Sticky Waterfall & Angel Land — Half Day from Chiang Mai
An hour in a hillside fantasy park of giant sculptures and flower gardens, then 90 minutes climbing the limestone cascades of Bua Tong Sticky Waterfall.
- Duration
- Half day (approx. 6 hours, 08:00 pick-up – 14:30 return)
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Max group
- 20 pax
This is the most photogenic of the short Sticky Waterfall combinations, and the least conventional. Angel Land is a landscaped hillside attraction in the Mae Taeng valley built around oversized angel and fantasy sculptures, flower beds, themed photo sets and elevated walkways that open out over the valley. It is unashamedly designed for photographs — a very Thai kind of attraction, cheerful and slightly surreal — and an hour there produces more usable pictures than a day almost anywhere else near Chiang Mai. Note that the entrance fee is paid on site and is not part of the tour price.
Namtok Bua Tong — universally known as the Sticky Waterfall — is the rare natural attraction that genuinely does something you have never done before. The stream that feeds it rises from a mineral spring loaded with calcium bicarbonate, and as the water meets the air that calcium crystallises onto the rock, layer upon layer, building a surface of porous travertine limestone. The result is a cascade you can walk straight up, barefoot, against the flow of the water, with grip so reliable that children and grandparents climb it side by side. There are fixed ropes on the steeper tiers, but most visitors find they barely need them.
You have a full hour and a half at the falls: enough to climb the whole cascade, sit in the upper pool where the Nam Phu Chet Si spring emerges, and climb it a second time now that you trust the rock. Wear swimwear under your clothes and bring a dry change — there are simple changing facilities and food stalls at the car park.
Air-conditioned round-trip transport from your Chiang Mai hotel and accident insurance are included. There is no guide accompanying the group, and neither meals nor the Angel Land admission are included, which is what keeps the price at 700 THB. Pick-up is between 08:00 and 08:30 and you are back in the city between 14:00 and 14:30.
- Angel Land — giant sculptures, flower gardens and valley viewpoints built for photographs
- Climb barefoot up Bua Tong Sticky Waterfall on grippy travertine limestone
- A full 90 minutes at the falls, enough to climb it twice and swim
- Nam Phu Chet Si, the sacred spring at the top of the cascade
- No admission charge at the waterfall itself
- Two completely different kinds of attraction in one short morning
- Air-conditioned hotel pick-up and drop-off in Chiang Mai
- Back in the city by early afternoon
What's included
- ✓ Round-trip air-conditioned transport with hotel pick-up and drop-off in Chiang Mai
- ✓ Accident insurance
- ✓ Approximately 1 hour at Angel Land
- ✓ Approximately 1 hour 30 minutes at Bua Tong Sticky Waterfall
- Angel Land entrance fee — payable on site, stated as excluded on the brochure
- Guide — this is a transport-based trip with no accompanying tour guide
- Lunch, snacks and drinks
- Towel and personal equipment
- Gratuities
- 08:00
Hotel pick-up in Chiang Mai
Collected from your hotel between 08:00 and 08:30 for the drive north into the Mae Taeng valley.
- 09:15
Angel Land — 1 hour
Arrive and pay the entrance fee at the gate (not included in the tour price). An hour to wander the sculpture gardens, flower beds, themed photo sets and the elevated walkways with their views over the valley. Comfortable shoes are useful — the site is on a slope.
- 10:30
Drive to Bua Tong
Short transfer to Namtok Bua Tong – Nam Phu Chet Si. Change into swimwear at the facilities by the car park.
- 10:45
Sticky Waterfall — 90 minutes
Descend to the base of the falls and climb the tiers barefoot, using the fixed ropes where the flow is strongest. Swim in the upper pool beside the Nam Phu Chet Si spring before heading back down.
- 12:15
Change and free time
Dry off and change; snacks, fruit and cold drinks are sold at the car park stalls.
- 12:45
Return to Chiang Mai
Drive back, arriving at your hotel between 14:00 and 14:30.
We do not publish a figure because the brochure does not print one and site pricing changes. It is paid at the gate in cash on the day and is not included in the tour price — bring some Thai baht. Your driver will point you to the ticket window.
A landscaped hillside attraction built around large angel and fantasy sculptures, flower gardens, themed photo backdrops and raised walkways over the valley. It is a photo destination rather than a historical or natural site — visitors either love it or find it delightfully odd, and it is unlike anything else near Chiang Mai.
Yes. The cascade is coated in travertine limestone deposited by the mineral spring feeding it, which grips remarkably well underfoot. Climb barefoot and use the fixed ropes on the steeper tiers.
No. The brochure states explicitly that no tour guide is included — you travel with a driver who takes you to both stops and waits for you. The guided, all-inclusive alternatives are the full-day Sticky Waterfall itineraries.
Swimwear under your clothes, a dry change and a towel, sunscreen, insect repellent, footwear you can walk the sculpture park in, and cash for the Angel Land admission plus food and drinks.
Yes, with the usual care. Angel Land involves walking on paths and some gentle slopes, and the waterfall is unusually safe to climb. Keep small children close on the upper tiers of the cascade.
Between 14:00 and 14:30 at your hotel, leaving the whole afternoon free.