Khe Sanh – The Red Leaf Season by Rao Quan Lake

I came to Khe Sanh this time to meet a forest quietly stepping into its most beautiful moment: the red leaf season. As a botanist, the name Liquidambar formosana had long been familiar to me in books. But it was not until I stood before the sweetgum forest beside Rao Quan Lake that I understood why travelers call it “a piece of Europe in Central Vietnam.”

How to reach the sweetgum forest
The forest lies in western Quang Tri, within Huong Hoa District, stretching along the western branch of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and embracing the deep blue surface of Rao Quan Lake. From Dong Ha, follow Highway 9 to Khe Sanh, then continue along Highway 14/Ho Chi Minh Road (West) for another 10–15 km. The sweetgum groves appear along the slopes and lakeside.

The route is easy to access but not yet a standard tourist trail. There are no big services, no gates, just open patches to stop, pitch a tent, and small footpaths made by earlier visitors — giving the journey a strong sense of quiet discovery. I arrived from the northern side of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, where the road curves along the lake on one side and the changing forest on the other.

The sweetgum forest view by Huy Võ

 When a “tropical” tree behaves like a temperate one
The forest was not fully red yet when I arrived, but the shift of the season was clear. Trees near the water had already turned yellow and orange, while those on higher slopes still kept some green.

I found myself instinctively examining their crowns, trunks, and bark. Here, the trees are tall, straight, with pale gray bark. The color transition is uneven — some leaves only tinged yellow, some deep red with veins standing out — a living lesson in plant physiology unfolding above me.

On the boat to the forest Huy Võ

The tree behind this spectacle is not the Japanese maple people often imagine, but the Formosan Sweetgum (Liquidambar formosana), a deciduous species native to northern and central Vietnam. Unlike most tropical evergreen species, the sweetgum sheds its leaves. As the dry, cold season arrives, chlorophyll recedes, revealing layers of yellow, orange, and red pigments.

At elevations above 500m around Khe Sanh – Huong Phung, with cool, humid air and strong day–night temperature differences, the colors intensify with altitude. Some slopes resemble the temperate forests of Europe.

The best time to witness the red leaf season is late October to January, with its peak around late November to mid‑January.

Red leaf season by  Huy Võ

More than a “check‑in spot”

Seen through photos, people often think the sweetgum forest is just another “looks-like-Korea-or-Japan” destination. But standing in the middle of it, the feeling is very different. This is still the Truong Son Range: rugged climate, long history, slow mountain life.

This forest is preserved not for its timber, but for its landscape and emotional value. My hope is that it will be regarded as an ecosystem to be cherished, not merely a backdrop for seasonal photos.

Khe Sanh – the red leaf season: where a quiet tree tells the story of climate, land, and how people choose to live with their forest.

Phong Việt