The wild sunflower season has begun at Ba Vi National Park. In 2026, it runs from October 17 to December 6, with peak bloom expected from November 1 to 23. The park has published safety guidance, including traffic rules.
After buying a ticket, visitors travel from the ticket checkpoint to a pine forest at an elevation of about 400 metres. About 200 metres beyond it, they leave their vehicles and walk about 300 metres to a wild sunflower forest covering roughly 10 hectares. A walking route of more than 3 kilometres is available.
The park asks visitors to follow its rules, protect the environment and historical sites, obey forest rangers, and avoid pushing or cutting in line. Tickets are refused to people without helmets or driving licences, vehicles without number plates or rear-view mirrors, and people who speed, weave through traffic, perform wheelies or drive after drinking alcohol. The rule also covers infectious-disease prevention requirements.
Visitors may not pick flowers, break branches or hunt birds and animals. They must put rubbish in designated places. Vehicles still use the park roads, so visitors should take care on steep mountain sections and when stopping to photograph the flowers. The park recommends visiting on weekdays to avoid weekend crowds and possible traffic jams.
From Hanoi, visitors can take Thang Long Boulevard or National Highway 32, then Provincial Road 414 (Son Tay, Da Chong), where a sign at Km8 + 800m marks the turn to the park. From Phu Tho province, they can cross Vinh Thinh, Trung Ha, Van Lang or Dong Quang bridges and continue along Road 414 to the same sign.
Before leaving, the park recommends checking the vehicle and refuelling before the climb. Drivers must not switch off the engine, shift into neutral or let the vehicle roll freely downhill. Visitors may not bring plants, sticks, knives or homemade swords, or drink alcohol while operating a vehicle. Low-heeled sports shoes are recommended.
Entry fees are 60,000 dong for adults, 20,000 dong for students and 10,000 dong for school pupils per visit. A discounted ticket costs 30,000 dong and applies, among others, to people over 60 and people with disabilities. Car parking is charged by the hour; the electronic card system automatically deducts 60 minutes for vehicles travelling on the road.
The French brought wild sunflowers to Ba Vi in the 1930s. The plant has survived in the wild there since then, attracting visitors in late autumn and early winter. Visitors can see the flowers and walk among the forests of Ba Vi's Tan Vien Mountain, an area associated with the legend of Tan Vien Son Thanh and Princess Ngoc Hoa in Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh.
Sources: Dân Trí
