Doi Khun Tan National Park

Doi Khun Tan is the only national park in Thailand you arrive at by train and walk into - Khun Tan station sits on the northern line and the headquarters is a short climb from the platform, which makes it unusual and pleasant to reach. Beneath it runs the Khun Tan tunnel, 1,352 metres long and for a century the longest railway tunnel in the country, begun in 1907 under German engineering direction through hard rock; the work took eleven years. Above, the park rises to about 1,373 metres through mixed deciduous forest into pine on the ridge, with four numbered viewpoints along a trail and a set of early twentieth-century bungalows built by railway staff and missionaries as a hot-season retreat. The park, set up in 1975 as Thailand's tenth, covers about 255 square kilometres. Nights are cold in the dry season and water on the ridge is limited.

What's there

• The railway approach - the only Thai national park entered on foot from a station.
• The Khun Tan tunnel - 1,352 metres, begun in 1907 and eleven years in the making.
• The pine ridge - four numbered viewpoints up to about 1,373 metres.
• The old bungalows - railway and missionary hot-season houses on the mountain.

When to go

November to February for the weather and clear views; nights on the ridge are cold. The train approach is part of the appeal - check the northern line timetable.

Before you go

Reaching the higher viewpoints is a real climb of several hours. Water on the ridge is limited and accommodation is basic. If arriving by train, services are infrequent and getting out again needs planning.

Nearby

Lampang is south-east; Chiang Mai and Lamphun are north-west.

Key facts