Doi Luang National Park

Doi Luang National Park spans three provinces — Phayao, Chiang Rai and Lampang — across roughly 731,250 rai (about 1,169 square kilometres) of mountain forest in northern Thailand. It became Thailand’s 61st national park on 16 April 1990, formed by combining four existing forest parks: Champa Thong, Pu Kaeng, Pha Klet Nak and Wang Kaeo. The park’s high, undulating ridgeline holds the sources of the Wang and Lao rivers and drains into Kwan Phayao, the lake that anchors Phayao town below.

Forest cover shifts with elevation — mixed deciduous and dry dipterocarp lower down, moist evergreen on the higher slopes — and supports serow, barking deer, wild boar, macaques, langurs and gibbons, along with Asiatic wild dogs and more than 150 recorded bird species, including red junglefowl and several pheasant varieties. It’s a working forest ecosystem rather than a manicured park, and most visitors will hear more wildlife than they see.

Three named waterfalls anchor the park’s three provincial sections: Namtok Pu Kaeng in Phan district, Chiang Rai; Namtok Wang Kaeo in Wang Nuea district, Lampang; and Namtok Champa Thong, the most visited of the three, near Phayao town. Champa Thong drops in seven tiers down a steep rock face, with clear, swimmable pools and mature shade trees around a terrace built for sitting out the afternoon. A signed 2,200-metre nature trail loops the falls — a manageable two hours round trip, walkable without a guide. A basic campground sits nearby for anyone staying overnight, though bring your own tent; there’s no rental gear on site.

Insider Tip: the summit of Doi Nok, Doi Luang’s high point, delivers a 360-degree view over Kwan Phayao lake and Mueang Phayao district, but it’s an overnight trek rather than a day hike — arrange it with park staff before you go rather than turning up expecting a same-day summit.

Watch out: as with any Thai national park, pets are not permitted inside the boundary, whatever a booking site or forum post might suggest — the Department of National Parks enforces this with fines.

Entrance costs 100 THB for foreign adults (50 THB for children) and 20 THB for Thai adults (10 THB for children), plus a 30 THB vehicle fee for cars or 20 THB for motorcycles. The waterfall unit is open daily, roughly 08:30–16:30. Namtok Champa Thong sits about 23 km from Phayao town along Highway 1 toward Chiang Rai — turn onto Highway 1127 at the km 7 marker and continue another 16 km to the falls. Since the park covers three provinces with no single central entrance, which waterfall or trailhead you aim for depends on which side you’re approaching from — Phayao for Champa Thong, Chiang Rai’s Phan district for Pu Kaeng, or Lampang’s Wang Nuea for Wang Kaeo.