What to Expect: A Family Guide to Camping at Erawan National Park

Erawan National Park, renowned for its 7-tiered waterfall, should be on everyone’s must visit list.   However, the crowds from day tours can make the experience less enjoyable.  Camping at Erawan National Park gives you the benefit of a fuller experience, more exploration of the park, and an early morning start to the hike without the crowds.

Erawan National Park waterfall
One set of waterfalls at Erawan National Park

Camping at Erawan National Park How To

1. Choose your transportation option to Erawan  

    • You can drive in, which gives you more control of your timing and ability to bring more camping supplies with you.
    • You can take the public bus from Kanchanaburi bus station.  Check at the bus station for the exact times, but when we did it, it left on the hour.  It was a very drawn-out bus ride because of all the stops along the rural road, but in the end we made it to the parking lot of the national park.

    2. Pay Entrance Fee

    Pay for your entrance fee into the national park and then proceed to the Camping building.  Tell them you want to camp and whether you have a tent or not, and they will walk you through what items you may want to rent and where you can pitch your tent. 

    You will be able to rent sleeping bags, sleeping mats, pillows, and clay cooking stoves if you would like any of those items. They should have tents already set up in the campgrounds that you can pick from if you didn’t bring your own.  We recommend camping by the river.

    Camping site at Erawan National Park
    Camping at Erawan National Park

      3. Food

      Once you are settled, you need to think about food if you haven’t already.  There is food available in stalls lining the side of the parking lot at the front of the national park.  They are open through the day with some open for dinner and a few open for breakfast in the morning.  If you want food for camping, you need to bring it in with you or else just plan on eating at these stalls.

        You now have a campsite and food, you can relax!  Enjoy sleeping out in the open air of the park!   

          Once morning arrives, you have plenty of time to start heading up the waterfall trail before any of the day trippers arrive!  Congratulations on a head start!  Enjoy the quiet hike.

          Refreshing dip in the water of Erawan Falls
          Refreshing dip in the cool water during the hike

            3 Tips for Hiking Up Erawan Waterfalls

            1 You cannot bring any food or drink up the hike except water.  So, have the kids snack before starting off on the hike and be prepared with a snack when returning to the campground after the hike.

            2. Stop at each tier for a dip AND potential fish nibbling on your toes!  Such a fun experience that we enjoyed trying out with the kids.  Each level has a different feel to it, so I highly recommend stopping and taking it all in instead of pushing too quickly.

            Fish exfoliation of feet at Erawan National Park waterfalls.
            Free fish exfoliation spa in the river.

            3. The last two tiers are much steeper to climb up.  Our three-year-old was not ready for that kind of hike, so we split up and the older kids went on.

            Conclusion

            We have stayed both one night and two nights camping at Erawan National Park.  One night gives you the benefit of beating the crowds first thing in the morning.  Two nights camping at Erawan National Park will give you the extra benefit of more exploration time around the whole national park and specifically enjoying the campground areas.

            If you are looking at Erawan National Park as part of a longer trip around west central Thailand, we recommend continuing north on highway 323 to Sai Yok National Park for more nature and Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre for more history. 

            For more information, read our posts about national parks in Thailand and tips for how to camp in them.