Walking with Elephants (Elephant Nature Park)

Walking with Elephants is an Elephant Nature Park day trip for people who want to move with the herd rather than watch it from a platform. You spend most of the day on foot in the forest with elephants that are neither tethered nor ridden, and you finish with a visit to the main park itself. It suits fit adults and teenagers from 12 up; the supplier does not recommend it for people over 60.

Pickup is between 08:00 and 08:30 from hotels in Chiang Mai city, or at 08:00 from the park office. After an introduction to the project you wash and cut fruit and vegetables and feed them to the elephants, then roll banana rice balls as treats. The walk starts from there: you follow the elephants through the forest, feeding them bananas along the way and watching them rub against trees and forage. Lunch is a vegetarian buffet at a spot in the forest. In the afternoon you walk to the river to watch the elephants swim, then walk back with them. The day ends at Elephant Nature Park, where you observe the resident herds in the late afternoon before the drive back, arriving in the city around 16:00 to 16:30.

Group sizes are kept small to keep the elephants calm, and the walking needs good fitness and some agility. Wear walking shoes, bring a change of clothes because you will get muddy, and keep luggage to one small daypack. Bookings close 24 hours before the visit.