Tam Dao National Park () is a protected area zone in northern

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. It was established in 1996,''Vietnam: A Natural History''
Eleanor Jane Sterling, Martha Maud Hurley, Le Duc Minh, Minh Duc Le, Joyce Powzyk, 2006, p.208, succeeding from the Conservation Forest Tam Dao which was formed in 1977. The park is about 85 km northwest of

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. Its exact location is at 21°21’ to 21°42’ North latitude, 105°23’ to 105°44’ East longitude. It spans a large area along the Tam Đảo range and administratively belongs to 6 districts and 1 city: Lập Thạch, Tam Dương,

Bình Xuyên Bình Xuyên Force (, ), often linked to its infamous leader, General Lê Văn Viễn (nicknamed "Bảy Viễn"), was an independent military force within the Vietnamese National Army whose leaders once had lived outside the law and had sided wi ...

and the city of

Vĩnh Yên Vĩnh Yên () is the city capital of Vĩnh Phúc Province, in the Red River Delta region of northern Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with ...

Vĩnh Phúc Province Vĩnh Phúc was a former province in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. Administrative divisions Vĩnh Phúc is subdivided into 8 district-level sub-divisions: * 7 districts: ** Sông Lô ** Bình Xuyên ** Lập Thạch ** Tam Đả ...

; Sơn Dương of

Tuyên Quang Province Tuyên Quang () is a province of Vietnam, located in the northeastern part of the country to the northwest of Hanoi, at the centre of Lô River valley, a tributary of the Red River. Its capital is Tuyên Quang. The province had a population of ...

; Đại Từ and Phổ Yên of

Thái Nguyên Province Cài () is a Chinese-language surname that derives from the name of the ancient Cai state. In 2019 it was the 38th most common surname in China, but the 9th most common in Taiwan (as of 2018), where it is usually romanized as "Tsai" (based on ...

Natural condition

Tam Dao National Park is based in the Tam Đảo range, which is one of the terminal spurs of a larger mountainous area in the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

region of Vietnam. It runs 80 km from north west to south east, and has more than 20 peaks with altitudes of over 1000m. The highest summit is Tam Đảo North with an altitude of 1592 m. Three other peaks in the area include Thien Thi at 1375 m, Thach Ban at 1388 m and Phu Nghia at 1300 m. Sharp peaks with sloping sides and numerous, deep partitions are characteristic of the topology. At an elevation of 930 metres, Tam Đảo town was established by French colonists in 1907 as a tranquil hill resort in northern Vietnam. Several villas designed for the French still remain. It is now an enclave administratively belonging to Vinh Yen city. The boundary of the national park is located at an altitude of 100 m around the Tam Đảo range. There is a larger buffer zone (which has area of approximately 535 km²) which surrounds the national park which has an altitude below 100 m. Seventy per cent of the area of the park is covered by natural and artificial forest. The natural forest is about 220 km² and the human altered forest is about 30 km². Due to the tall mountainous range that splits the area into two parts, the national park's climatic condition is divided into two areas with different rainfalls. This difference and some other factors such as the effect of human activity divide the park into some smaller climatic zones which increase the bio-diversity in the park.

Flora

According to research, Tam Dao park has eight kinds of forest types distributed in different topographic and climatic areas : *The tropical moist evergreen forest covers most of Tam Đảo Range below the altitude of 800 m. Some rare and precious species include ''

Hopea chinensis ''Hopea chinensis'' is a species of medium-sized tree ( tall) in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is found in China (S and SW Guangxi, S and SE Yunnan) and northern Vietnam. ''Hopea chinensis'' is an endangered species threatened by exploitation ...

'' (synonym ''Shorea chinensis''), ''

Michelia ''Michelia'' is a historical genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Magnoliaceae. The genus included about 50 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, native to tropical and subtropical south and southeast Asia (Indomalaya), including sou ...

'', ''

Cinnamomum ''Cinnamomum'' is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of ''Cinnamomum'' have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains approximately 234 species, distributed in ...

'' sp. and ''

Pavieasia anamensis ''Pavieasia anamensis'' is an Asian tree species in the family Sapindaceae. It is found in Vietnam where it may be called ''trường nhãn''; no subspecies are listed in the Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life (CoL) is an online database ...

''. *The subtropical moist evergreen low mountain forest covers the areas over 800 m and includes the species of the families:

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant Family (biology), family that includes the bay laurel, true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genus (biology), genera worldwide. They are dicotyled ...

Fagaceae The Fagaceae (; ) are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with around 1,000 or more species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species ...

Theaceae Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camellias. It can be described as having from seven to 40 genera, depending on the sour ...

Magnoliaceae The Magnoliaceae () are a flowering plant family, the magnolia family, in the order Magnoliales. It consists of two genera: '' Magnolia'' and ''Liriodendron'' (tulip trees). Unlike most angiosperms, whose flower parts are in whorls (rings), ...

