The Piney Knoll Trail – Full Day trek - Moderate

Page content under revision. If you have an urgent enquiry for this programme please contact us on info@track-of-the-tiger.com

PSL 002

This 5 ½ km trail is just right for a moderate amount of exercise, and for those wanting to get up above the trees and see the view or for someone wanting to experience a wide range of plant habitats. While trekking the mountain trails of a highland semi-evergreen temperate forest, learn about its unique ecology and how the local villagers have succeeded in preserving it.

Climb up the from the Mae Lai Stream following the old horse caravan trail to Lampang at the top of the ridge enjoy views of Doi Lohn and the Chiang Mai valley. Trek along the ridge before descending back to the valley bottom along a different caravan trail. As you traverse a diverse range of habitat from wet stream-side forest to dry pine forest on the ridge learn about the different flora and how the villagers live in and use the plants in the forest.

You will be met at your hotel in the morning by an English speaking guide and a mini-bus. Drive for 45- 50 minutes northeast of Chiang Mai through the plains and then up through winding mountain roads of Huay Kaew Subdistrict to Ban Mae Lai and Pang Soong Lodge.

At Pang Soong Lodge and Field Centre you will be met by your Khon Muang community forest guide. After a brief introduction to the Pang Song Lodge and its activities, the nature trail begins with a visit to the spirit shrine and sacred fig tree to learn a bit about the villager’s spirituality regarding nature and the forest.

Start climbing up the ridge from Pang Soong Lodge by going through old fruit orchards. Along the trail you will see newly planted rattan, the beginnings of efforts to reintroduce rattan in the forest. As you are ascending to the ridge top you will notice that the trail can be quite wide and others deeply rutted. You are walking on what remains of a 19th century horse caravan trail. Your villager guide will tell you tales of transporting their chewing tea to markets in Lampang Province. Reaching the ridge top will find you wandering through a pine forest. Notice how the villagers keep the trees alive while harvesting the resin to kindle cooking fires and how they cut the bark from the Aspirin Tree. On Piney Knoll enjoy a picnic lunch of local food amidst a panorama of forested mountains dominated by Doi Lohn to the south. Note how the village guide makes a small offering to the local forest spirit before eating.

Just as you start down your guide will show you a very rare and endangered species of Chestnut (Trigonobalanus doichangensis) which has only ever been recorded at 2 – 3 other sites in Thailand. From this point the trail descends to the bank of the Mae Lai Stream where you will meet the old pack trail to the old mine. If you need a little pick-me-up your guide will offer you some of the village’s chewing tea for your enjoyment. For the remainder of the hike the trail will follow the stream through wet highland riverine forest. Reaching the end of the trip you will walk through chewing tea and Arabica coffee plantations arriving back at the Pang Soong Lodge

The trip winds down with a visit to the village to learn a bit more about the people who have taken such good care of the forest over the centuries. You will have a chance to see how wild tea is processed, pickled and made into chewing tea.

The English speaking guide will accompany you in the minibus back to your hotel in Chiang Mai.

Pang Soong Lodge

northern thailand map

chiang mai visitors guide

sponsors and awards

Page content under revision. If you have an urgent enquiry for this programme please contact us on info@track-of-the-tiger.com