Pai Canyon

Located around 8km from town along the Chiang Mai road, before you reach the Memorial Bridge and the hot springs, this well-signposted attraction is often somewhat misnamed as "Thailand's Grand Canyon." With a drop of 50 metres, it cannot really compare to Arizona's "world-renowned wonder", but nevertheless, with its narrow red ridges and steep-sided valleys, teeming with pine and other rainforest trees, it provides visitors with stunning views of the surrounding countryside. Some trails will take you deep into the forest and is an excellent place for bird watching. But please be careful, as the trails in the canyon are extremely narrow, and in some places you will need to do a bit of scrambling. They can get quite slippery and the ridges are razor-sharp. The best way to view the canyon is by taking the wooden stairway up to a viewing platform, which is a great place to view the sunset.