Vietnam has never been a country that makes sense all the time. Sometimes you just have to scratch your head and say "Huh......ok," and roll with it. The canyon of the Song Vang (or Yellow River) is a perfect example. While there exists some form of paved road almost all the way through the entire canyon, it is not one unbroken link all the way through but instead two different roads that come within less than 100 meters of each other, but don't connect. It is possible to transfer from the upper road to the lower road by way of a terrifying and dangerous drop down what is essentially a landslide, but for 98% of visitors to this area, that's not going to be a reasonable option. So, the canyon must be broken down into two different sections for visiting: the Upper Gorge and the Lower Gorge. This is about the lower section of the canyon, from the second retention dam down to the confluence with the Song Kon, near the town of Dai Lanh, in Dai Loc District, Quang Nam.
The road that accesses the Lower Gorge can be found in the aforementioned Dai Loc District of Quang Nam. To get here you can take either the AH-17 from Da Nang, or PH 609 from Hoi An to the town of Ha Nha. Here, continue on the 609 for 6-7 km to the town of Dai Lanh. Cross the river, turn right, and follow the road until it reaches the An Diem Prison Complex and the mouth of the lower Song Kon River Canyon. The road to the Lower Song Vang takes off 2 or 3 kilometers beyond the An Diem Prisons. Once at the bottom of the canyon, there is a turn to go left up the canyon, or right to the lower power plant. Go left.
The road quickly climbs up the side of the hill, through a couple of washouts and around some corners, until it arrives at the intake for the penstocks of the lower power plant. This power plant is pretty straightforward: they've created a diversion in the Song Vang (as we'll see further up), and then directed the river water into an aqueduct which conveys it along the canyon wall at a level elevation as the river drops below it. Eventually this aqueduct ends at a small building on the canyon wall, where it gathers and then free-falls down the aforementioned penstocks [big tubes on the side of the hill] and spins the turbines of the power plant below. Then it gets released back into the riverbed. Being on top of the penstock is a little spooky; you can hear the water falling away, and there is an eerie sort of gravity when you stand on top of it.
From here on out the road stays along a gentle elevation all the way to the diversion dam, a few kilometers upstream. The de-watered section between the dam and the power plant is for the most part unremarkable; lots of small to mid-sized boulders in a dry riverbed. However, just above the power plant, the riverbed loses a good amount of gradient, resulting in some large ledges in the bedrock of the riverbed. At high water these drops must be pretty incredible to see.
The greenery surrounding the river is spectacular; classic tropical mountain dipterocarp old growth jungle, full of a riot of trees, ferns, and palms, with lots of rich animal sounds coming from across the canyon. The road side has been hit a little bit for logging, but not that much thankfully. It likely hasn't been exploited yet because it's just to steep to access. |
Along the way up, the road makes a big jog down into a side canyon. Here, two small outposts of civilization appear in the form of a couple of cabins belonging to local herders. These structures, built on stilts over the ground, look like seasonal or temporary shelters to watch over the herds of goats that hang out on the flats of the side canyon. There was no one around when we passed through, although the goats were quite fun to watch. The road goes around a couple more corners and then enters a tiny park-like opening within the greater canyon itself. Here, the mountains fall back a little bit. Framed in the middle of this is an impressive drop in the bedrock of the riverbed as it is hemmed in closely by two ridges of mountain dropping down. The riverbed itself loses probably close to 20 meters of elevation, and while we only saw it at low water, I can only imagine what a thundering cataract this must look like during flood times or typhoon runoff.
The mini gorge through the pinch of the canyon is quite impressive. It starts off will some junky and smaller drops that feed a pool, out of which drops the biggest falls, which is a double drop probably close to 20 m in height. A bottom less pool is then emptied by a nasty-looking drop whose whole is backed up by a large boulder. Two more much cleaner looking drops and the mini-gorge is finished. However, committing to the gorge means committing to the whole canyon below- there are no exits to the road after this section.
Directly above the gorge is an interesting and extremely hard chunk of rock through which the river has carved a couple of narrow trenches, and perched at the head of that section is the lowest diversion dam. The entire diversion structure is actually comprised of one large dam, and several small dams, that all work to provide consistent water to the aqueduct.
This lowest dam is interesting in that it has a pressure relief spray that comes squirting up out of the concrete every few seconds. Most of the time they are small and short, but every once in a while you'll get a good one that sprays 8 or 9 meters up. It's fun to admire, but don't stand to close to the hole. It looks safe, but who knows what shape the concrete is around in, considering it is always wet. It could theoretically give way any time. |
Just above this is where Blackpool Creek comes down out of the Mountains of the Mist. This interesting side stream stream has water that is black, as it is rich in tannin and other organic matter. It's perfectly safe to swim in; it's just very dark water so it looks a little creepy. Above this the road quickly ends and you find yourself with no more canyon to explore. You can see the Upper Song Vang Gorge Road, far above, but unless you want to drive up a terrifying road of loose dirt and rocks then you are probably going to turn around and call it good on exploring this lower section of gorge.
Is this canyon worth the time it takes to get down here? For short term visitors looking for an awesome adventure at the end of the road? Probably not. There is not great amazing thing to see or do here except for the canyon, or perhaps Blackpool Creek. The river is too silty to enjoy swimming in, and while the views of the canyon are nice, there isn't one signature peak or canyon feature. However, it does make a great couple-hour adventure to get out here, and I will guarantee you will get some quiet and solitude while you are here. Apart from a random local getting lumber or dinner out of the forest, you certainly wont see many people, if at all. So if that is what you are looking for, then consider this for a nice day adventure. Enjoy, and as always thanks for reading!
Is this canyon worth the time it takes to get down here? For short term visitors looking for an awesome adventure at the end of the road? Probably not. There is not great amazing thing to see or do here except for the canyon, or perhaps Blackpool Creek. The river is too silty to enjoy swimming in, and while the views of the canyon are nice, there isn't one signature peak or canyon feature. However, it does make a great couple-hour adventure to get out here, and I will guarantee you will get some quiet and solitude while you are here. Apart from a random local getting lumber or dinner out of the forest, you certainly wont see many people, if at all. So if that is what you are looking for, then consider this for a nice day adventure. Enjoy, and as always thanks for reading!
The Map
All photos copyright Kit Davidson unless otherwise noted.
All maps created with and copyright Google MyMaps.
All maps created with and copyright Google MyMaps.