, and

Hamamelidaceae Hamamelidaceae, commonly referred to as the witch-hazel family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. The clade consists of shrubs and small trees positioned within the woody clade of the core Saxifragales. An earlier system ...

. In places with altitudes of over 1000 m there are some species of

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

such as '' Dacrycarpus imbricatus'', ''

Fokienia hodginsii ''Fokienia'' is a genus of conifer tree belonging to the cypress family. In its characteristics, ''Fokienia'' is intermediate between the genera of ''Chamaecyparis'' and ''Calocedrus''. Genetically ''Fokienia'' is much closer to ''Chamaecyparis'' ...

'', ''

Podocarpus neriifolius ''Podocarpus'' () is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae. ''Podocarpus'' species are evergreen shrubs or trees, usually from tall, known to reach at times. The cones have two t ...

'', and '' Nageia fleuryi''. Below the canopy there are species of the families

Rubiaceae Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...

(coffee family),

Myrsinaceae Myrsinoideae is a subfamily of the family Primulaceae in the order Ericales. It was formerly recognized as the family Myrsinaceae, or the myrsine family, consisting of 35 genera and about 1000 species. It is widespread in temperate to tropical c ...

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

. *The high mountain short forest is a dwarf variety of two aforementioned forest types including species of these families:

Ericaceae The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...

Illiciaceae Illiciaceae A.C.Sm. was a family of flowering plants recognized in a number of systems of plant taxonomy. The Illiciaceae is not recognized as a distinct family by the APG III system of plant taxonomy, the most well accepted system in use today ...

, and

Aceraceae Aceraceae were recognized as a family of flowering plants also called the maple family. They contain two to four genera, depending upon the circumscription, of some 120 species of trees and shrubs. A common characteristic is that the leaves are ...

. *The bamboo forest only covers 8.84 km² and sparsely appears at altitudes of 500 m to 800 m. *The restored forest was created after the establishment the national park. Before that, this area was exploited to harvest wood by forest management and was cultivated by farmers. Now this area has been replanted with species such as ''

Symplocos ''Symplocos'' is a genus of flowering plants in the order Ericales. It contains about 300 species distributed in Asia and the Americas. Many species grow in humid tropical regions. This is sometimes considered to be the only genus in family Sympl ...

'', ''

Litsea cubeba ''Litsea cubeba'', the aromatic litsea or may chang, is an evergreen tree or shrub 5–12 meters high in the family Lauraceae. It is native to Southern Chinese regions including Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Fujian as well as Taiwan and other ...

'', and a species of ''

Xylopia ''Xylopia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae. The genus primarily consists of trees, with some species also being shrubs. There are about 160 species distributed across Asia, Africa, and the Americas.Moreira, I. C., Lago, J ...

''. *The plantation forest was established in the French colonial period with ''

Pinus massoniana ''Pinus massoniana'' (English: Masson's pine, Chinese red pine, horsetail pine; Chinese: 馬尾松) is a species of pine, native to Taiwan, a wide area of central and southern China, and northern Vietnam. Description It is an evergreen tree ...

'' (Horsetail Pine). *The bush appears in some dry and sun exposed areas including ''

Aporosa ''Aporosa'' is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the family Phyllanthaceae, first described as a genus in 1825. It is native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Papuasia, and Queensland. When the genus was erected by Carl ...

dioica'', ''

Bridelia ''Bridelia'' is a genus of plants in the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1806.Helicteres'', and ''

Phyllanthus emblica ''Phyllanthus emblica'', also known as emblic, emblic myrobalan, myrobalan, nelikai, Indian gooseberry, Malacca tree, amloki or amla, is a deciduous tree of the family Phyllanthaceae. Its native range is tropical and southern Asia. Descript ...

''. *The grassland appears in areas of exploited forest, and includes ''

Saccharum spontaneum ''Saccharum spontaneum'' (wild sugarcane, kans grass) is a grass native throughout much of tropical and subtropical Asia, northern Australia, and eastern and northern Africa. It is a perennial grass, growing up to three meters in height, with s ...

'', '' Thysanolaena maxima'', ''

Chromolaena odorata ''Chromolaena odorata'' is also known as Jack in the Bush. It is a tropical and subtropical species of Flowering plant, flowering shrub in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the Americas, from Florida and Texas in the United States so ...

'' (over 2 m) ''

Imperata cylindrica ''Imperata cylindrica'' (commonly known as cogongrass or kunai grass ) is a species of Perennial plant, perennial rhizomatous grass native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia, Africa, and Southern Europe. It has al ...

'', ''

Paspalum scrobiculatum ''Paspalum scrobiculatum'', commonly called kodo millet or koda millet,A. E. Grant (1898), "Poisonous Koda millet". Letter to ''Nature'', volume 57, page 271.Harry Nelson Vinall(1917), ''Foxtail Millet: Its Culture and Utilization in the United S ...

