Doi Kham Stairs and Ridge Trail

Distance: 9 kilometers

Elevation: 400m

Difficulty: Easy

What to expect on this trail?

The Doi Kham stairs and ridge trail is great short loop within easy reach of the city center. You first head up the stairs of Wat Prathat Doi Kham for some amazing views before getting on nice forest single track trails. Then make your way back to the starting point by nice double track trails behind Chiang Mai Night Safari.

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Doi Kham Stairs and Ridge Trail in detail

The route is a loop, with the start and end point at the parking at the foot of Wat Prathat Doi Kham. It is a convenient as there is parking space available, as well as toilets. You will start the loop by climbing the stairs leading up to Wat Prathat Doi Kham, which will surely get you blood flowing. The stairs are quite uneven and rough for the first part, and steep in some sections, so you may want to warm-up a bit before attacking them full-on. The last part of the stairs is very nice and a great place to push out a final sprint until you arrive at the temple.

Doi Kham Temple is a lovely place in its own right, and worth a visit. But always do keep in mind that it is a place of worship for local people. So treat it with respect. I wouldn’t suggest running on the actual temple grounds, for example. If you really want to visit the temple in detail, also definitely pay attention to your attire. Polite dress (meaning shoulders and knees covered) is the norm for temple visits in Thailand.

After crossing the temple grounds, a short road section takes you to the trailhead, marked by a fallen tree. This is where the fun starts and where you head onto some very nice single track forest trails. The first section is a rather steep climb and you may need to do some walking. Once you are over this initial trail climb you have done most of the climbing and you will be rewarded with flowing single tracks. Great for some fast trail running as you follow the ridge and descend back down.

Now it is just a couple of easy running on double track trails. You will end up at the road heading up to Doi Kham temple to complete the loop. All together a short loop that has a bit of everything: stairs for a good workout, challenging trail ascents, flowing single tracks and technical descents.

Tips for this trail

The temple gate on top of the stairs is open from 6am until 7pm. Outside of those hours you’ll need to take the road to the trailhead if you want to do this Doi Kham trail loop.
The route is accessible to all levels of runners, but shoes with good grip are recommended. There are two relatively steep descents with loose gravel and rocks. Good shoes can help a lot on those!
If you want to mix trails with road work, you can follow the trail north. It will end up at a road where you can turn right to return to the starting point. The complete loop will then be around 10 kilometers.
For a post-run coffee or snack, there are some local shops lining the parking. If you want something more comfortable you can check out Cup Fine Day. They have a selection of food and coffee. In the early hours they also sometimes run promos for runners and cyclists, make sure to ask!

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