Ben En National Park is located in Nhu Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province and 36 km away from Thanh Hoa city to the Southwest. It covers a total area of 16.634 ha, of which 8.544 ha is primitive forest with a complex of mountains, rivers, streams, lakes with many names and legends about destinations.
Ben En National Park is the home to many rare species of plants and animals. According to statistics of scientists, the park has 177 families, 216 genera and 1.000 species of animals including 91 species of mammals, 201 species of birds, 54 species of reptiles, 31 species of amphibians, 68 species fish, 499 species of insects. There are many animals listed in in the Red Book such as elephant, gayals, Asian golden cats, bear macaque, nomascus leucogenys… Coming to Ben En, visitors will live in fairy world with vaporous rivers, poetic scene of Muc River lake. Constituted by 4 streams and Muc river, the lake is always green and calm all the year and associated with thrilling legends.
It is said that very long time ago, when the earth was chaotic, son of Long Vuong (Dragon King), a giant squid was stranded on this place because of being immersed in visiting the beautiful places on earth. The death of the squid formed Ben En lake, its feelers created the streams. Therefore, the lake is called Song Muc (Squid River). The lake has area of 4.000 ha, tens of meters deep, with 21 large and small islands creating fascinating scenery. In Ben En, visitors can immerge in nature and admire a tourism complex of mountains, rivers, rivers, lakes, and caves. For this reason, many tourists always wish to spend more time to explore mysterious beauty of “Ha Long on mountain”.
Taking a boat tour around the lake to contemplate all the natural beauties of Ben En National Park with lovely names such as: Mother island, Love island, Future island…. Tourists could select one of eight high-speed boat tour to visit the islands, of which the shortest route is 1.5 km, the longest is 8.5 km. Tourists could explore flora and fauna on the islands or admire the caves with strange forms constituted by the Creator. One of not to be ignored destination in Ben En is Suoi Tien cave, an interesting diverse tourism complex storing plenty of historical-cultural valuables. It easily impresses tourists with pristine beauty. It is said that the fairies often came here to have fun and bathe. In Hai Van rocky mountain range, depart from beautiful Ngoc cave cluster, there is also Lo Cao cave historical relic associated with Professor Tran Dai Nghia in resistance war against French colonist. Under his leadership, the cast iron weapons were produced, contributing to Dien Bien Phu vitocry .
This place is perfect for outdoor activities such as camping, picnic, fishing…. In addition, visitors could enjoy local specialties. Ben En is the land of traditions and customs, festival of Tho, Muong, Thai ethnic minorities. It is also associated with the temples like Phu Sung, Khe Rong, Phu na…. Nature and people in Ben En in particular and Nhu Thanh in general are a unique ecosystem that hardly could be sought in anywhere else.