Chiang Mai: Doi Suthep Summit Trek – 7 Hour Pure Hiking Adventure

The hike definitely gets your legs working, but it’s absolutely worth the effort. As you gain height, the surrounding flora and fauna gradually change, which makes the hike even more interesting. There’s beautiful nature all along the way, with fantastic views from both Doi Suthep and Doi Pui. Tui was an excellent guide, fun to hike with, knowledgeable, and a big part of what made the day so enjoyable.

I had such a great experience with my guide Aidan!! I booked by myself and when he picked me up it turned out I was the only one to sign up so it was just me and him, but he made the whole thing really fun by making jokes and good conversation the whole time. He also mentioned that the “typical” trail was closed because it is the rainy season and said that the route we would be taking was slightly shorter but more challenging. He was definitely right about that part, the hike only about 6.5 miles but was very steep and quite difficult (for someone who is fairly active and would consider themself an intermediate-level hiker), but he was very patient and made the whole thing enjoyable (we completed it in about 3.25 hours). The trail was pretty quiet, did not feel like a tourist area, the views from the top were well worth it and I would 100% recommend! Only caveat is that my initial booking was cancelled the night before and I wasn’t able to reschedule for 2 more weeks, if I hadn’t been staying in Chiang Mai that long I would have missed out on it entirely.

This was an epic tour! Easy hike, cool viewpoints and great company. Our small group was led by Ai, who was funny and very personable! He made it an even more pleasant experience. By chance, we happen to have a great group which made the day just perfect! Highly recommend this tour!

Wow this was an amazing hike ! It was definitely hard - over 3000 ft elevation gain and about 6-7 miles distance - but split up in sections which helped. We visited 2 temples plus the Karen village. Had an excellent lunch plus coffee and snacks (coffee and snacks at your own expense). Beautiful overlooks and scenery! The guide was great and the lunch was so good ! Highly recommended but not for beginner hikers.

During my short stay in Chiang Mai, I managed to use the company's services twice, specifically hiking and kayaking. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for biking, which will be a reason to come back again. The adventures were interesting and full of emotions. The guides are professionals in their field and it's easy to find a common language with them. In particular, I want to mention the guides Mr. A and his colleagues Mr. Bass and Mr. Golf. Highly recommended

I really enjoyed this and highly recommend. Our journey was roughly 4.5km up to the main Temple where we spent around an hour walking around and having lunch, and then 5km to see the three waterfalls. All in all it took us around 5 hours and we went at a decent pace. This experience will be hard work, lots of steep uphill and downhill bits so make sure you where proper shoes and would recommend trousers as when you get near the waterfalls you’ll see mosquitos. It’s definitely worth it as the second half of the hike we barely saw anyone else. The guide was great! Very knowledgable and even found us a few plants we could eat on the way. 100% recommend doing but go into it knowing it’ll be hard work

Pick up is on time. Excellent service. Great guide as well. Very funny, hands on, and informative. 🙏🏼✨ They offer other activities aside from hiking, like kayaking and mountain biking.

We had a fantastic time exploring beautiful forests and waterfalls, and our trek ended in a charming little village. Our guide and driver were both friendly and knowledgeable, making the journey even more enjoyable. The hike requires a fair level of fitness, so be sure to wear sturdy shoes with good grip—and don’t forget to pack some snacks!

As it’s off season I was the only one on the tour but it was a great day! The guide was lovely and spoke good English and the scenery was stunning. It’s basically all uphill and steep so even as a regular hiker I found it to be hard work, especially in the humidity! We ended the day at a hill tribe village and had local coffee overlooking the misty valley, which was breathtaking. Highly recommend!

Very good experience. Mr. A. Was very friendly and capable. Wonderful time hiking the Doi Suthep mountain, going to the summit and at the end of the hike, enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms!

Be aware, this is not a leisure hike or a tough hike. It’s a treacherous one! However, it was an unforgettable experience and I personally really enjoy hiking and being active. There were 2 guides that led the hike and they were so lovely! It was also extremely helpful to have them there.

Fantastic hike with really great guides! Tony and A were fun and knowledgeable and really made the trip special! Views were fantastic and I really have no complaints at all. Do be advised that some parts of the hike are extremely steep and require a bit of clambering…they would be considered challenging if you’re not relatively fit. This accounts for maybe 10% of the hike overall

Amazing tour, we done the 7 hours hike and mountain bike tour. the tour guide( called A) was so good and he ‘s very experience. He was very patience and given us plenty of time to enjoy the hike. He pointed out the history of the track and join in the fun. We enjoyed very much.

My partner and I had a great day out up in the mountainous jungle with our lovely guide Tui. We were picked up from our hotel in the morning, signed in at the company office where we chose our route for the day and then were driven out to where we began our hike. Due to the rainfall the night before we did an alternative route but it was still enriching. Tui spoke to us about the native trees and plants and he kindly offered to take photos along the way. There are some steep and muddy parts of this trek, which require some stamina and a decent level of fitness. After a few hours we made it to the village (due to the time of the year the summit was closed) and then to a nearby restaurant for a local lunch. We enjoyed seeing the temples, soaking in nature and learning more about Thai culture. This was a great out of the city excursion and Tui was a fabulous guide!

My daughters & I had an awesome day with our guide A! It was only the 3 of us, so we were lucky to have him all to ourselves! Unfortunately the hike to the highest summit is closed right now, but we still hiked 2.5 miles and A said the elevation gain is about 800 meters. Very steep in sections! We brought along temple appropriate clothing (covered legs & shoulders) and put those on over hiking clothes along the way so we could visit the 2 temples. (And put them right back in our backpacks after!) A also took us to a village where we enjoyed local coffee and guided us on another hiking trail to a waterfall. Highly recommend!

