Elephant Mountain (象山) is the most famous of the “Four Beasts Mountains (四獸山)” of Taipei, Taiwan and the most easily accessible. It’s the third and last article in my series about hiking the Four Beasts Mountains. Part one is on 9-5 Peak (Jiuwufeng – 九五峯), and part two is on Tiger Mountain (虎山).
Elephant Mountain is the most popular of the mountains for a good reason. Being the closest to the city not only means easy access, but it means stunning views of Taipei, especially Taipei 101.
While it is a short hike to the viewing areas, I’ll warn you that there are a lot of steps involved in getting there. If you’re fit, you can make it in 15 minutes. If you’re not, there are some places to rest with benches and nice views of their own.
Be prepared to climb up lots of stairs!
The main area that people go to to relax and look at the city has a few big boulders to climb up on and chill out.
The main viewing area of Elephant Mountain (象山) has a bunch of big boulders that you can climb onto to get a great view of Taipei City.
Elephant Mountain (象山) is a serene place to relax and blow off the stress of the city below.
Elephant Mountain gets very crowed on weekends, especially as the sun is about to set. I’ve heard that some nights, people start to stake out the prime viewing spots as early as 4 o’clock! However, if you hike the trails at night or on a weekday, the crowds aren’t much of a problem.
Don't think you're going to be the first one to take a picture of Taipei from Elephant Mountain!
There are also a few pavilions above that area and you can continue on to Tiger Mountain and 9-5 Peak if you want to make a day of it. Have a look at the trail map here.
All over the Four Beasts Mountains you can see interesting wildlife and insects.
Directions:
Finding the trail head isn’t too difficult. It’s a mere 15 minute walk from the base of Taipei 101. Start at the base of Taipei 101, walk one block east on Xinyi Road, make a right onto Songren Road, walk about 3 blocks until you pass the high school on your right, make a left at the next corner and follow the alleyway up and around until you see the entrance. Have a look at this google map.
The main entrance to the Elephant Mountain (象山) hiking trails.
This is part three of a three part series on hiking the the Four Beasts Mountain trails.
Thanks for reading!
-neil
[...] Beasts Mountains and the easiest to get to. It’s not the easiest to find (that would be Elephant Mountain) but if you have transportation, it’s an easy walk along a well kept, level [...]
Wow, wow and wow again (each wow is hand made – no copy/ paste!)
What a great set of photos, the first one is a real jewel.
Splendid work!
Hahaha, Thank you!
Thanks for this series. Sure, the vantage point for photos is obvious, but it makes taking interesting shots more challenging. Love your 101 at night shot on the main page introducing this entry.
Since I’m aready using electrons here, allow me to recommend the Flickr page of my buddy T.C. Lin, AKA “poagao” (“naughty monkey” in 台語)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/poagao/
Thank you! I’ve actually met poagao before, he has some nice work!!!
Cheers,
-neil
I love your works. They are really awesome. And congrats for being chosen by National Geographic.
[...] Neil Wade has accounts of his trips and great photos here [...]
[...] trail system includes Tiger (虎山), Elephant (象山), Leopard (豹山) and Lion (獅山) Mountains and is very easily reached from the Taipei MRT [...]