Khao Sok Lake Cheow Lan Lake or Ratchaprapha Dam Reservoir

National Park Tours & Floating Bungalows

Khao Sok Lake

Visit Khao Sok Lake
CHEOW LAN LAKE

Also called Cheow Lan Lake or Ratchaprapha Dam Reservoir, Khao Sok Lake is the best part of the national park where more interesting attractions are located, where wildlife watching possibilities are much better.

There are many raft houses/floating bungalows spread all over the lake, from which it is possible to visit caves, viewpoints, limestone hills and get to some interesting trails. Kayaking among limestone hills in morning mist is a must.

The lake contains over 100 limestone outcrops and has six tributary regions. The tributaries are; Klong Long, Klong Ka, Klong Pey, Klong Yee, Khlong Saeng and Khlong Mon where Khlong in Thai means river. Parts of the lake belong to Khlong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary.

Khlong Long

Khlong Long is the most popular tributary within the lake, situated on the northeast side of the lake, approximately 15-16 km from Cheow Lan Lake Pier. The main attractions of this tributary are limestone hills, a cave and a nice viewpoint accessible by a 2.5 hour long hike through the jungle.

There are five raft houses in Khlong Long;

Chiew Lan Raft House
Plern Prai Raft House
Sai Chon Raft House
Panvaree Raft House
Prai Wan
The quality of the raft houses in Khlong Long is much better compared to the others in the lake.

Khlong Pey

Situated at the southwest end of the lake, approximately 20 km from Cheow Lan Lake Pier. Ton Toey Rafthouse in this tributary was the lake's first ranger station. There is a trailhead a few kilometers west from this rafthouse to Nam Talu Cave, the trail is 4 km long and partly circular. Another 6.5 km long trail to the south leads all the way to the main road 401 further south.

Aerial view of the Khlong Pey tributary from a viewpoint
View of the Khlong Pey tributary from a viewpoint

Khlong Ka

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Khlong Ka is situated on the south side of the lake, approximately 15 km from Cheow Lan Lake Pier. This tributary has one of the best caves in the park and a great view over a group of limestone hills. There are some great trails between limestone hills to the south. Although the sighting is rare, tapirs have been reported in this area.

Klong Ka and Nang Prai are two rafthouses in this part of the lake.

Khlong Saeng

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Situated on the northwest side of the lake in Khlong Saeng Wildlife Sanctuary, this tributary is approximately 26 km from Ratchaprapha Dam. Klong Saeng River is the largest watershed feeding the lake, it was the widest river in Thailand before the dam was built.

Visitors entering this area must obtain a special permission from Khao Sok National Park headquarters and pay an additional entrance fee for the wildlife sanctuary.

This remote part of the lake is very ideal for hiking and the best place for wildlife watching. It is possible to hike into the wildlife sanctuary with the park rangers to the waterfall, old mines from the 60s' and get a chance to see some common animals like gibbons and deer. With some luck even more exciting species like elephant, gaur, mainland serow, great argus and many more can be seen. There are also tapirs, clouded leopards and bear species roaming in the sanctuary.

The only raft house in this tributary area is Klong Saeng Raft House owned by the national park, the qualities of the bungalows are poor.

Khlong Mon

Situated on the north side of the lake, Khlong Mon is approximately 24 km from Cheow Lan Lake Pier. The area consists of high hills and steep valleys, an ideal place to spot hornbills, eagles and other wildlife. A nearly 3 km long exciting trail through the jungle will end up in Khlong Saeng tributary further west. There are few other shorter trails at the north side of the tributary.

Tam Gia is the only raft house in this tributary, owned by the national park.

Visitor Center area and campsite

The visitor center of the national park is located next to the headquarters. There is a campsite, basic toilet/shower facilities, a small canteen/cafe, few accommodations and other premises in the vicinity of the visitor center.

There are two trails starting from the visitor center area. One trail is Sip-et Chan Waterfall trail to the north, partly circular and the other one to the other waterfalls to the west.

Getting to
Khao Sok Lake

Just like getting to Khao Sok Village from the nearby towns, the same bus/minivans can be used to get to Ban Ta Khun village to the east. From Ban Ta Khun, it is possible to arrange songthaews to Khao Sok Lake right on the junction of the road to the lake.

The raft houses and attractions in the lake are only accessible by long-tail boats departing from Cheow Lan Lake Pier (aka Ratchaprapha Pier).

KHAO SOK

National Park Travel

National Park Tours & Floating Bungalows

Khao Sok Lake

Visit Khao Sok Lake
CHEOW LAN LAKE

Khlong Long

Khlong Long is the most popular tributary within the lake, situated on the northeast side of the lake, approximately 15-16 km from Cheow Lan Lake Pier. The main attractions of this tributary are limestone hills, a cave and a nice viewpoint accessible by a 2.5 hour long hike through the jungle.

Khlong Pey

Khlong Yee

Khlong Ka

Khlong Saeng

Khlong Mon

Getting to
Khao Sok Lake

KHAO SOK

National Park Travel

National Park Tours & Floating Bungalows

Khao Sok Lake

Visit Khao Sok Lake CHEOW LAN LAKE

Khlong Saeng

Getting to Khao Sok Lake

Visit Khao Sok Lake
CHEOW LAN LAKE

Getting to
Khao Sok Lake