Samoeng Loop

The Samoeng Loop is in Chiang Mai Province in northern Thailand. It is a roughly 100 km circuit that starts and ends in the city of Chiang Mai. Its winding road into the mountains northwest of Chiang Mai is highly popular with both bicyclists and motorcyclists. It is named for the town of Samoeng, 5 km off the circuit proper.

Understand
Bicyclists: Total elevation gain on this 100 km route is about 1,500 m. Bikemap.net has an excellent map showing elevations at various points along the route.

The fastest reported time for pedalling the entire route is 3 hours 15 minutes.

Prepare
Decide if you want to go clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Particularly if you are a motorcyclist, Rider's Corner is a good place to start your trip. At the northeast inside corner of the moat, it serves the motorcycling community. Besides offering rooms and a full-service bar and restaurant, the British owner, Phillip, is knowledgeable and helpful. He also sells maps. Try to find the GT-Rider Mae Sa Valley; Samoeng Loop map (180 baht).

Get in
Clockwise: To start the loop, from near the southwest corner of the moat, get on Rte 108 heading past the airport. Less than 10 km down the road you will see a Big C on the left and a large intersection just beyond it. Turn right to Samoeng at this intersection. The direction is well-marked. Take the right and you’re on Rte 1269, the well-paved two-lane road that takes you into the hills.

Counter-clockwise: Head north on the road to Mae Rim, Rte 107, tricky as traffic can be heavy. The turn off is 16 km from the north side of the moat. The left turn is about ten minutes past Mae Rim town; you can't miss it as it is well sign-posted. (Try to get hold of the excellent Mae Sa Valley map. It not only maps the loop but all the more adventurous roads forking out of the loop.) Once you've made the turn the petrol gets more expensive, so fill up while on Rte 107. Gas stations are plentiful.

Go
The itinerary below references kilometre posts. They punctuate the route on the outside of the circle you are traversing. References to "inside" and "outside" describe positions on the inside or outside of the circular loop.

Things to see/do
These are in counter-clockwise order:





































































By kilometre post, clockwise: Chiang Mai-Hang Dong-Mae Rim-Chiang Mai

 * Canal Rd-km36: Wat Ton Kwen (also Wat Thon Kain / Wat Intrawat)
 * km36-35: Start of Rte 1269. Ban Phan Thao
 * km35-34:
 * km34-33:
 * km33-32: Huarnjana Resort
 * km32-31:
 * km31-30: Gasoline (outside loop)
 * km30-29:
 * km29-28: Lanna Resort (outside)
 * km28-27: Gas; Siam Commercial Bank ATM (outside)
 * km27-26: Coffee shop (outside)
 * km26-25:
 * km25-24: Police Box; Bangkok Bank ATM (outside)
 * km24-23: Turn to Hmong Village and Tak Kar Tan Cave (4.2 km) (outside)




 * km23-22: Phujaya Resort; Turn to Doi Lium Viewpoint (3 km) (outside); Enter Ban Dong (บ. ดง) village; Petrol, pay phone
 * km22-21: Suan Bua Hotel & Resort; Ban Kao Dua (บ.เก๊าเดือ); Petrol; American Pacific International School; Ban Mae Ha (บ.แมฮะ)
 * km21-20:
 * km20-19:






 * km19-18: Kaw Ta Chang Waterfall.
 * km18-17:
 * km17-16:
 * km16-15:
 * km15-14: 5 switchbacks
 * km14-13: 1 switchback; Gasoline
 * km13-12:
 * km12-11:
 * km11-10:
 * km10-09:
 * km09-08:
 * km08-07:
 * km07-06:
 * km06-05: Police box; turn right on Rte 1096 to Mae Rim, Chiang Mai; straight on to Samoeng, a ~300 m elevation loss.
 * km05-04:
 * km04-03: Baan Lhong Doi Lodge and Restaurant; Royal Agricultural Station, Pang Da; Gas station
 * km03-02: Switchback; Nang Koi Waterfall, Rai Napa-Phupa Guesthouse/Coffee Shop
 * km02-01: Ban Rabiang Lom Restaurant
 * km01-00: Supanee (สุพรรณี) Restaurant; Enter town of Samoeng

By kilometre post, counter-clockwise: Chiang Mai-Mae Rim-Hang Dong-Chiang Mai

 * km00-01: - 001 Icona Pista.png
 * km01-02:


 * km03-04:
 * km04-05:
 * km05-06: Mae Sa Waterfall (inside). 100 THB per adult.
 * km06-07:
 * km07-08:
 * km08-09:
 * km09-10:
 * km10-11:
 * km11-12: Mae Sa Elephant Camp (inside)
 * km12-13: Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden (inside)
 * km13-14: Pongyang Angdoi Resort and Restaurant (inside)
 * km14-15:
 * km15-16:
 * km16-17:
 * km17-18:
 * km18-19:
 * km19-20:
 * km19-20:


 * km20-21:
 * km21-22:
 * km22-23:
 * km23-24: Welcome to Samoeng Viewpoint (outside)
 * km24-25:
 * km25-26:
 * km26-27:
 * km27-28:
 * km28-29:
 * km29-30: Junction, Rte 1269. Samoeng 5 km to the right. Turn left to continue the circuit to Chiang Mai.
 * km29-30: Junction, Rte 1269. Samoeng 5 km to the right. Turn left to continue the circuit to Chiang Mai.