Doi Chiang Dao

Doi Luang Chiang Dao is the huge limestone mountain that rises over Chiang Dao, about 2,175 m high, and climbing it is one of the north's classic overnight treks. It isn't a walk-up: the mountain is a wildlife sanctuary, open only in a short cool-season window, with permits booked online, a compulsory licensed local guide and porters arranged through the community. The route is roughly 8.5 km to the Ang Salung camp, then a pre-dawn climb for sunrise on the summit. If that's too much, the mountain still dominates the view from all over Chiang Dao, and looking costs nothing.