Chiang Mai Mountain Sanctuary tours (Elephant) — Attraction in Chiang Mai Province

There are so many mountain sanctuaries that it is overwhelming to choose one. This one ended up being chosen the day before or excursion by happenstance, as it was the one the tour guide at our hotel was offering. We had a 100% positive experience and it was the most memorable part of our holiday. I recently asked our children what their favorite part of their vacation was, and this won, hands down.

We had a punctual driving service pick us up from Chang Mai and drive us the approx 1.5 hour to the elephant home. There seem to be tons and tons of these homes lined up, so it's not like it's all by itself in the middle of nowhere, but somehow it felt isolated, at the same time.

We had paid for a day trip (full day) and that meant visiting with the elephants. While the 1/2 day people did their little playtime with the elephants, the guide taught us how they make vitamins for the elephants. Once the 1/2 day morning group was gone, we were reunited with the elephants (about 6) and went on a hike with them over a river and up hills, (small mountains?). At the end of the hike, the elephants bathed in a mud bath. We took them back down, where we cleaned them off and scrubbed them and splashed with them in the river. The entire trip we fed them sugar cane and bananas.

The elephants were gentle and sweet. You can tell they've lived a hard life, but boy oh boy, their are being treated like queens now, being fed, bathed, and loved on all day long.

I think by the time our group was done, it was time for the afternoon half-day group to do their quick play time with the elephants.

The tour guide was great, the elephants were gentle and well taken care of. The lunch was lovely, more than I expected. I would really recommend a full day trip, as the half day seemed more like a quick intro to the elephants, and you probably spend more time in the car than with the elephants.

They offered us clothing to change into, so you don't have to worry about getting your nice clothes ruined by muddy water (that will stain).

Shoes are an issue. Some sort of water shoe that you can hike in would be the best choice.

Again, this trip far exceeded our expectations and I would...

Please DO NOT support this tourist trap. I was highly unimpressed by this so called "sanctuary". Yes, they are not riding the elephants or hitting them (atleast not in front of tourists) but the elephants are in no way free. They are either tied on a very short leash or when off leash, the guides pull hard at their ears and shout commands for the elephants to obey. This is nothing short of a circus. As soon as I arrived at this "sanctuary", I was struck by an intense feeling of guilt for being another tourist funding elephant exploitation for human amusement. This place was by no means a sanctuary for elephants, even though the company poses it as such. The elephants were displaying signs of distress (swaying back and forth, bobbing their head, and rubbing foreheads against objects). These are not normal behaviors of elephants!! They also have two baby elephants in a very small pen separated from all the other elephants and the one elephant was pacing back and forth which is an obvious display of distress. I was told that they are rarely allowed to leave this area because they "cause trouble". The shocking thing to me was that there were many tourists there who seemed to be having a great time and turned a blind eye to these abnormal behaviors. In addition to this, they make the elephants so called "medicine" which does include a few healthy ingredients such as turmeric, bananas and tamarind but then they add a ton of sugar to the mixture!! I was also told they give ice cream and chocolate to the baby elephants. Can you imagine the health repercussions for these animals? This is not what they eat in the wild - they should be receiving much more green vegetation to eat. I would gladly pay TWICE the price if the elephants were treated better, had open space to roam and eat as they please. Sadly there are very few elephant parks in Thailand that don't exploit these magnificent creatures. I've heard that Elephant Nature Park is one of the few who are actually providing true rehabilitation for elephants. I recommend going there or skipping out on seeing any elephants...

We booked a day tour (JUNE 2018) The morning was great . We changed our clothes ..we feed elephants . Our guide Johnny explained the sanctuary to us ..we ate lunch ...and then we got ready for the afternoon with the elephants .. The afternoon was far more than expected ..we filled out bags with sugarcane . The elephants knew it was there ..we walked with the pregnant girl and she was very demanding so our cane did not last so long .. We walked through fields then up in to the forest on a trodden muddy track .. all the while the elephants trundled along ..grabbing ar the green forest with their trunks .. We climbed a steep slope that was slippery from the rain . The elephants walked and ate . The keepers spoke firmly to them to keep them on the move. THERE WERE NO HITS . NO PRODS WITH STICKS OR METAL HOOKS..NO CHAINS OR LEADS ... THERE WAS NO CRUELTY . ..THERE WAS ONLY FIRM VOICES USED SO THE ELEPHANTS MOVED ALONG .

We walked ... They ate .. they played in puddles and sprayed us with mud . They ate ..they scratched their big grey butts on trees along the way ...the waddled along at a leisurely pace ...we wandered along beside them.. They stayed on the track ..they ate and climbed ..when they were tired they laid their trunks on the ground so we rested with them .. Then they began to move with purpose ...their pace picked up and they moved along faster .. We walked through the jungle ..then the land opened out on to a large flat . Just beyond we could see the river...and the elephants began to trot . and the fun began🐘🐘🐘🐘 The river was red and murky from the rain. It flowed vastly..the elephants were in and so were we....thoroughly recommend this day. IT...