Exploring Hot Springs & Waterfalls in Chiang Rai
06/09/2018
The temples of Chiang Rai are undoubtedly beautiful, I would even say some of the best ones we visited in Thailand. They are must do if your visiting Chiang Rai. We always love to get out of the city and explore the natural sites of an area, and Chiang Rai has plenty to choose from!
Here is our itinerary to make the most of a day exploring the natural beauty of Northern Thailand!
How to get around:
Renting a bike:
The best way to travel for this adventure is going to be renting a bike. If you haven’t done it before, driving a bike in Thailand may seem a bit daunting, but once you get the hang of it, it’s the best way to get around!
The traffic in Chiang Rai isn’t so bad compared to Bangkok or bigger cities. It’s only a few minutes driving in the city, and once you are outside the city, you’ll be driving through villages and roads with not much traffic, so it’s a decent place to get the hang of the bikes.
You can rent a bike for 200baht per day, with helmets. There are bike rental shops all over in Chiang Rai, so it won’t be hard to find one.
Hire a driver:Â
If you’d prefer not to drive, you can speak with a tour company about hiring a driver for a day. This will cost between 800-1200baht per day. They charge for the car, not per person, so if your travelling with others you can split the car.
Stop 1 – Huay Mark Liam Hot Spring
The most well known hot springs are the Huay Mark Liam Hot Springs, located along the Kok River in Lam Nam Kok National Park. This is the most picturesque hot spring, in a natural setting surrounded by forest.
There are no pools to soak in here, but it’s nice to look at.
When we arrived there, aside from a few grounds caretakers, there was no one else around, though I imagine it will be busy during high season. There is an information center, however all the information is in Thai. Next to the hot spring there are some signs posted with poorly translated English, but it will give you a bit of information about the spring.
Costs + Facilities
Cost: Free!
Parking: Available and Free
Short walk from the hot spring
Bathrooms available
Stop 2 – Pong Phra Soet Hot Spring
Also located in Lam Nam Kok National Park, these hot springs are only 1km away from Huay Mark Liam. You’ll actually pass these hot springs on your way.
Here, you can enjoy a soak in the springs mineral waters. They have a large, outdoor public pool, as well as 8 private spa rooms.
A perk of travelling in the low season, again we were the only people at the hot springs! The lovely lady at the desk let us take a look at the private rooms, and had there been a lot of other people at the springs, we would have opted for for the private room.
The private room had a decent sized round tub, you could fit 3-4 people comfortably, and a shower.
Since we were the only ones around, we opted to have the whole public pool to ourselves!
Bathing suits are required, no naked soaking in the public pool. They did have a sign recommending to wear shorts and a t shirt, but since we were the only ones there, I was fine in a bikini. I would recommend wearing a more modest bathing suit, as per Thai culture. They also had some bathing suits available there, if you’ve forgotten one.
Boil an egg in the hot springs!
After your soak, you can boil an egg in the hot springs!
The water for the soaking pool has been cooled down, but next to it there are some pools where you can see how hot the natural water actually is. From the food stalls, you can purchase a basket of eggs to boil in the spring water.
The cost is 20baht and you get 3 eggs, and a fishing rod style contraption with a basket.
You place your egg rod in the water, wait 20 minutes, and enjoy!
Costs and Facilities:
Public pool: 30baht per person
Private pool: 50baht per person
Towel rental: 20baht per person
Lockers: Free
Parking: available and free
Bathrooms available
Massages available
Food stalls (it’s Thailand, of course there is food nearby!)
Boil an egg: 20 baht
The mineral pools are closed on Mondays and Thursdays.
Stop 3 – Huak Keaw Waterfall
Only a 15-20 minute drive away is the Huak Keaw Waterfall (not to be confused with the one in Chiang Main with the same name.)
The road between the hot springs and waterfall is beautiful. You’ll have views of valleys and rice terraces, the drive was worth it alone. We actually went back the following day to take some drone footage in this area.
During the rainy season, you definitely can’t swim in these falls, but I read online it is possible during the dry season.
How to get there:
The waterfall is listed in google maps, so if you type it in from the hot springs, it’ll lead you there. The road you turn on from the hot springs is a bit questionable to start, gravel and pot holes, but turns into a paved road shortly after.
Once you are close to the falls, google maps might tell you to turn up a big hill with a dirt road. If you keep driving a few minutes longer, you’ll see this building on your right where you can park your bike, and a sign for the waterfall.
