Conquering U Bo – The Highest Top Of The Mountain In Phong Nha Ke Bang

When someone refers to Quang Binh Province, they have to mention Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park. This place is famous for its unspoiled natural scenery, vast primary forests, majestic limestone mountains, beautiful underground stalactite caves, etc, especially U Bo mountain top – the highest top of the mountain of Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park.

Ba Ren – U Bo is a mountain range located to the East of Phong Nha-Ke Bang World Natural Heritage. From Dong Hoi city towards the West, visitors can see the Ba Ren mountain range running to distant horizons, the highest peak of the mountain range looks like a protrusion on the back of a cow, so the locals have called U Bo peak. If you love the wildness and tranquility of nature and want to have whole new experiences, choose U Bo as the destination for your upcoming travel to Quang Binh.

To conquer the top of U Bo mountain, visitors can choose Quang Binh car rental service: motorbike or car, and then go one of the following two roads:

Road 1: Go to Phong Nha Ke Bang tourist center and then continue road 20 – Quyet Thang, to the Tra Ang intersection, and turn to Ho Chi Minh Street on the West branch. You just need to go another 40km to arrive.

Road 2: Move to the junction of Phu Quy market (Viet Trung Farm)  on Ho Chi Minh street,  then along the provincial road DT563, the east branch about 50km to arrive.

Both of these roads to conquer U Bo peak are pretty arduous, and winding, with many steep and dangerous slopes. The pathway is deserted, with fewer passers-by, so visitors need to pay attention carefully before starting.

The road to U Bo mountain is winding, with many dangerous steep slopes

U Bo Mountain Peak is located at an altitude of 1,009m above sea level, the highest peak in the Phong Nha Ke Bang area, in the middle of an immense primary forest. The climate here is always very cool, the year-round temperature range from 22 – 24 degrees C. So for a long-standing, locals still refer to U Bo as  Sa Pa, Ba Na, or Da Lat mini of Quang Binh. This destination became the beating-the-heat ideal in the summer.

During the war years, U Bo Mountain was the army’s base. In this place, elite armies gathered, the military arsenals and military supplies of the Truong Son army, where the 559 headquarters was also stationed here. 

Currently, this place has not been exploited in tourism, so the landscape is still wild and has less affected by people. If you want to explore U Bo, you must stop at the ranger station, then ask the rangers to guide you. You will have to cross a trail lying close to the mountain to reach the 920m high fire watch and enjoy the scenery.

 U Bo ranger station

At the ranger station, you will take about 30 minutes of trekking. During that climbing journey, you will be able to go through under the green forest canopy, and witness with your own eyes many precious wood species, chirping birds, and singing gibbons, ….. It’s a fascinating experience.

Walk under the beautiful primary forest canopy

The path is not steep, located under the canopy of the primary forest with ancient trees as big as the hug of two people together. If you’re lucky, you can see douc langurs, ‘’siki’’ gibbons, etc on the pathway. However, this space is wet, and dense under the trees so there are many squeezes. Visitors should prepare anti-squeezing pills, pants, and long socks.

Fire watch with a height of 920m

U Bo Peak, which is considered to be the narrowest point in Vietnam, is the only point across the length of the S-shape that can stand at the western border to see the East coast of the country.

The scenery seen from U Bo Peak far away is the sea and Dong Hoi city

Standing on the top of U Bo, you can zoom in on sight around, and feel gentle and relaxed. If on a sunny day, with clear clouds, from U Bo Peak you will see the image of Bo Trach, Dong Hoi city, far away is Nhat Le estuary, Hon La island. At night, visitors can see the shimmering lights from the coastal city of Dong Hoi like stars in the sky. Standing at the top of U Bo and seeing the whole width of the homeland of Vietnam will be an unforgettable experience.

Unforgettable experience when conquering U Bo  Peak.

Not only is it an ideal point to explore and a waypoint in the summer, but U Bo is also a fascinating destination in the remaining three seasons because of its unique climate. On Autumn days,  fog and clouds seem to be intertwined, and the feeling may be touched. Conquering a high mountain with a very feature Vietnamese name in a mysterious fog and a solitary space is also not an easy experience to get. In the spring, the trees and leaves here suddenly grow strongly, and all kinds of flowers bloom. Each season of U Bo has a different beauty and attractions.

Coming to U Bo, not only simply conquering one of the highest mountains in Quang Binh, but during the journey, visitors also enjoy many beautiful scenes in the  Phong Nha Ke Bang heritage. These are the roads hidden under the canopy of the forest, the streams creaking along the foothills, and the two sides of the road are the limestone mountains.

The happiness of each journey is sometimes not in the destination but in the way, visitors will surely find joy in this adventurous, hard but full of value. Let’s add U Bo mountain to the list of destinations to explore in Quang Binh on the next vacation.