TNT Travel - The Best Central Vietnam Daily Tours

Bach Ma National Park

In 1932, the summit of Bạch Mã was selected by the French engineer Girard to become a hill station for the colonial administration of Hue. In the following years, a village including 139 villas and hotels was created. To accommodate holidaymakers and to avoid commuting on the steep, 19-kilometre-long (12 mi) road to the next major town, there was a post office, a market, and a hospital. By 1937 the number of holiday homes had reached 139 and it became known as the "Dalat of central Vietnam". Most of the visitors were high-ranking French VIPs. Not surprisingly the Viet Minh tried hard to spoil the holiday – the area saw some heavy fighting in the early 1950s. After independence from the French, Bạch Mã was soon forgotten and the villas abandoned; today they are in total ruin and only a few stone walls remain. At an elevation of 1250 meters above sea level, the national park is a popular summer retreat for the Vietnamese, who come to feel the relief of the cooler temperatures of Bạch Mã.

The area around Bach Ma was first protected as a series of forest reserves in 1937 and was declared a protected area by the government of South Vietnam in 1962. In 1986 the area was established as a national park. The forests of the park, like Cát Tiên National Park, suffered from the use of defoliants like Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

Biodiversity of Bạch Mã

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