From here, it’s a short but adventurous hike to the first level of the falls. We managed it in sandals, however Ben did end up with a leech on him, sooo I would recommend going with shoes.
Once you reach the falls, on your left you will see a trail that continues up. Only a short distance more and you will come to a very questionable looking bridge. It’s made of bamboo, so we decided to trust it, but be careful. Then you will come to the top level of the falls, which is bigger that the lower level.
We saw a trail from the other side leading here, but had to cross an even sketchier looking bridge to check it out, so I opted not to. I imagine that path is coming from the road going up the hill. So you can reach the falls from either way, but going up the hill means you’ll hike down then back up. I prefer to hike up, then back down myself!
Costs and facilities:
Huay Kaew Waterfall: free
Parking: available + free
I did see a small building with a toilet sign before hiking to the falls, but it’s not maintained and not very nice..
Don’t forget to purchase travel insurance for your adventures!
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Did you explore the natural side of Chiang Rai? Let me know what was your favorite thing to do!
I’ve only been to the hot springs in Pai but these look so lovely! Guess I have to go back soon. Thanks for sharing.
Yea one of the perks about travelling in the rainy season, is rainy days are perfect for Hot Springs. I was surprised how many there were around Thailand. It’s always great to have a reason to go back somewhere!
I love that you can make your own egg breakfast – that is so clever and also a really neat business idea!
Ya it was pretty cool! You can see the food vendors using the springs to cook their eggs as well which is nice!
These look beautiful and thanks for letting us know about facilities so you can plan your day
Thank you, it’s always good to know if you need to prepare for lack of facilities beforehand! Especially bathrooms around Asia, sometimes those can be a struggle.
I definitely didn’t have enough time in Chiang Rai to explore! We only did the night market and white temple, need to go back!
Definitely need to go back, we only saw these waterfalls but there are a few more to explore!
This is a great itinerary to use when visiting the water falls and the hot springs.
I love the idea that you can make your own eggs from the hot springs! how exciting is that!!
Thank you Esther! Ya boiling the eggs was pretty cool 🙂
What a great day trip. Cooking eggs in the hot spring looks like a fun/weird experience haha! I love that you include all the practical info too, so helpful!
It was a great day of exploring! Cooking the eggs was pretty neat haha, had a unique taste to them! Thanks!
Oh man, I realllllyy need to go back to northern Thailand! Good thing I hadn’t already, because this wasn’t on my list until now, haha! What an amazing place. (and I didn’t make it to Chiang Rai at all last time!!)
Thailand is so big, there is so much of it to explore! Definitely need to check out Chiang Rai on your next trip, it was a pretty cool place! Lots to do, lots of great places to eat, we enjoyed it!
I’ve done the boil an egg thing at other hot springs but didnt when we were at these hot springs in Chiang Rai! Brings back good memories!
Haha yea boiling the eggs are a pretty cool little thing they offer! Glad to hear enjoyed this area when you were there, it was so nice!
I love how matter-of-fact you are about the leech! 😀 I would have died. This is a great, well-detailed post, though, and since I have been toying with the idea of heading to Thailand in the near future, I’ve added it to my travel planning file. Thanks a bunch!
Hahaha… yea, I didn’t even put the full leech story! It was pretty gross, especially when he had to peel it off… but I’ll leave out the gross details. I’m just happy it was him and not me! 🙂 (Sorry Ben.)
Thanks Leslie, hope it comes in handy when you head to Thailand. It’s been one of my favorite countries!
Waterfalls, hot springs AND a snack? This sounds like the perfect trifecta! I’d love to check it out myself one day.
Yes, all the things you need for a great day! Hope you get to, Chiang Rai is wonderful!
Oooh this is the kind of thing I LOVE to do on holiday! Hot springs are the best!
What were the eggs like? I’ve had onsen eggs in Japan (cooked in hot springs) and they were really runny and gooey. Were your eggs like that? I remember them as being soooo good!
Yea I love a good soak in a hot spring, especially on a rainy day!
Haha yep same thing! The eggs were quite soft and gooey… cooking them in the hot springs definitely gives them a unique taste and texture. Ben was not a fan but I thought they were pretty good!
Boiling an egg in hot springs? How cool is that?!
I’ve never heard of this place but I’m taking notes, sounds really interesting!
Yea it was really cool! There is quite a lot to do from Chiang Rai so if you’re in Northern Thailand, definitely add it to the itinerary!