Day trip to Lampang province

Posted by admin on January 15th, 2008 filed in Attractions, Day trips

Chiang Mai sits in the broad Ping river valley, with the ancient town of Lamphun to the south. But beyond that it’s cut off from the rest of Thailand by a range known as Khun Tan. The national park there gets few visitors but has some of the nicest walking trails.

 

The weather now is perfect for outdoor activities and for the next few months Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand enjoys a wonderful climate, sunny yet cool in the mornings and evenings and pleasantly hot but not humid during the day. It’s the best time of year to get out into the wilderness without being baked, sweated out or rained on. Also, during November and December everything is still green and lush from the rainy season. 

 

So, I headed south to explore Doi Khun Tan, a park I’ve not yet been, though I’ve passed through it many times for the road north traverses a saddle in the range and the railway line pierces the range via a 1,300m tunnel – Thailand’s longest. It even has it’s own railway station so that people can visit. Getting around the North. 

 

When you leave the main highway south you meander through a typical rural Northern Thailand valley, totally surrounded by mountains. Among the rice fields and small village is the flash new Gassan Resort and Gold course. 

 

Khun Tan straddles the provinces of Lamphun and Lampang and once you enter there is a steep road that winds up to the mountain side. Beyond the park HQ there are a series of huts at various elevations where you can stay over, as wellas a few camp sites. Eventually the road ends and you have to the set out on foot for the summit, which is a further 3kms.

 

Apart a steep short steps at the beginning, the trail has a pleasant gradient and winds through wonderful forest. There are three separate bungalows that have been here nearly 100 years. The first was actually built for the German Engineeer who oversaw the making of the tunnel in 1910. Other’s a retreats for high ranking officials. 

 

The trails in this national park are some of the nicest in the area, they are well shaded and not too steep. At this altitude they are pleasantly cool at any time of the year, though I’d imagine perhaps quite humid in the rainy season here in the jungle. 

 

Eventually I reached the summit with fantastic views of the valleys on both sides of the range. There is a small camp just below the summit, which is a great place camp if you don’t mind lugging your gear for a few kilometres. 

 

Th great thing about this park is there are few visitors. We I left I took the alternative route out, which goes directly to Lampang. I wanted to visit the famous ancient Lampang temple and this windy seldom road that headed south west was a real treat, eventually meeting the great southern highway about 20kms outside of Lampang and perfectly placed to get to the temple.

 

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