Mae Tia Waterfall

Driving from Chiang Mai old city to Mae Tia Waterfall The whole drive took about an hour and a half. The waterfall itself is small, has a hidden-gem kind of feel, and honestly looks better from a distance than up close. It was raining the day I went, so the water had a yellowish tint, but there were still some local Thai families happily camping there anyway. I think it would look a lot better on a sunny day. I wouldn’t recommend riding a motorbike there in rainy season. Safety first. The weather changes fast, and once you’re in the mountains it’s all winding roads. Ticket price: 20 baht for Thai locals, 100 baht for foreigners. Felt a bit like getting ripped off. Address: just search Mae Tia Waterfall directly. If you’ve got time, you can stack a few spots into the same day. On the way to the waterfall you’ll pass a lovely cafe called Cafe Rongbom, and Mae Wang National Park isn’t far out of the way either. A second trip, this time bringing my child along on short notice, to Mae Tia Waterfall, a spot that’s still pretty under the radar. Honestly didn’t expect the road to be this “exciting” when we set off. Winding the whole way into the mountains, and near the end there’s a short rocky, steep gravel stretch. If your car sits low, I really wouldn’t force it through there. We ended up parking on the side of the road and walking in, maybe 300 metres, which really wasn’t far at all. And the whole way in was genuinely beautiful. Green rice paddies and terraces lined both sides of the road the whole drive, the car just crawling slowly through the mountains, nothing but green everywhere you looked. That’s the moment it hit me, Chiang Mai really is the kind of place made for taking things slow. Once we got to the waterfall we set up a tent right next to it. Brought my kid’s toys, a frisbee, some food. And then, no plan at all. Just let him run around, play, watch the waterfall, feel the breeze. We stayed from morning until around four in the afternoon. He had a great time, and honestly it was rare for the adults to get to just lie around doing nothing for a whole day too. I’d actually been thinking about staying overnight to camp properly, but it’s rainy season right now, which also means a higher risk of flash flooding, so overnight stays aren’t allowed there at the moment. So around four we packed up quickly and headed back down the mountain.