'', and ''

Setaria viridis ''Setaria viridis'' is a species of grass known by many common names, including green foxtail, green bristlegrass, and wild foxtail millet. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of ''Setaria italica''. It is native to Eurasia, but it is known ...

'' (under 2 m) . Out of over 2000 plant species, 904 species are considered useful to humans. They have been classified into eight groups: There are 42 species endemic to Tam Dao National Park and also 64 other species considered rare including ''

Dendrobium ''Dendrobium'' is a genus of mostly Epiphyte, epiphytic and Lithophyte, lithophytic orchids in the Family (biology), family Orchidaceae. It is a very large genus, containing more than 1,800 species that are found in diverse habitats throughout m ...

daoensis'', ''

Camellia polyodonta ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 describ ...

var. longicaudata'', ''

Camellia petelotii ''Camellia petelotii'' is a species of plant in the family Theaceae. It is found in China (endemic in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China) and Vietnam. It is known as the golden camellia for its distinctive yellow blossoms. Syn ...

'', ''

Asarum ''Asarum'' is a genus of plants in the birthwort family Aristolochiaceae, commonly known as wild ginger. ''Asarum'' is from Greek ἄσαρον, a name for '' Asarum europaeum''. Description ''Asarum'' is a genus of low-growing herbs distri ...

petelotii'', ''

Mosla ''Mosla'' is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae, first described as a genus in 1875. It is native to eastern Asia, the Himalayas, and southeastern Asia. ;Species # '' Mosla bracteata'' Doan ex Suddee & A.J.Paton - Vietnam # '' Mosla caval ...

tamdaoensis'', and ''

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

delavayi''.

Fauna

The national park has diverse animal species, with estimates of vertebrates listed below:tchdkh.org
- not in English, accessed 30 July 2008 Eleven of these species are endemic to Tam Dao National Park including the snake species ''

Amphiesma Amphiesma is a genus of snakes in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. Species in the genus ''Amphiesma'' are found across Asia. Species * ''Amphiesma stolatum'' (Linnaeus, 1758 Events January–March * January 1 ...

angeli'' and ''

Boiga ''Boiga'' is a large genus of rear-fanged, mildly venomous snakes, known commonly as cat-eyed snakes or simply cat snakes, in the family Colubridae. Species of the genus ''Boiga'' are native to southeast Asia, India, and Australia, but due to ...

multitempolaris'', three amphibians including ''

Paramesotriton deloustali The Tam Dao salamander, Vietnamese salamander, or Vietnam warty newt (''Paramesotriton deloustali'') is a species of salamander in the family Salamandridae found only in Vietnam and Yunnan, China. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropica ...

''; five bird species, four reptiles and one species of amphibian are endemic to Vietnam. Guide books report that some of this bio-diversity can be seen in the restaurants which have been known to serve endangered species. Vietnam
Nick Ray, Wendy Yanagihara, Among the many species of insects; at least 22 species are endemic to northern Vietnam, with the

Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – gras ...

n genera '' Tamdaora'' and '' Tamdaotettix'' and various species named after the Park, including: the

planthopper A planthopper is any insect in the infraorder Fulgoromorpha, in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, a group exceeding 12,500 described species worldwide. The name comes from their remarkable resemblance to leaves and other plants of their environment ...

'' Maculergithus tamdao'', the

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

Caryanda Caryanda or Karyanda () was a city on the coast of ancient Caria in southwestern Anatolia. Stephanus of Byzantium describes it as a city and harbour (λίμην) near Myndus and Cos. But λιμήν, in the text of Stephanus, is an emendation o ...

tamdaoensis'', the

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

'' Metriogryllacris tamdao'' and the moth '' Fansipaniana tamdaoensis''.

Tourism

There are two sites for tourists in the park. The first is Tam Đảo town which was established in 1907. Tam Đảo is nestled in a valley covering only 3 km². There now remain a stone church, some villas and palaces built by French colonists. It has Thac Bac (The Silver Fall), Rung Rinh peak and Tam Đảo 2, a remnant of another resort built many years ago. The second tourist location is Tay Thien site. It includes Tay Thien Quoc Mau Temple (literally The "Temple of West Heaven National Mother") and many pagodas. Along with Thien Vien Truc Lam (literally: "Dhyana Palace in Bamboo Forest") in

Da Lat Da Lat, or Dalat (; ), is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province and the largest city of the Central Highlands (Vietnam), Central Highlands region in Vietnam. The city is located above sea level on the Langbiang Plateau. Da Lat is one of the mos ...

and Yen Tu, Thien Vien Truc Lam Tay Thien is a center of Vietnamese Buddhism.

Climate

References

Vietnam National Parks & Reserves
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tam Dao National Park National parks of Vietnam Geography of Vĩnh Phúc province Geography of Thái Nguyên province Geography of Tuyên Quang province Tourist attractions in Vĩnh Phúc province Tourist attractions in Thái Nguyên province Tourist attractions in Tuyên Quang province Protected areas established in 1996