Recently, Cuc Phuong National Park has officially announced information on opening a night tour, taking tourists to the nature reserve by electric vehicle.

Night-life experience at Cuc Phuong National Park received positive response from travelers

According to Pham Kien Cuong, Director of the Center for Environmental Education and Services of Cuc Phuong National Park, this new tour product helps people to better understand natural wildlife, thereby also educating everyone about respecting the environment and nature and spreading responsibility to protect forests and the environment.

Fireflies at Cuc Phuong national park

Since its first launching on May 4, the tour has continuously welcomed a number of tourists every day of the week.

Cuc Phuong National Park Management Board said that the new product has attracted hundreds of tourists during the first days after its launch. A number of enquiries were sent to the park to book the tour.

Pham Kien Cuong revealed “Since launching the night tour, the Park welcomes nearly 20 groups daily. However, each session limits around 100 visitors to ensure the activity does not reversely affect the natural habitat of flora and fauna, and they are allowed to visit some certain areas in the forest.”

What to see at night-life experience at Cuc Phuong National Park?

The night tour to visit Cuc Phuong forest is operated from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm daily, traveling by electric vehicle for a distance of 5km, with 10 people per vehicle. Each tour lasts about one hour, the last tour departs at 8:45 pm.

Night tour at Cuc Phuong national park

The night tour costs 100,000 VND (3.94 USD) for adults and 50,000 VND for kids. 

“Compared to the daytime tour, the night tour experience will be a different but equally unique journey,” Mr. Cuong shared. 

Not only learning about the natural ecosystem and enjoying the tranquil atmosphre on the approximately 5km long road through the forest, visitors can also experience the exciting nightlife of wild animals in Cuc Phuong.

Starting from the park’s creative space for children, visitors take on a journey traveling along the forest trail and passing through rows of ancient trees by electric car.

During the trip, at some specific time of the year, visitors can immerse themselves in the scenery of millions of fireflies sparkling in the forest, and watch animals such as sika deers and deers, and diverse insects.

Tourists might have the chance to witness animals such as deer, and wild boars in their wildlife environment. Visitors can even encounter rare animals such as pangolins, striped civets, ink otter civets, wild cats, otters and lorises. As these are nocturnal animals, the tour provides a perfect time for participants to easily observe and learn about these animals. Such activities of predators in wild natural conditions are not easily seen in their life.

After about 30-minute traveling, visitors will enter the ancient forest where they can enjoy the fresh air and serenity in the middle of the night. They will then come back to the entrance gate and complete the journey.

Wildlife animals at Cuc Phuong national park

Some concerns are raised about the safety of tourists as they might encounter dangerous animals, such as snakes, and centipedes.

On facing this issue, the unit’s representative, Pham Kien Cuong shared: “Cuc Phuong is a primeval forest with an extremely diverse ecosystem. So during the experience, we can sometimes observe wild animals, such as chamois, muntjac, wild boar, civet, loris, wild cat or pheasant, or we can also encounter some groups of reptiles and insects, such as snakes or centipedes. However, under the guidance of guides at the Cu Phuong Park – a professional team from forestry with great experience in different fields such as Forest Ranger and scientific research, visitors can feel completely secure and comfortable to enjoy the experience.”.

How to book night-life experience at Cuc Phuong National Park?

“In order to participate in the night tour at the park, visitors are advised to contact in advance the forest’s Reception department, who are in charge of arranging a schedule and reserving a good local tour guide for the group.”.

When participating in the Cuc Phuong Park’s night tour, visitors should bring personal documents and necessary items, such as long clothes, mosquito and insect repellent. Cameras and binoculars are highly recommended for those who hope to capture or get a closer look at the elusive wildlife, although the darkness offers a challenge to photographers.

Cuc Phuong National Park is a nature reserve and special-use forest located in the three provinces of Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa, with an area of ​​more than 22,408 hectares. 

The Cuc Phuong National Park is a tropical forest characterized by the ecological transitional between limestone mountains and common mountains. The forest area is mainly composed of layers of an evergreen tropical forest in the lowlands (under 500m) and low mountains (under 500m) that came from rocks and limestone. The types of flora and fauna in the area exhibit the characteristics of karst topography and biodiversity.

In April and May, Cuc Phuong enters its most beautiful season as the park is decorated with a spectacular scene of thousands of butterflies sparkling in the sunlight and fireflies sparkling at night. 

Butterflies season at Cuc Phuong national park

Unlike the brief butterfly season, the firefly season in Ninh Binh starts annually around March and April and lasts until late autumn. This allows you plenty of time to plan a trip with friends or family to experience. Note this in your travel bucket list to not miss the magic of nature when you have a chance to visit the park at this time of the year. 

It has long served as a research center for many conservation organizations, both national and international. According to surveys, Cuc Phuong has 2,234 floral species of 931 genera and 231 families. Among these are 430 species of medicinal plants and 229 species of edible plants. 57 species are listed in the Vietnam Red Book of endangered species and also in the IUCN Red Book.

In particular, Cuc Phuong is named as Vietnam’s first national park. In recent years, Cuc Phuong National Park has become a favorite destination for both domestic and foreign tourists. It has been honored as leading Asia’s national park by the World Travel Awards for the fifth consecutive year, from 2019 to 2023.

This is a concrete testament to biodiversity values ​​and conservation efforts and explains why tours to explore Cuc Phuong Garden are so attractive to tourists.