Sticky Waterfall, Giant Rain Tree & Moai Mountain Sunset — Private Day Tour
The longest private day north of Chiang Mai: a great Lanna temple, two hours on the Sticky Waterfall, a boat crossing to an ancient rain tree, and a hilltop of stone moai for sunset.
- Duration
- Full day (approx. 12 hours, 08:00 pick-up – 20:30 return)
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Max group
- 20 pax
This is the most complete day out that the Mae Taeng and Phrao valleys can be made to give up: four sites, twelve hours, one private vehicle and one guide. Pick-up is between 08:00 and 08:30 and you return between 20:00 and 20:30, because the whole itinerary is built backwards from a single fixed point — sunset from the top of Moai Mountain.
The morning is temple and water. Wat Ban Den is a vast hillside Lanna complex of tiered gilded roofs, naga staircases and twelve zodiac chedis, one for each animal of the Thai calendar; your guide explains the architecture and the merit-making customs, and finds the chedi for your birth year. Then two full hours at Namtok Bua Tong, the Sticky Waterfall, whose travertine limestone surface — built up by calcium carrying spring water crystallising in the air — grips so well that you climb it barefoot against the current, from the base to the sacred Nam Phu Chet Si spring at the top.
The Giant Rain Tree is the piece of this itinerary that almost nobody outside the province knows about. It stands on the far shore of the Mae Ngat reservoir and can only be reached by boat, so the arrival is part of the experience: a private long-tail crossing over flat green water ringed by limestone hills, then a short walk to a single, colossal tree whose canopy spreads wide enough to shade a small village and whose root buttresses have been gripping that bank for centuries. It is quiet, uncommercial and genuinely humbling — the kind of place that makes a group of strangers stop talking.
The last two hours belong to Moai Mountain: a hill trail climbing through bamboo and scrub past dozens of hand-carved stone figures modelled on the moai of Easter Island, the work of a local sculptor, to a ridge that opens out across the whole northern landscape. Expect around 60 to 90 minutes of sustained but non-technical uphill walking in trainers or light hiking shoes. Your guide times the ascent for the light. Lunch, all admissions, drinking water, the private boat and insurance are included; the tour runs privately for a minimum of two passengers. This is a long, demanding, exceptional day — take it if you want the north at full length rather than in summary.
- Private tour with an English-speaking guide — minimum two passengers
- Four major sites in one day, from gilded temple to hilltop sunset
- Two full hours climbing Bua Tong Sticky Waterfall barefoot
- Private long-tail boat crossing to the Giant Rain Tree
- Moai Mountain: a hill trail through dozens of hand-carved stone figures
- Sunset from the Moai Mountain ridge, the single best hour of the day
- All entrance fees, lunch and drinking water included
- Twelve-hour itinerary, 08:00 pick-up to 20:30 return
- Wat Ban Den and its courtyard of twelve zodiac chedis
What's included
- ✓ Private round-trip transport with hotel pick-up and drop-off in Chiang Mai
- ✓ English-speaking guide for the full day and evening
- ✓ All admission and entrance fees
- ✓ Private long-tail boat trip to the Giant Rain Tree
- ✓ Guided hike on Moai Mountain
- ✓ Lunch
- ✓ Drinking water
- ✓ Accident insurance
- Dinner — you return to Chiang Mai between 20:00 and 20:30
- Additional drinks and snacks beyond the included water and lunch
- Personal purchases and souvenirs
- Temple donations (optional)
- Towel and personal equipment
- Gratuities for the guide and driver
- 08:00
Hotel pick-up in Chiang Mai
Your guide collects you between 08:00 and 08:30 and briefs you on the day's shape on the drive north through the Mae Taeng valley.
- 09:15
Wat Ban Den — 1 hour
An hour at the hillside temple complex: the great viharn, the naga staircases, the tiered gilded roofs and the courtyard of twelve zodiac chedis, with your guide explaining the Lanna architecture and the merit-making traditions. Shoulders and knees covered; shoes off inside the halls.
- 10:30
Bua Tong Sticky Waterfall — 2 hours
Change by the car park and spend two hours on the cascade. Climb barefoot from base to summit, use the fixed ropes on the steepest tiers, and swim in the upper pool beside the Nam Phu Chet Si spring.
- 12:30
Thai lunch
Included lunch at a local restaurant. Flag dietary requirements with your guide at pick-up.
- 14:00
Private boat to the Giant Rain Tree — 1 hour
Board a private long-tail boat and cross the reservoir to the Giant Rain Tree. Walk the base of the enormous canopy and the shoreline before returning to the boat.
- 16:30
Moai Mountain — 2 hours
Change into trainers or hiking shoes for the climb. Roughly 60 to 90 minutes of steady uphill walking on a forest trail past dozens of hand-carved stone moai figures, arriving on the ridge in time to settle in for sunset over the northern valleys.
- 18:45
Descend and return to Chiang Mai
Walk back down in the last of the light and drive back to the city, arriving at your hotel between 20:00 and 20:30.
Moderate. Expect roughly 60 to 90 minutes of sustained uphill walking on an unpaved forest trail. There is no scrambling or technical climbing, but it is a genuine ascent — average fitness and trainers or light hiking shoes are the requirement. You come down in fading light, so a phone torch is useful.
The shorter private itinerary covers Wat Ban Den, the Sticky Waterfall and the Giant Rain Tree and returns at 18:00-18:30. This one keeps all three and adds the two-hour Moai Mountain hike and sunset, returning at 20:00-20:30. Choose this if you want the hike and the sunset; choose the shorter version if a ten-hour day is already enough.
No. Lunch, water and all admissions are included, but you return to Chiang Mai between 20:00 and 20:30, so dinner is on your own afterwards. Bring a snack for the descent if you eat early.
Yes — your own guide and vehicle, with a minimum of two passengers as printed on the brochure.
Nothing essential. All admission fees are included and there is no charge to enter Bua Tong. Carry cash only for extra drinks, snacks and souvenirs.
The temple, the waterfall and the boat trip suit all ages, but the Moai Mountain ascent and the 20:30 finish make this a demanding day for young children. Families with under-tens are usually better served by the shorter private itinerary — tell us your group's ages when you book and we will advise honestly.
Swimwear under your clothes plus a dry change and towel, temple-appropriate clothing covering shoulders and knees, trainers or hiking shoes for the climb, insect repellent, sunscreen, a light layer for the ridge after sundown, and a torch or charged phone for the descent.