Interesting and demanding activity. Despite being physically very active, the uphill hike took me more than 3 hours navigating frequent 45 degree inclines on a narrow footpath. Lots of "breather" breaks needed. Very nice nature sceneries! Dirt biking down hill on a rutted and rain slippery dirt path certainly was exciting and requires good biking experience. Excillerating for sure!

The two guides were supporting and guiding us through the dschungel . Always waiting for those little behind. We had enough breaks. The ascent was about 1000hm which needs good condition. Authentic Thai Lunch was provided on the summit. The down hill ride was definitely a highlight. Overall a tour for sportive people in overall good condition. i would recommend

My guides was very knowledgeable and funny. I enjoyed chatting with them! The views were spectacular! It was a little tougher than I thought it would be but it was well worth it!

I was by chance alone with a guide, Hei (sorry for the mistake in the spelling of his name). He was very funny, careful all the way and he showed me around telling anecdotes and answering all my questions. He was very kind and I had an amazing experience, laughing and enjoying the wonderful nature! The hike itself was really what I expected, sporty and beautiful, the soup we had at the village in the Jungle was really good and their (own) coffee was delicious yet very strong. We finished with the temple visit which was nice but a bit short. The organisation in the morning to get there was a bit messy at the store but all good, it was not dramatic.

Brilliant tour, A expertly guided us on a hike up the Monks Trail past beautiful temples, waterfalls and views. A was great at answering our questions and so helpful! Highly recommend!

This was a beautiful, challenging hike and overall experience. I opted out of mountain biking back down the mountain after the hard journey up (lol).

This was a really rewarding hike. I was picked up from my hotel around 9:30 am and after all the pick ups and formalities we started the hike around 10:30 am and I was dropped off at 6:30pm. Our guide Tui was warm and funny which definitely helped when the hike got challenging. There are some difficult elements of this hike including really steep points where you are effectively climbing up the mountain ! The views and nature are phenomenal and we didn’t even have clear skies. Recommended for anyone looking to break up their trip with a good balance of exercise and nature though you would need to be of reasonable fitness level!

This is a tough but very rewarding hike. The guides are top notch and their humour keeps you going. Do this hike early in the holiday and earn everything else after it! Anyone with a reasonable fitness level and perseverance can manage this, although there are points where you can throw the towel in. We cracked on and had a wonderful time, although I am writing this sitting by my pool having a well earned beer.

The views from the top of the summit were amazing. The hike itself was good, but hard and very steep in some places but push through it is worth it! Tui our guide was really good! Would highly recommend!

My boyfriend and I (25&26 yo) went on this trip expecting it to be very difficult as it is 18 km or ~10 miles of hiking. What we did not expect was how knowledgeable and fun our guides Tui and Ay would be! They knew everything about the natural area, the flora and fauna and the people living in the mountains. The hike is beautiful. Lined with lush greenery and sweeping views of Chiang Mai below. The first temple you arrive at is Wat Prathat Doi Suthep. It’s about 1.5 km from the starting point so really you’re just starting. After a very challenging steep hill ascension, you make it to a road and up to the natural park. The natural park has views of a temple in the distance, but you don’t visit it. The next stop is a waterfall. The trail to the waterfall is slightly downhill and heavily forested (WEAR BUGSPRAY!!). After the waterfall you have to do some brief (1-2 minutes) climbing, grabbing onto vines and rocks to make it to the next part of the trail. The next part of the trail is STEEP. If you are not in descent shape or at least have high stamina, I would reconsider this particular activity. Eventually (1.5 hours-ish) you reach the village. The village is everything you would want to experience in a Thai mountain town and more. We were greeted with a complementary bowl of pork noodle soup (nothing ever tasted so good) and drinks and sat in a hut overlooking the mountains to eat lunch. We even had time to explore and play in the village a little bit before beginning the trek to the peak. After the village, the peak is 2 km away but it is mostly uphill. This last leg of the trail really killed me. I pushed through barely, basically on all fours crawling up the mountain. But the guides and group were fun and motivating, a really team mentality. We made it to the peak! Gorgeous views were our reward! Then a quick 1 km stroll downhill to meet our ride and take us back to the hotel. We were picked up from our hotel at 7:45 AM and made it back to the hotel at 4 PM. Not going to sugarcoat it, this hike is a challenge. But if you enjoy hiking and are in relatively good shape, it’s well worth it. My favorite activity in Thailand so far. Thank you Tui and Ay!

This was the most difficult hike I have ever been on. I have only been on a few hikes before but this was extremely challenging. We were picked up early and hiked to the Doi Suthep Temple. This took about 2.5 hours. This was very steep uphill hike. Wear comfortable shoes, bug spray and bring lots of water. we thought this was very difficult. We chose not to hike to the summit since our guide let us know the second half of the hike (4 hours remaining) would be much more uphill and more extraneous. We are 2 college students and are in decent physical condition (By the way). Nevertheless, he suggested we hike towards some waterfalls and finish with a hike down hill, which would still take another 2.5 hours. So glad we did this! The hike down by the waterfalls was beautiful. The downhill was challenging as well since it was very steep and slippery at times. The tail was narrow at some points (about 1 ft wide). But overall amazing. Overall, it was a very challenging hike but it was well worth it and amazing. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and took us to get lunch after.

It was worth trying. Although we have missed the summit due to the time limitation, we would love to try again if the time permits. The hiking path is really through the jungle unlike my prediction and made us realize how unprepared we are. But still the guide is very knowledgeable, friendly, and professional. If you are a mountain lover, yes, I would recommend this tour.

A great experience, full of surprise and discovery. I recommend but be careful some portions climb hard. You need a good physical condition, nothing crazy but it is not accessible to all.