Chiang Mai Trek without Elephant Ride

I'm heading to Chiang Mai, Thailand for several days at the end of January and I'm looking to do a 3 day, 2 night trek, but I'm looking for one that doesn't feature elephant rides and it seems to severely limit my choices. I'm not sure about the elephants living conditions and it seems like a potentially cruel setup for the elephants (please correct me if I'm wrong as I have not been there myself).

Are there any trekking trips in Chiang Mai that don't have elephant rides?

Best Answer

If you're willing to look a bit further afield, Chiang Dao Nest, a little over an hour north of Chiang Mai, does rather good elephant-free treks. Their site also mentions some treks with elephant rides, but they have plenty of other options as well.

Their guides are all local hill tribe people and all in all their setup is pretty good, they'll pick you up from Chiang Mai in the morning or the night before and the Nest is a really nice place to stay.

Here's some photographic evidence from my own (elephantless) trek with them back in 2005.