Nature and Outdoor Activities in Cambodia in 2026: The Best Ways to Explore

Cambodia's outdoor landscape extends beyond Angkor into terrain that is less visited but equally rewarding. The Cardamom Mountains in the southwest — one of Southeast Asia's largest intact forest tracts — carry sun bear, pileated gibbon, and Siamese crocodile in a community-managed ecotourism network of river treks and waterfall hikes centred on Chi Phat. The Kep National Park carries a short but dense forest trail system above the coastal town with macaques and hornbill on accessible hill paths. The Mekong Discovery Trail in Stung Treng province is a cycling and kayak route through river island communities and dolphin habitat — the small remaining population of Irrawaddy dolphin can be spotted from boat in the Kampi pool area near Kratie. The Bokor Hill Station plateau above Kampot carries abandoned French colonial architecture in fog-forest above a cliffside viewpoint over the Gulf of Thailand. The best part is often the hidden gems you were not even looking for. Take it all in.