If you want to do a Doi Suthep tour you can just take a taxi or songthaew up there for the afternoon; there is no need to rent a scooter. If you want to go further, to Mae Rim and the Queen Sirikit Botanical garden the best option is to rent a scooter or motorcycle and go by yourself. Go up north on the 107 highway for about 20 minutes; turn left on the 1095 and follow the signs to Samoeng. You are now driving on the famous twisty Samoeng Loop.

Motorcycle rides - the Busy and the Easy ones.

1. The busy road to Pai.
2. The Perfect Curve - the Samoeng Loop
3. Unexplored: nature trails in Mae Takhrai.
4. Other motortour possibilities.
5. Motorcycle, motorbike rentals in Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai motorcycle routes to national parks.

The highways around Chiang Mai are busy and quite dangerous; many drivers go at speeds of 80 to 100 km/hour and sometimes much faster. Moreover the highways have many U-turn places; sometimes every mile or so - with drivers waiting to make a turn and watching the traffic coming at high speed at them. A motorcycle or scooter is easily overlooked so you have to watch the crossings and U-turn spots very carefully.

1] The busy road to Pai.

The Samoeng loop on the other hand is a much better road which has much less traffic and many interesting things to see: there are for example great viewpoints, elephant parks, and a famous large botanical garden. And there are fewer potholes.

2] The Perfect Curve - the Samoeng Loop

So what is the Perfect Curve? It's the one where you feel the bike purring happily below you, you are on top of the world and you hope that there are 20 more curves like this ahead. And then 200 more. That is the Purrfect curve.

Why not start your route in the morning and from Chiang Mai head north on the busy highway 107. The Dara Pirom Palace Museum in Mae Rim is worth visiting, and also in Mae Rim one can have a cappuccino or cake in one of the coffee shops, like the wonderful artsy Wawee coffee shop.

From here the road gets much less busy as it continues west towards Samoeng; you can drive through the beautiful valleys and mountains on a scenic twisty road though the Mae Sa valley dotted with villages, temples and forest. Past a few elephant parks is the Queen Sirikit Botanical garden (QSBG) which is a famous mountainside arboretum and garden. The Glasshouse Complex on top of the mountain is a conservatory for a wide collection of tropical plants, cacti and orchids.

The Samoeng Forest viewpoint on the road to Samoeng village.

3] Unexplored: quiet roads in Mae Takhrai and Chae Son.

On the bike one can enjoy the beautiful scenery, and get to places that are difficult or impossible to reach by car. You will soon discover very quiet roads, grand forest valleys and vistas and enchanting remote mountain villages. On some routes you'll rarely see other cars - perhaps a villager driving a small motorbike is the only person you will see.

Many National Parks charge entry fees of between 100 to 300 Thai baht, but Mae Takhrai is free and most of Chae Son National Park is free. Chae Son National Park only charges an entry fee at its quite small area around the HQ/visitors center where the hot springs and waterfall are; the entry cost is 200 Baht for foreigners.

The road through Mae Takhrai Park - one visitor a day.

4] Other motorcycle tour possibilities.

• The Mae Tha fault loop, between 110km and 160km through Mae Takhrai National Park on different sections of the Mae Tha fault.
• The Elephant Valley loop, 150km. Drive north to Mae Taeng river valley and have a look at the many elephant camps and parks there. A bit up north is Chiang Dao, the 3rd highest mountain in Thailand. (elephant parks)
• Long off-road rides on ancient elephant trails though stunning landscapes.
• And many more trips and loops are possible; to hot springs, ancient cities (Wiang Kum Kam, Wiang Tha Kan), waterfalls, botanic gardens.