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The Dong Van Karst Plateau has been a UNESCO Global Geopark since 3 October 2010.
It is a member of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network and of the Asia Pacific Geoparks Network, officially since that date. The geopark lies in the far north of Vietnam, in Ha Giang province, and shares a border with China to the north. Geopark status protects the landscape and the heritage around it as one area.
Source: Wikipedia, Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark. Checked October 2026.
The road over Ma Pi Leng Pass was built from 1959 to 1965 to connect Ha Giang city with the plateau. The pass crest stands at about 1,500 m (4,900 ft).
The road is part of the Happiness Road, a name Ho Chi Minh used for the route in 1961. The route is about 184 to 185 km long, running from Ha Giang city through Quan Ba and Yen Minh to Dong Van and Meo Vac. Before it, travel across the plateau relied largely on footpaths and packhorse tracks.
Source: Wikipedia, Ma Pi Leng Pass. Checked October 2026.
Volunteers and civilian laborers from 16 ethnic groups took part in building the Ma Pi Leng road, and the hardest stretch was the 21 km (13 miles) between Dong Van and Meo Vac.
The project began in 1959 and combined youth volunteer brigades with civilian labour from minority communities along the route, including the Hmong, Tay, Dao, Nung, Pu Peo and Lo Lo. Reports put the workforce at more than 1,300 youth volunteers and more than 1,000 civilian laborers. Cutting the cliffside above the Nho Que River gorge took nearly two years.
Source: Wikipedia, Ma Pi Leng Pass. Checked October 2026.
A palace for the local Hmong lords was built between 1902 and 1903 at Sa Phin.
Vuong Chinh Duc was recognised as king of the Hmong in 1900, and the French supported the lords in their hold on the border territory. The palace stands at Sa Phin, 16 km west of Dong Van town, with large double-storied houses in Chinese style and a twin white towered main building. The lord was given the rank of general in the French army.
Source: Wikipedia, Ha Giang province. Checked October 2026.
The Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark covers 2,356.8 square km (910 square miles), at an average height of 1,400 to 1,600 m (4,600 to 5,200 ft) above sea level.
The geopark takes up much of the area of four of Ha Giang's districts: Meo Vac, Dong Van, Yen Minh and Quan Ba. It borders China to the north. About 80% of the area is covered by limestone, which explains the rock landscape you see across the plateau.
Source: Wikipedia, Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark. Checked October 2026.
Ha Giang shared a 270 km (168 miles) border with China's Yunnan province.
The border is with Yunnan province in southern China, and the province contains Vietnam's northernmost point, which is why it was known as the final frontier. The Nho Que River begins in Yunnan and flows through Dong Van and Meo Vac before joining the Gam River, passing beneath Ma Pi Leng Pass on the way.
Source: Wikipedia, Ha Giang province. Checked October 2026.
On 12 June 2025 Ha Giang province was merged into Tuyen Quang province.
Ha Giang and Tuyen Quang provinces were merged to form a new Tuyen Quang province, and the old Ha Giang province was restructured into 2 wards. The change shows up in province names, while the loop and the plateau are the same places as before.
As of 2025. Source: Wikipedia, Ha Giang province. Checked October 2026.
Rocks and fossils in the geopark date from the Cambrian period, about 550 million years ago.
The geology records events in Earth history, including two mass extinction boundaries: the Frasnian-Famennian about 360 million years ago and the Permian-Triassic about 250 million years ago. Its fossils show 19 groups of ancient organisms, among them ancient fish and brachiopods.
Source: Wikipedia, Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark. Checked October 2026.
17 ethnic minority groups live inside the geopark.
Among them are the Hmong, Dao, La Chi, Pu Peo, Lo Lo, Tay and Nung. The source calls their cultural heritage great, varied and valuable. The geopark is described as covering geology from the Cambrian to the present, so a visit combines landscape and living culture in the same place.
Source: Wikipedia, Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark. Checked October 2026.
Climate, airports and UNESCO status for Ha Giang Loop are on its destination page. More places are on the fun facts index.