Doi Inthanon National Park

Doi Inthanon is one of the most popular national parks in Thailand. It is famous for its waterfalls, few trails, remote villages, viewpoints, sunrise/sunset watching, birdwatching and the all year round cold weather on higher elevations. The main park entrance is about 70 km southwest from Chiang Mai city center.

Also known as "The Roof of Thailand", Doi Inthanon National Park covers an area of 482 km² in Chiang Mai province north of Thailand. The park is part of the Himalayan mountain range with elevations ranging between 800 and 2,565 meters asl. The highest peak in the park is Doi Inthanon Mountain which is the highest mountain in Thailand. The park has high humidity and cold weather all year round.

The park is named in honour of the king Inthawichayanon, one of the last kings of Chiang Mai, who was concerned about the forests in the north of Thailand and wanted to preserve it. After his death his remains were placed in the park as he ordered and the forest was renamed to Doi Inthanon.

The flora consists of moist evergreen cloud forests, sphagnum bog on elevations over 1,800 meters asl, dry evergreen, pine, mixed deciduous teak and dipterocarp forests on the lower elevations.

The rainy season is May to October with most rainfall around July to September. The rest of the year is quite dry with colder weather around November to February.

Wildlife - Due to continuous poaching and habitat change most of the bigger mammals such as elephants, tigers, gaurs have been extirpated from the park decades ago. Some mammal species like wild boar, gibbons, deer and serow still inhabit the park. There are currently around 65 known mammals in the national park of which half are bat species. Lucky visitors may see serows along the Kew Mae Pan Nature Trail, but sightings are rare.

With accidental visitors and historically few recorded species counted, there are around 500-510 bird species recorded in the park, which is the highest number in Thailand. Some of the bird species in the country that are only recorded from Doi Inthanon are; ashy-throated leaf warblers, dark-breasted rosefinches and collared grosbeaks. There are many more species that can only be found in Doi Inthanon or in the nearby parks.