A beautiful trekking route like a fairy tale, only 4 hours drive from Hanoi

Sa Mu Peak is located about 100km from Son La city, on the border between Son La and Yen Bai provinces, in Ta Xua special-use forest - an extension of Hoang Lien range to the South. This is a new mountain peak in Ta Xua, topped in December 2022. Because tourism has not been exploited much, the natural landscape here is still quite pristine.

For over a year now, Sa Mu has been one of the most attractive mountain peaks for trekkers in the Northwest, thanks to its unique beauty and diversity of forest ecosystems, especially the magical moss forest.

Tourists often join 2-day 1-night tours to conquer Sa Mu mountain peak. If you start from Hanoi , you will travel more than 200km to Ta Xua commune (Bac Yen district, Son La province), equivalent to 4-5 hours of travel by car, then go to the starting point of climbing about 20km away. According to tour guides, tourists should go by car to Ta Xua area from the previous night to rest and start climbing early the next morning.

The trekking route to Sa Mu peak will go through a primeval forest with typical tropical rainforest features, with diverse flora such as moss, rhododendron, maple leaves, bamboo forests and many streams and waterfalls. The vegetation in the forest changes according to the altitude and direction of the mountain slope.

At each time of the year, the trekking route to Sa Mu peak has a different beauty, surprising visitors.

From September to November, maple leaves change to yellow and red, creating a poetic scene. Every March and April is the season of rhododendron flowers blooming brilliantly. In the forest, there are many large, strangely shaped ancient trees covered with moss all year round and bamboo forests green all year round. Visitors can combine trekking and cloud hunting on the top of Sa Mu.

From December to February of the following year is the easiest time to hunt clouds on the peak. On clear days, standing on the top of Sa Mu, you can also see two famous peaks of Yen Bai province, Ta Xua and Ta Chi Nhu.

The Sa Mu climbing route has a total length of 15-20 km, depending on the direction of descent. The path from the foot of the mountain to the resting area is not too steep. Visitors will weave through small streams and old forests with ancient trees of various leaning shapes. The higher they go, the climate and vegetation change, moss covers the paths and covers a thick layer from the base to the top of large trees with strange shapes. This image makes many visitors think of forests in fairy tales.

Sa Mu Peak is one of the four peaks in the Northwest where trekking tourists can watch the sunset the day before and watch the sunrise the next day because the resting hut is located near the peak.

Sa Mu is also one of the 5 high peaks in the Northwest (including Ta Chi Nhu, Lao Than, Ngu Chi Son and Lung Cung) with a 360-degree view because the top is open and there are no trees blocking it. From the top of Sa Mu, you can see other famous peaks such as Ta Xua and Ta Chi Nhu.

TH (according to Vietnamnet)

Source