Wild sunflowers bloom brightly in the highlands.

Wild sunflowers - little suns illuminating the highlands.

Wild sunflowers, also known as chrysanthemum sunflowers, mountain sunflowers, or simply wild sunflowers, belong to the Asteraceae family and originate from Mexico. Traveling halfway around the world, the first seeds of wild sunflowers found new lands, choosing sun-drenched hillsides and mountains to thrive and flourish. Wild sunflowers can be found in many places throughout Vietnam, but perhaps nowhere are they as vibrant and full of life as in the Central Highlands, with its fertile reddish-brown basalt soil. A flower of the sun, wild sunflowers live amidst the vast forests, unplanted and uncultivated, yet every September and October they powerfully and vigorously stretch upwards, as if making a promise to the plateau: signaling the start of the dry season!

In the Central Highlands during the wild sunflower season, from verandas and small paths to mountain passes and even hillsides, everything is covered in an endless, mesmerizing yellow hue. The wild sunflowers bloom like tiny suns, seemingly gathering all the sunlight to display their beauty at once, bursting forth brilliantly and warming the mountain towns throughout the dry, cold season.

Flowers accompany people to the market to start a new day. Flowers follow people to the fields to plant corn and pick tea. Flowers accompany children to school. Flowers sway in the baskets of mountain girls. Flowers are woven into wreaths for lovers to give to each other. Flowers dance with the villagers around the campfire... In this expansive highland region, wild sunflowers are a part of life, deeply intertwined with the soul of every child of this red soil land.

This season, from the western districts of Quang Nam to the Central Highlands, from Binh Phuoc to Dak Nong, from Lam Dong across mountain passes to Gia Lai, up to Kon Tum, and to Bien Ho Lake... you can find carpets of vibrant yellow wild sunflowers in bloom.

The season of wild sunflowers in dreamy Da Lat.

The wild sunflower season in the Central Highlands is also the season when tourists flock to Da Lat city to immerse themselves in a dreamy landscape, captivated by the honey-yellow blossoms. Da Lat has many beautiful spots to admire the flowers, such as the highway from Lien Khuong to Da Lat, or the Dran Pass. From here, visitors can admire the mountain slopes covered in a seemingly endless expanse of yellow. Alternatively, visitors can stroll through Van Thanh flower village, visit the Golden Valley, Lang Biang mountain... ideal locations for viewing and photographing the flowers.

Or, more simply, you can just buy a train ticket from Da Lat to Trai Mat, then let your mind wander as the train wheels turn, while admiring the vibrant fields of wild sunflowers on both sides of the road through the window...

Bao Loc is bathed in the golden hues of wild sunflowers.

Located on the route from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat, Bao Loc is a wonderful destination for photographing the wild sunflower season in the Central Highlands. Its dreamy, pristine, and tranquil beauty offers visitors a sense of peace and relaxation.

Here, you'll find vibrant strips of wild sunflowers along red dirt roads winding through rolling hills of tea and coffee plantations shrouded in morning mist, and hedges of wild sunflowers encircling charming, simple houses... But the most beautiful route for viewing wild sunflowers in Bao Loc is the road to Dambri Waterfall, on National Highway 20 towards Da Lat, where the bright yellow blossoms are as warm and vibrant as the highland sunshine.

Don Duong is covered in endless fields of yellow flowers.

As the gateway to the Lam Vien plateau, Don Duong boasts a year-round pleasant and cool climate and impressive natural scenery. Here, in addition to vibrant fields of wild sunflowers, you can admire lush green vegetable and fruit fields, winding mountain passes, towering distant mountains, and herds of buffaloes leisurely grazing on grassy hills...

With just a motorbike, you can follow quiet roads to explore and discover the golden hues of the Central Highlands' wild sunflowers at the foot of Dran Pass, on the way to Chau Son pine hill, and in Tu Tra commune... In addition, Don Duong also has many interesting places to visit such as Da Lat Milk Company, O'star Farm, the dreamy and expansive Da Nhim Lake, the solemn Giac Nguyen ancestral temple on a pine hill, and Ka Don Church with its pointed roofs soaring in the afternoon sun...

Climb Chu Dang Ya mountain to find the cave of golden flowers.

If you've ever traveled along the spectacular mountain passes in Gia Lai during the dry season, you'll surely be impressed by the carpets of wild sunflowers that seem to cover the entire landscape. Located about 20 km northeast of Gia Lai city center, Chu Dang Ya is an extinct volcano crater, nestled amidst the majestic mountains. The remnants of lava have left behind a fertile basalt area, where locals have built prosperous farms.

As the most beautiful spot for viewing wild sunflowers in the Central Highlands, a trip to Chu Dang Ya allows you to trek to the summit, overcoming challenging slopes, and admire the volcanic crater while taking in the entire peaceful Gia Lai landscape, with its stunning interwoven patches of green and yellow.

Wild sunflowers in Pleiku, full of Lake Biển Hồ

The scenery of Pleiku Lake during the wild sunflower season captivates visitors, especially when the air is hazy with autumn air, the lake's surface is clear and calm like a mirror, reflecting the mountains and trees. Amidst the vast green of the pine forests surrounding the lake are vibrant carpets of wild sunflowers, their reflections shimmering on the water's surface.

A source of pride for Gia Lai tourism, Lake T'nưng, also known as Biển Hồ, is a place where you can sit in a dugout canoe and follow the locals on a tour to capture rare moments of peace and tranquility. At any time of day, Lake T'nưng has its own unique and beautiful charm, but if you have time, you should linger to watch the sunset, as the sun sets behind the mountains, casting a magnificent twilight glow.

Huong Thao