Moutain Biking in Khao Ito

If you ask expats and Thai biking fans what their favourite single track is within driving distance of Bangkok, Khao Ito is likely going to be the answer. Khao Ito is located around 2 hours North East of the capitol, on the edge of the Khao Yai national park and consists of a small wooded hill with a number of single and double track trails as well as a paved road leading to the top of the hill. There are also 2 resevoirs at the base of the hill, one of which is home to the Khao Ito bike club and a great restaurant serving Thai food and refreshing drinks.

There are a number of mountain biking trails in Khao Ito, some of which marked with arrows and signs from various bike clubs. A popular trail is in the area of 11km in length runs clockwise from the restaurant. From the start you follow a trail around the reservoir and along a section of road before signs point in the direction of the woods, a relatively flat single track then follows the ridge of the hill, passing some nice viewpoints on the way before the incline starts increasing as you ride up the hill. Eventually you will come out onto the road, whereby you have the option of a grueling ride up the hill to the summit, or you can cross the road and continue off road via another trail to the summit. There are 2 main trails down from the summit, the Bangkok Hash have named the one route the chicken trail as it is not as steep, nor technical as the other run, that said there are some great sections of downhill down to the parking area. The 2nd downhill starts with a 3ft drop off and some technical rock beds and rooted trail sections. Various jumps have been made to make this downhill more challenging but any rider with moderate confidence can complete both downhills with ease.

Another option is to take the chicken run up from bottom to top, this is more or less up hill all the way and can be quite tiring but it gets the hard work out the way and you can approach the more technical downhill from the summit and continue the route down. A few trails have also been made next to the restaurant area, all of which are worth checking out.

Mountain biking in Khao Ito is generally considered the best MTB within a few hours of Bangkok, mainly because of the length of the downhills but also because the trails are well defined and marked out. Khao Ito is also near Khao Yai National Park for anyone wanting a side trip and there are various resorts in the vicinity for people staying overnight. The town of Prachinburi is also 10km away from Khao Ito which has some basic hotel accommodation. Visit our mountain biking day trips page for details on various other trails in the region.

Directions

Depending on what part of Bangkok you are based, take the Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok highway (305) into Nakhon Nayok town, and then turn off onto the Suwanna Sorn road (33) for several km until you reach a very small roundabout in the village below Khao Ito. Take the 2nd exit and after 2-3km a sign for Khao Ito will be on the left of the road. A narrow road will take you to the resevoir where the trail begins. Please see the GPS coordinates and location map on the left of the website page for further details.