Trek the Mountains of Huay Nam Dang

Day 1: Chiang Mai- Karen Village

Mork Fah Waterfall and Hot Springs

This trip is a private tour. Your guide will meet you at the hotel at 0800. Drive to Huay Nam Dang National Park for your two-day Huay Nam Dang trek. This national park has been a popular trekking destination since the start of hill tribe trekking in the early 1970s. We have done this trek many, many times with groups and individuals. See our testimonial and feedback page.

Our first stop will be at Mae Malai, where your guide will do his shopping for the coming days. He will take you along and explain the different ingredients he will use for dinner. Continue to the Mork Fa waterfall, where you can swim and relax. This waterfall is part of the Doi Suthep Doi Pui National park. Enjoy a local lunch at a roadside restaurant. After lunch, we will continue to the Pong Duad Hot Springs, where we will start trekking.

Trekking and village overnight

We will hike for about four hours through the dense tropical forest. There is enough time to rest, take pictures and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. When we arrive at a plateau with giant pine trees, we are rewarded with magnificent views over the endless mountain scenery. The pine tree, by the way, is the Pinus Kesiya.

In the late afternoon, we arrive at the Karen village, where we will spend the night. After arrival, you can relax, explore the village, or learn Thai cooking by helping your guide prepare dinner. He will explain the herbs and ingredients he uses and teaches you how to cook a delicious meal in a wok on a wood fire. After dinner, your guide will take you to one of the village houses to meet some villagers. He will try to teach you some words in the Karen language, such as “tablu,” a greeting, and means thank you as well.
We will spend the night in the Karen village. You will sleep on a mattress with a mosquito net, and we provide a sleeping bag or sheet. You can compare it to camping. For some pictures of a typical overnight, go here.

Day 2: Karen Village – Chiang Mai

Great bamboo rafting

After breakfast, we will trek for about one hour to the Mae Taeng (Taeng River), where our bamboo rafts* are waiting for us. Depending on the season, there are some exciting rapids in this river. We will provide life jackets, of course, and please wear them and read our bamboo rafting policy. Enjoy a wonderful bamboo raft trip to a Black Lahu village along the Mae Tang River. Here we will stop for a while and walk around the village. After this, we will return to our raft and continue a wonderful trip through the jungle.

Enjoy the view of the lush green jungle on both riverbanks. Bamboo rafting was an essential means of transportation in the old days. Our destination will be a Shan village, where we will have lunch. After lunch, we will drive back to Chiang Mai by trekking truck. We will drop you at your hotel at around 1600. Here your Huay Nam Dang Trek ends. We hope you had a great time.

We also offer a three-day trek to the Huay Nam Dang National Park.

*Please note that we might have to cancel the bamboo rafting trip due to the water level in the river in the rainy season (May until October) which happened a couple of times in August and September. In that case, we will offer bamboo rafting on the Ping River or another activity.