The Mae Hong Son Loop in North West Thailand is rated as one of the best motorcycle roads in the world, a fantastic loop of hairpins, and switchbacks making for a awesome roller coaster of a ride and no amount of words or photographs will open you up to the awe of this road until you ride it for yourself.

Every country has a great stretch of road famous amongst bikers, Colorado in the US has it's fair share riding through beautiful scenery through the Colorado Rockies, the Cortez to Mesa Verde National Park is another great stretch and famous amongst bikers however, one thing stands out from the Mae Hong Son Loop that will challenge any of the better known top biking roads in the world and that is the sheer distance you are able to ride where the biking action is continuous;  here's some awe inspiring juicy bits...

1) You may have heard about the 1863 bends on the Mae Hong Son loop in just 210 kilometers?  That just gets you part way around the small loop!  To get back to Chiang Mai you have to continue onwards and the twists, switchbacks and hairpins continue in fact finding a straight bit is very difficult.

2) If the short loop from Chiang Mai returning to Chiang Mai is not enough for you maybe try out the bigger loop?  Again its continuous corkscrew affect doesn't stop!

3) Riding the short loop you need 3 days for a comfortable trip, the big loop allow 4-5 days!

Maybe the scenery isn't up to scratch?  Think again!  Throughout the entire trip you will be riding through many elevations amongst the most forested region in Thailand in the Himalaya sub region (Shan Appalachians), OK,  the mountains aren't the highest in the world in fact compared to many countries they could be classed as just rolling hills but they are not to be sniffed at.  The highest mountain reaches 2565 meters (8464 feet) and for most of the journey the yo yo affect will be around 1200-1500 meters, down to as low as 200 meters before working your way back up again. Even over an 800+ kilometer trip this is still par for the course.

We have taken hardened motorcycle travelers on this trip and every rider was in sheer awe of the ride.  For us the Mae Hong Son loop is the basis of our Dual terrain tours where our customers not only revel in the perfection of the road but a quick dash off the blacktop brings us into a new dimension of Jungle trail riding.  In our opinion wherever the Mae Hong Son Loop stands in the rankings it should be up there at the top but don't take our word for it!  Give it a blast for yourself!