terrace walls, a limestone ridge, and mist on the fields. This is Pù Luông Nature Reserve, the valley in Thanh Hoa. The morning is the crop on the slopes and the posts under the house.

Stay if that valley at breakfast is the trip. Go to Mai Chau if Bản Lác is the trip. Go to Ninh Binh if the boats are the trip. From 1 July 2025, xã Pù Luông is the old Thành Sơn, Lũng Niêm, and Thành Lâm. That commune is only part of the valley. Bản Hiêu and the hamlets Son, Bá, and Mười sit in xã Cổ Lũng.

A car or a motorbike hired in Hanoi is the usual road. The mistake is booking the neighbor when the photograph you wanted is this valley in the morning. Trek the terraces, or sleep in the house and walk the easier hamlet line. The two-day summit is a separate walk, in a limited group.

Common questions

How far is Pu Luong from Hanoi?: About 210 km, and also about 160 km southwest. A limousine from Giáp Bát or Mỹ Đình is about 4.5 hours. No minute count sits beside either kilometre. The train time is not published.
How large is the reserve?: The figures are not one number. Decision 495 of 27 Mar 1999: 17,660 hectares. Also 17,662 hectares, with 13,320 strict and 4,343 restoration. Decision 3001 of 8 Nov 2001: 16,982.6 hectares. Decision 2463 of 16 Jul 2013: 17,171.03 hectares. Decision 1976 of 30 Oct 2014: 17,171.53 hectares. Decision 3392 of 31 Aug 2021: 16,986.16 hectares, with a strict-protection subtotal of 10,953.27 hectares. Also strict 12,561.60, restoration 4,300.4, service 216.03, and other land 93.0. More than 17,600 hectares is also given.
When is the rice, and when are the festivals?: Late May to early June is the green crop, and September and October are the gold crop. Both of those windows are also called golden. Lễ hội Căm Mương, the new-rice rite, and the valley culture day have no 2026 date. The Jungle Marathon distances are 70 km, 50 km, 25 km, and 10 km, with the 70 km start at 04:00. The race morning is not 19 Oct 2026.

Top attractions in Pu Luong

Valley terraces Ruộng bậc thang Pù Luông

Give the morning to the terrace walls, with the limestone ridge behind the crop.

5.0 ★★★★★ Editor

A morning · Check on arrival

Side trips from Pu Luong

Mai Chau

A green valley of rice fields and Thai stilt-house villages, a short trip west of Hanoi.

Ninh Binh

A limestone valley south of Hanoi, where rowing boats glide through caves between rice fields and temples.

Pu Luong by interest

Dining and F&B

Terraces on two calendars

Stilt houses of the Thai and Muong

Shopping

Getting there and around

Bicycles are offered on the valley road, with steeper lanes if you want them. Homestays often lend them without a charge. A local motorbike is occasional, not the usual hire. No commune bus is named. Many hamlets want cash.

The management board sits in thị trấn Cành Nàng, now inside xã Bá Thước, with a visitor center planned there and at khu phố Vận Tải. Thác Hiêu is about 25 km from Cành Nàng, in old Cổ Lũng, now xã Cổ Lũng. It is described as five small falls with blue-green water, and as a stream of about 800 metres that splits into two branches and meets again above a pool. A walk of 6–8 km and 2–4 hours from Bản Đôn is also given.

The summit walk is a separate two-day trek inside special-use forest, from bản Pù Luông to bản Báng, about 11 km, with nearly 2 km steeper than 35 degrees, in a limited group. The height is 1,700 m, and also higher than 1,700 m. Newcomers are told to walk with a group or a local guide. The species lists are the reserve inventory. They do not schedule an animal on the path.

The Vietnam Jungle Marathon runs through forest, hamlets, terraces, and bamboo bridges, with the start and finish at Làng Leo. Distances are 70 km, 50 km, 25 km, and 10 km. The 70 km start is 04:00. A description dated 19 Oct 2026 covers the race. That date is not the race morning.