Hon Ba Nature Reserve

Hon Ba Nature Reserve is a protected forest area spanning about 19,000 hectares in the Hon Ba mountain range in Cam Lam District, Khanh Hoa Province, southern central Vietnam, about 30 km west of Nha Trang. Centered on 1,578-meter Hon Ba Peak, it preserves primary evergreen and montane forests with high biodiversity, including many endemic plants and animals. It is notable for the historic wooden house of scientist Alexandre Yersin and its cool mountain climate.

Visitors can expect a remote mountainous forest landscape with dense primary evergreen forest, cool misty climate at higher elevations, and a winding 25 km mountain road from Suoi Cat to Hon Ba Peak at 1,578m. The main accessible point is the restored wooden house of Alexandre Yersin near the summit, surrounded by forest trails, viewpoints, and ranger stations. Exploration is on foot along forest trails with opportunities to observe diverse flora, fauna and birds in a quiet, natural setting.

The reserve is closely associated with Swiss-French bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin (1863-1943), who discovered the plague bacillus and lived and worked in Nha Trang. In 1915 he built a wooden house at 1,578m on Hon Ba as a mountain research station for cultivating cinchona and other medicinal plants. The house has been restored as a historic site. The forest was designated as Hon Ba Nature Reserve in 2005 to protect its watershed and biodiversity.

The reserve preserves the legacy of Alexandre Yersin, a significant figure in Khanh Hoa's modern history, and represents an important center for biodiversity conservation and scientific research in south-central Vietnam, valued for its primary forests and endemic species.