Black Rock Viewpoint in Phuket: How Hard Is the Hike?

We'd call it a short scramble rather than a hike: an earth path through the forest, a few steep pitches, then the rock itself. You can't really get lost (the path is obvious once you're on it) and the climb is over before your legs complain.

The heat is what gets people. Shade is thin, and around noon the forest goes still and sticky. Our advice: sunrise or sunset. After rain the earth gets slick, so leave the flip-flops in the bag and wear trainers.

Looking for a longer outing? From Nai Harn beach there's a walking route of about 6 km, for people who like the hike as much as the view.

South-west Phuket, on the headland between Kata Noi and Nai Harn. Officially that's the Karon subdistrict. The Thai name is Pa Hin Dam, black rock. Granite, as it happens, not lava.

Most visitors start at Karon Viewpoint (the paved lookout over three bays), roughly 1.5 km away as the crow flies, and most of them never go further. Tour buses can't use the track, walking all the way in is a slog, and so Black Rock stays quiet even on busy days.

Coming from Kata on a scooter? Head south on the coast road towards Nai Harn and go past Karon Viewpoint. A couple of hundred metres later a dirt track drops off to the right. Stay on it for about a kilometre until it forks (the other branch goes down to Nui beach), keep left, and after another 500 m or so there's a dark stone with PA HIN DUM painted on it. Park there. The path starts at the stone.

Driving a normal car? Don't take it down the track. Leave it in the Karon Viewpoint car park, which is big and free, and walk the track instead.

For planning: by road, Karon Viewpoint is about 3.6 km from Kata, 5.5 km from Nai Harn and 15.5 km from Patong. The airport? About 45 km.

Early or late, never at noon. Sunset is the popular slot, but it comes with a catch: by the time you start down, the forest is dark, so pack a torch.

Nothing is sold on the way up, so bring water. And repellent. Mosquitoes in that forest get busy towards evening, and they don't care about the view.

Nai Harn bay right below you, Promthep Cape to the south, and the islands further out. It is a different picture from Karon Viewpoint, which looks north over Kata Noi, Kata and Karon, so the two pair well on one trip: start at the paved lookout, then walk or ride the track to the stone.

Nui beach sits at the end of the same dirt track, at the other branch of the fork, if you fancy a swim after the climb. Sunrise people get the bay in soft light; sunset people get the sky over the sea behind the cape, and a darker walk down.

Karon Viewpoint is where the track begins, with asphalt, a gazebo and a large free car park. Windmill Viewpoint sits on the road down to Promthep Cape, about 2.2 km from Nai Harn and 1.5 km from the cape. Promthep Cape itself, the island's southern tip and its best-known sunset spot, is the headland you see to the south from Black Rock.

Nai Harn beach is the bay right below the summit, a sheltered one where the water calms down earlier in the season than on the open beaches further north.

Doing the south in one go? Karon Viewpoint, then Black Rock, then Windmill and Promthep for the sunset makes an easy loop on a scooter, and none of the hops is longer than a few kilometres.