Bala is the most accessible of the two forest blocks, well-sign-posted along a good tar road from the border town and railway junction of Sungei Kolok, via the small town of Waeng and then the border village (Ban) of Ban Bo Ke Ta. Entry at the eastern gate of Bala is free, and 2 km further on is the turnoff left to the Hala-bala Wildlife Research Station (HBWRS) and Botanical Research Station (BRS) of the Wildlife and Parks Department. The tar road runs west for a further 10.7 km to the western gate just outside the village of Ban Phu Khao Tong (Golden Mountain).




The road through Bala is marked off at intervals, most obviously by a white line with a large white number at each kilometer and a white line at each half-kilometer, starting at 6 km just before the eastern gate and ending at 17 km before the 3rd bridge (a less obvious series of brown numbers starts just after the gate at 0.0 km and runs to 10.0 km). The white calibrations are used here as a guide for where to find birds or habitats, and the details assume that one is travelling east-west along the road from 6 to17 km.



The road mainly winds through the forest, is steep in places and is subject to wash-aways during the monsoon. The most obvious features are three bridges at 9.3 km, 11.3 km and 17.3 km, and a series of embankments where the road has been cut into the hillside - some of which can be scaled as lookouts over the forest. There are roads turning off to the left at 8.1 km (to the Research and Botanical Stations), at 8.4 km (to the Sirindhorn Waterfall) and at 11.2 km (to rapids with swimming pools). There are observation viewpoints on the right at 12.6 km, with a shelter, and at 16 km, up a short slope. The water in the rivers comes from unpopulated watersheds and is cool to swim in and safe and tasty to drink.