A fun day ride to the Bua Tong Sticky Falls with my friend Opal, who was testing out a brand new Suzuki SV 650.
Table of Contents
One Day Ride
The Route
Initially, we planned to ride this Google Map route across the Mae Kuang Suspension Bridge, but in the end, we skipped the original loop due to the road to the Suspension Bridge being unsuitable for Opal’s brand-new Suzuki.
Meet Point: Mae Faek PTT
The Mae Faek PTT Petrol Station is a handy meet spot due to having a cafe and quite possibly the nicest roadside public convenience facilities I have ever seen in Thailand.
I fuelled up, ordered a coffee from the Amazon Cafe’ within the Petrol Station compound, and waited for my friend.
When she turned up on the Suzuki I had to admit it was a fab-looking bike and sounded fantastic.
Riding to the Falls
I made the mistake of picking the R1001, figuring it might be quieter than the adjacent main R107. However, as it was Saturday it was still busy. In fact, it was probably the worst choice I could have made, seeing as the R107 is a single-carriageway. Instead, we were having to overtake one vehicle after another, on a congested road.
It turned out that part of the route was also undergoing repairs which kicked up a lot of gravel and dust onto the new Suzuki.
Thankfully, Opal was in good spirits.
Once we got past the roadworks and traffic it was a nice smooth and fun road.
Then, once we turned off onto the Bua Tong Sticky Falls road, the scenery became especially beautiful, with lush green forestry.
Entering the Falls
Entry into Bua Tong Sticky Falls is free, so we rode on past the barriers into the car/bike parking zone.
However, we had a rather bizarre situation when we parked up. One of the Park Office ladies came out to tell us to park off-road in the dirt, despite ample parking bays.
We tried to explain that my friend was riding a brand new expensive bike but she was too busy yelling to hear us properly. I am not sure why she decided to be this way with us. No matter.
Bua Tong Sticky Falls
Bua Tong is known as the “Sticky Waterfall”, due to the unique aspect of being able to climb UP the waterfall. Limestone mineral deposits on the rocks give a sticky/grippy surface, making it an interesting and unusual experience for climbing the waterfall, especially as the water is gushing through your feet. It is also quite steep in sections.
Info
Free Entry.
Lockers available.
Restaurant on site.
Camping is permitted with your own gear.
No camping fee, but a donation is requested
This unique sticky element and being not far from Chiang Mai City makes the waterfall a popular spot, especially on weekends. We went on a Saturday, so we expected crowds, but actually it wasn’t too bad. There was also a nice family vibe in the park and lots of people (including ourselves) enjoying a picnic.
We rented a mat (20 baht plus 40 baht deposit), bought drinks from the local on-site shop, and also bought some really great food from the local restaurant to take to our picnic area (next to one of the natural freshwater pools). We also rented a couple of lockers, which were big enough to store our helmets and boots (20 baht per locker).
We set up a nice picnic area and then walked down to the base of the waterfall, to enjoy the unique climbing experience.
After the climb, we spent most of the day just relaxing in the natural pool and eating great food.
Back Route to Mae Kuang Dam
By approximately 4:30 pm, we changed into our motorcycle gear and set off on the back route to Mae Kuang Dam with a plan of crossing over the Suspension Bridge.
The R4031 is a fab road through green forestry (unfortunately my GoPro had some issues with the SD card and despite me thinking it was recording, the card is blank. So I have no GoPro video/images of the road from this point on).
The route goes through Ban Pa Sak Ngam village where to took a slight detour into a local temple.
Wat Pa Sak Ngam
At the quiet village temple of Wat Pa Sak Ngam, we met a lovely monk who was quite happy to see us. It seems he doesn’t get many visitors to the temple and also, the only motorcycle riders had ever seen come to visit were been men. He told us that he was surprised when he realised it was two women.
The monk chatted in English and Thai and asked a lot of questions about where we had been and what we had been doing, etc. A very enjoyable exchange.
Dirt Drama
After the temple we continued along the 3041, passing a few interesting guesthouses on the way. A short while later we reached a huge mountain construction development (again, sadly not caught on my GoPro) and then the road changed to a broken-up route ahead and a dirt route on the left. The left would take us to Mae Kuang Bridge and straight on would take us down to the river.
Given that it had been slightly raining and we didn’t know how bad the dirt area would get, we decided not to take the bridge route on Opals Suzuki. Not wanting to give up we figured it might be fun to ride straight onto the river area and at least get some nice shots of the bridge from there. However, the more we rode down, the worse the road got. No problem for my Dtracker, but not ok for the Suzuki. Ok, time to concede. We needed to turn back!
Hah! ..but turning the Suzuki on a bit of a slope wasn’t so simple. It turned out to be a fairly heavy bike with surprisingly little turn range, so it became a two-woman job.
We turned it around ok (albeit slowly), but the weather was stinking hot so we got pretty sweaty from this small effort. Funny how a little effort in full motorcycle gear can knock the wind out of you!
In the end, we rode back the way we came.
As we passed the turn-off to the bridge once again, Opal stopped for a moment to reconsider if it would be worth trying to ride through. Nah! She was still recovering from a leg issue and today was supposed to be a no-fuss day on this new and unfamiliar street bike. Not worth it. No problem.
End of Ride
The ride back was quick. We avoided the R1001 roadworks by taking the R107. It was a great day out and a brilliant way to cool down on a humid Rainy Season day.
I hope you enjoyed this trip report on Bua Tong Sticky Falls.
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2 Comments
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Hey you cool biker girls, you gave up too early.
I drove exactly the same dirt road with my Honda Forza :))) a few days ago. So it should be feasible with your bikes too.
The worst was the mud after the rain one hour earlier. Slippery as ice, but great fun.
At the end of this path you can pass the bridge. This was unclear to me. Google Maps says the bridge is for pedestrians and cyclists only. But thats not true, even single cars cross this bridge.
Hi Jo. More a case of weighing up that giving up.
As I wrote, on my bike zero issues with dirt and off-road.
However, my friends bike is new. This was her second time out on this new bike and she was recovering from a leg issue. I have to respect and be considerate about the decisions of who I am riding with.
This short trip highlighted to me how happy I am with my cheap 250cc bike. It can take it pretty much anywhere without hesitation.
This is also why I generally ride solo as I can go where I like when I like and can test my own limitations 🙂
Safe travels ^.^