Stair climbing at Doi Khamo (ดอยขะม้อ)

If you are looking for a place to do some stair climbing or hill repeats, look no further! Doi Kahmo (ดอยขะม้อ) in Lamphun province is the perfect place to go suffer. In order to become a better trail runner it is important to bring some variation to your workouts. Stair climbing sessions from time to time are a great idea, and Doi Khamo is the perfect place for that. Of course there are places closer to Chiang Mai city like Wat Prathat Doi Kham, or Loha Prasat in Baan Pong (check the links for routes that include those stairs!). But this place is quite special in the sense that it is brutally long, very steep at times. As a bonus, it has some interesting culture and history attached to it.

Some history on Doi Khamo

Sometimes you need to challenge yourself, so when I heard about the 1,4 kilometer long staircase of Doi Khamo I was sold. When I told my wife I wanted to go run there, she immediately showed interest to join me (not to run though). As it turns out, the place is quite famous religious site, and that was her reason for wanting to join. The place gets its importance from the fact that there is a well on the top of the mountain that contains holy water. It is supposedly an ancient volcano and in its crater there is a well with holy water. The water is so holy that it is regularly used for the most important religious and royal ceremonies. The holy well is the historical and cultural highlight and the reason why most people make their way up there. But there is also a small temple building, a pagoda and some Buddha and monk statues. Views from the top are also nice, although a bit obstructed by trees.

Running the stairs of Doi Khamo

There are a total of 1749 steps from the temple below to the top of the mountain. The staircase starts out fairly runnable, but soon you will start to feel your calves burning. As you continue there are some flatter sections alternated with slightly steep sections, but nothing crazy. As you go along you will pass by small sala’s with Buddha statues and bells, some of them have benches in case you need a break. After a while you will probably start wondering though: are we there yet? 1,4 kilometers is really long for a staircase, and it seemingly keeps coming. And then, as you think you are probably near the top, you will see the final stretch of the climb. It will probably suck the motivation right out of you, because it is really long, and really steep. While most of the other parts are kind of runnable, I am confident that there are very few people who would run up this final stretch.

Doi Khamo in pictures

Practical information for Doi Khamo

Doi Khamo is located about 40 kilometers from Chiang Mai, in neighboring Lamphun province. Here is a link with the correct location, it is quite straightforward to get there.
The staircase is 1,4 kilometers long with just over 300 meters of elevation gain. My plan was to climb it 5 times, but called it quits after 3 times (see next point).
If you want to climb the stairs it is advisable to go early. On arrival the temperature was nice and cool as it was cloudy, but when the sun broke through it got quite hot right away.
Make sure to bring plenty of water, you will sweat! I left a big jug with electrolyte at the bottom of the stairs, and took a 500ml soft flask for the stairs. This was just enough though a bit more would have been better.
Note that women are not allowed to enter the holy well. Signage is only in Thai, but now you know. Please respect local customs.

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