Waterfalls in Chiang Mai

Bua Tong is the one people make the trip for, and the limestone it runs over is porous enough to grip underfoot rather than turn slippery, which is where the sticky waterfall name comes from. You climb up through the flow with ropes fixed alongside. It is in Si Lanna National Park in Phrao district, about an hour and a half northeast of the city, and it is free to enter.

Wachirathan is the biggest single drop in Doi Inthanon National Park, roughly 80 metres into a pool that throws spray far enough to soak the viewing platform on a full day. It is right beside the main park road, so there is no walk to speak of, and it is usually the first stop on a Doi Inthanon circuit. Rainbows in the spray are common in the late morning.

Mae Klang is the first waterfall you reach on the way into Doi Inthanon National Park, which makes it the busiest, and it has the infrastructure to match: parking, food stalls and picnic areas at the base. It falls in tiers with pools between them, and the lower ones are shallow enough to stand in. A short path links the levels.

Sirithan is a short distance up the road from Mae Klang inside Doi Inthanon National Park, and it is usually the second stop rather than the destination. A single fall drops over rock into a pool, viewed from a platform a few minutes' walk from the car park, with picnic tables set back under the trees. Quick to see and easy to combine with Wachirathan.

Mae Sa falls in eight tiers through forest in the Mae Rim valley, about half an hour north of Chiang Mai, and it is the closest thing to an easy family outing on this list. The lower tiers have picnic tables and food stalls; walk up two or three levels and the crowds thin out fast. It sits inside Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, so there is a park fee at the gate.

Monthathan is tucked into Doi Suthep-Pui National Park on the way up to the temple, a short walk in from the road through shaded forest. Several tiers step down into pools that are deep enough to swim in, which is unusual this close to the city, and it stays quieter than Huay Kaew below it. Park fee at the gate.

Huay Kaew is the closest waterfall to the city, at the foot of Doi Suthep-Pui National Park next to Chiang Mai Zoo, which makes it a 15-minute drive rather than an excursion. It is small and strictly seasonal: after the rains it runs properly, and in the dry months it can be down to a trickle. Useful if you have half a morning rather than a day.

Mok Fa is in Mae Taeng district, off the road towards Pai and about an hour and a half north of Chiang Mai, which puts it well away from the Doi Inthanon circuit. A single drop of around 60 metres falls into a pool at the base, and a short trail leads in from the entrance. It is one of the quieter waterfalls near the city and often combined with the Mae Taeng valley.

Mae Kampong is the waterfall above the village of the same name, a hillside settlement about an hour east of the city that has become the standard day trip for tea, coffee and cooler air. The fall is a short walk up through the village and then along a forest trail, and the village itself is as much of the draw as the water. Best on a weekday.

Mae Wang is in Mae Wang district southwest of Chiang Mai, reached on a drive out through farmland and villages and then a short walk on a jungle path. It is a modest fall with a clear plunge pool at the bottom that people swim in, and it sees far fewer visitors than anything in Doi Inthanon. Worth pairing with the Mae Wang river and the villages around it.