During 1935 to 1936, on a trip to Dak Lak province, Bao Dai King – the last king of Nguyen Dynasty- and his entourage rode elephants into the forest for hunting and rested at the foot of the Upper Dray Sap waterfall to enjoy the beautiful scenery. This fairy landscape of Dray Sap waterfall made Bao Dai King so excited and nostalgic that he decided to rename this waterfall Gia Long waterfall (the first king of the Nguyen Dynasty).
Since then, people have gradually forgotten the old name of Upper Dray Sap Waterfall now calling it Gia Long Waterfall. The waterfall is located in Dray Sap Special-use Landscape forest with diverse fauna and flora species (755 species of Kormobionta, 289 species of vertebrates) in which many rare species are quite well-preserved.
Gia Long waterfall was formed by the basalt flows of Nam Blang volcano that covered sedimentary rocks. The basalts have many geological values of high scientific and educational significance. At this site, visitors can observe the crushed basalt rocks, accompanied by tectonic faults and fractures together with the effect of water flows, forming various interesting shapes. The topography is relatively flat, alternating with mountains with the highest peak of 460m, and a flat area of 300m above sea level. Within Gia Long waterfall area, there is a lake of only few hundreds square meters forming a unique, poetic landscape and cool water flowing from basalt rocks.
Gia Long waterfall is also associated with a touching love story of a beautiful Ede girl named H’Mi who was washed away by a huge water current created by a giant beast. Failing to save her, with grief her boyfriend turned into a large tree, rooted deep into the rock looking like a miserable man with open arms, waiting for his girlfriend to come back. Today, Gia Long waterfall is a popular tourist site, especially on holidays or Tet holiday.
