Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail
The Kew Mae Pan trail on Doi Inthanon opened its 2026 season on 1 November. What the national parks department says about it, the local guides, the cold, and which day tours from Chiang Mai include the walk (November 2026).
The Kew Mae Pan nature trail is open: Thailand’s Department of National Parks opened its 2026 season on 1 November 2026 with a ceremony at the trail’s car park (DNP news, checked November 2026). The trail runs above 2,000 m near the summit of Doi Inthanon, and the park has staff and local guides on it to help visitors, keep them safe and explain what they are looking at. Most day tours from Chiang Mai do not include it. One that does is LOCAL CNX. TOURS 99’s Doi Inthanon Park Tour & Kew Mae Pan Trail Hike, from US$43 on promotion, usually US$45 a person (checked November 2026; on 20 January 2027 that was the option with hotel pickup and without the park fee), with about two hours on the trail.
What the park says
The national parks department’s news item on the opening describes the trail as a “nature classroom” more than 2,000 m above sea level, cool the whole year, in montane forest. It names what lives there: the red rhododendron, the Inthanon lady’s slipper orchid and other rare plants, and the Chinese goral, a protected mountain goat. The park, it says, has prepared staff and local guides to look after visitors along the trail. It also says more than 800,000 people visited the park’s natural sites in 2025, and that the summit and Kew Mae Pan are among the main draws.
The item gives no closing date, no opening hours and no fee. Press and social posts give 31 May 2027 for the end of the season and 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM for the hours; we did not find either on a park or department page. Guides charge a fee on site; the park does not publish it.
Where it is and how cold it gets
The trailhead is on the summit road, 0.8 km on foot from the royal pagodas, so most tours pair the two. It is cold up there. The department’s park page says the summit can drop to 0 to 4 degrees on frosty days in December and January, and that above 1,800 m the forest is in cloud and fog for most of the year. On 20 October 2026, The Nation reported the park’s morning reading as 9 degrees at the summit and 12 at Kew Mae Pan. Bring a warm layer even on a hot day in Chiang Mai.
The tours that include it
| Tour | Time on the trail | Trail fee and local guide | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doi Inthanon Park Tour & Kew Mae Pan Trail Hike (LOCAL CNX. TOURS 99) | About 2 hours | Not listed | US$43 on promotion, usually US$45, checked November 2026 |
| Doi Inthanon National Park & Hike at Kew Mae Pan (Trips Chiang Mai) | About 2 hours | Both included | US$43 |
| Inthanon Small-Group with Kew Mae Pan Trail (on Viator) | Not given | Not listed; park entry included on the small-group option | US$107 |
GetYourGuide prices checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026. A person. We read LOCAL CNX. TOURS 99’s options for 20 January 2027 (26 November 2026 was not on sale) and did not read the other two tours’ dates.
LOCAL CNX. TOURS 99's day picks up in the Old Town and Nimman between 7:00 and 7:30 AM, or meets at the Burger King at Tha Pae, and adds the King’s and Queen’s pagodas, waterfalls, viewpoints, the summit, a Hmong market and a set lunch. On 20 January 2027 the option with pickup and without the park fee cost US$42.64 a person, the Burger King meeting with all fees US$50.60 and pickup with all fees US$53.74. It is not for people over 70, pregnant women or wheelchair users. At 4.4 stars from 142 reviews it rates below most tours on this site, and the three-star reviews say why: a short, busy walk rather than a trek (“not true trekking”, January 2026), a crowded trail with bottlenecks (4 November 2026), and too many shopping stops.
Trips Chiang Mai's day spells out the walk: about two hours, a moderate climb of roughly 200 to 300 m, steep steps that can be hard on the knees, and not for beginners with weak stamina. It includes the trail fee, a local hiking guide and a set lunch, and runs 11 hours.
The small-group Kew Mae Pan day on Viator sells a small-group option in a nine-seat van with a Thai set lunch and the park entry fee, and a private option priced a person; its from-price is US$107 (checked November 2026), and we did not read which option that is.
Chiang Mai: Doi Inthanon Park Tour & Kew Mae Pan Trail Hike
LOCAL CNX. TOURS 99: about two hours on the trail, the pagodas, waterfalls and the summit, set lunch. US$42.64 with pickup and without the park fee on 20 January 2027.
See the day →Chiang Mai: Doi Inthanon National Park & Hike at Kew Mae Pan
Trips Chiang Mai: about two hours on the trail with a local hiking guide, the trail fee and lunch included, the pagodas and Wachirathan Waterfall, 11 hours.
See the day →Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.
If you book the twin-pagodas day instead
TripGuru Thailand’s day tour, the one this site leads with, does not walk Kew Mae Pan. Its walk is the Ang Ka nature trail, a 360-metre boardwalk through cloud forest near the summit and not a full hiking trail. If you want views over the ridge, book one of the days above; if you want the waterfalls, the summit and the pagodas with a small group and little walking, the twin-pagodas day is the simpler choice.
The Pha Dok Siao trail
Pha Dok Siao is the other trail the tours use, lower on the mountain, past a waterfall and rice terraces. The park closed it, with Mae Ya waterfall, after heavy rain and flash floods on 19 September 2026 and reopened both on 30 September 2026, its Facebook page says. Rain can close it again, so ask the operator the day before. The waterfalls and twin pagodas covers the stops lower down.
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Also from Chiang Mai
Doi Inthanon Tours with Open Dates
Group days, treks and private cars with live availability. Pickup, whether the park fee is included and the cancellation terms show before you book.
Or the Twin-Pagodas Day, Without the Long Walk
TripGuru Thailand's day does not walk Kew Mae Pan: two waterfalls, the summit, the 360-metre Ang Ka boardwalk and the twin pagodas, in a group of up to 9.
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