Snow Mountain (aka Xueshan, and a few other spellings) is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful hikes in Taiwan. I’ve been lucky enough to have done it several times now, and each time seems to get better and better.
Just this past weekend, Taiwan Adventures took took a group of hikers for a two day, two night adventure on this high mountain. We had great people, great weather and a great time.
The afternoon sun highlights some cliff ridges on the hike to Snow Mountain, Taiwan.
Songluohu (or Songluo Lake) is another small lake in the mountains near Yilan, Taiwan. It’s a medium difficulty hike, mostly because the trail spends a lot of time crossing slippery tree roots, rocks and muddy slopes. The 4 to 5 hour hike is well worth the effort though, as the lake itself is surrounded by small mountain peaks and is quite a unique sight.
We lead the second of our overnight hiking trips there about a week ago, so I thought I’d share the photos.
The sunrise was beautiful.
My series of blog posts on hiking The Four Beast Mountains has become one of my most popular series since I’ve started blogging. Now that spring is back upon us, I’ve noticed that those posts are getting more and more hits. I can only guess that everyone is looking to get get some exercise!
So here’s a new post. It’s going to be mostly just pictures, but they are all from an area that I glossed over in the last three posts.
The general Yongchun area consists of two high schools, a small military base, several temples, and a few apartment building neighborhoods. The entire basin of this area (roughly 600m x 100m) was a shallow lake just a hundred years ago or so.
The Holy Ridge 雪山聖稜線 is one of Taiwan’s most famous big hiking trails. It’s a stunning hike along a long ridge line that usually takes about 5 days. It crosses several high peaks, including Taiwan’s second highest, Snow Mountain 雪山 (Xueshan) at 3886 m (12749 ft). The ridge is so long that three full days can easily be spent at over 3,400 m.
My friends and I hiked The Holy Ridge recently in a four day blitz. We achieved this by starting at midnight and hiking in the dark for an hour, then skipping the Snow Mountain Peak.
A hiker looks out on a sea of clouds on Taiwan's Holy Ridge, a hiking trail on and around Snow Mountain (Xueshan).
Snow Mountain (雪山) is Taiwan’s second highest mountain at 3,886m (12,749ft). Located in Shei-Pa National Park, the most popular trail to the peak is called the East Xue Trail and is quite a beautiful one. The trail passes through a variety of scenery including open grass fields, several different pine forests and a stunning ex-glacial cirque. Despite the fact that I say the following after nearly every hike in Taiwan: This might be one of the best hikes I’ve ever been on!
It’s possible to hike Snow Mountain (aka XueShan or Syue Mountain) on a two day weekend from Taipei, but it’s difficult. We spent an excruciating Saturday hiking for about 13 straight hours. Our day started at 3 am and finished at dusk. In between, we were lucky enough to have some beautiful weather and see some beautiful sites…
The East Peak of Snow Mountain pokes out of the mist during an early morning sunrise.
Jialuo Hu 加羅湖 is a mountain lake found high in the mountains of northern Taiwan. Only 70km southwest of Yilan, the trail head is a three hour drive from Taipei. The hike to the lake takes about another three hours, making this an awesome weekend away from Taipei’s bright lights.
This was the second time we hiked up to the beautiful lake, so I’ll keep this post short, and get right to the newest pictures:
A dream catcher-like spider web reflects the morning sun on Jialuo Hu Lake, near Yilan, Taiwan.
Jade Mountain (玉山) is Taiwan’s tallest mountain at 3,952 m (12,966 ft). It’s located within the Yushan National Park (玉山國家公園) just next to the famous Alishan National Scenic Area (阿里山國家風景區) in the central mountains of Taiwan. If measured from the nearby ocean floor, the Jade Mountain Main Peak rises an impressive 8,000 m in only 100 km.
Getting a permit to hike Jade Mountain is no easy task. My friends an I applied 14 times before finally receiving a permit to hike it on a weekend (A big thanks to Stu Dawson for his tenacity). We received a second round of good luck by getting perfect hiking weather on the 4th of July weekend. The trail to the peak is beautiful, and this hike is an absolute must-do for anyone with an adventurous soul living in Taiwan.
The Jade Mountain Main Peak as seen from the West Peak hiking trail.
I went on another weekend hike with Stu recently, this one to Xiaozi Shan (孝子山) and its nearby mountains located just to the south of Pingxi (平溪), Taiwan. We had a good time as usual, enjoying the first rain-free Sunday that Taipei has seen in months.
XiaoZi Shan and it neighboring mountains, Cimushan (慈母山) and Cimufeng (慈母) are all just a few minute’s hike from the 106 highway and downtown Pingxi. They all feature sheer-rock faced peaks with awesome views of the surrounding mountains and the Pingxi valley. What’s unbelievable about this area, is that all of the peaks are accessed by a trail “intersection” that has 4 different trail heads withing 40 meters of each other, and the peaks are all within a 30 minute hike from there!
Stu and I spent a few hours hiking up and down all the different peaks, then wandered home on a back trail and still got home for a late lunch, which has to make this area THE most accessible and best bang-for-you-buck hikes in all of Taiwan…
A couple of men descend from the peak of Xiaozi Shan (孝子山) on a aluminum ladder in Pingxi (平溪), Taiwan.
I’m pretty sure that most people in Taipei don’t realize that they live at the base of a volcano. What might be even more unsettling is that all indications show that there are still active magma cambers under northern Taiwan.
The Tatun Volcanic Group 大屯火山群 is a group of volcanoes that make up most of Yangming Shan National Park 陽明山國家公園, the large mountainous park that is just to the north, but technically within Taipei City limits. The largest is Qixing Mountain 七星山 (Seven Star Mountain) at 1,120 meters (3,675 ft); the next is Datun Mountain 大屯山 and there are many smaller parasitic volcanoes whose peaks can be seen around the park.
One of the most obvious to the naked eye is a mountain called Huangzui Shan 磺嘴山, to the northeast of Qixing Shan and Taipei City. It’s also one of the only ones with an obvious cauldron that you can hike into…
Unfortunately, we chose to visit on a day that you could barely see you hand in front of your face…
A hiker in a rain storm walks through tall grass in Yangming Shan National Park in Taipei, Taiwan.
The mountains of central Taiwan are remote and beautiful. Some friends and I recently made a two day hiking trip to the old NengGao Historic Trail 能高越嶺古道. Starting near Puli 埔里, Taiwan, the Nenggao hiking trail is a long but relatively easy ascent to the “Spine of Taiwan”… the high mountain “Backbone” that runs north to south through its center.
Most of our trek was cool (perfect for hiking) and foggy (not so perfect for seeing the nice views), but we had a good time and saw some interesting things, so I thought I’d share.
A hiker in the Central Taiwan mountains finds a giant earthworm.
The Golden Grotto (黃金峽谷) is a beautiful slot canyon up a remote river valley near Hualian, Taiwan. Located a few kilometers south of the entrance to Taroko Gorge National Park (太魯閣國家公園) or a few Kilometers north of Hualian (花蓮), the entrance to the Pratan South River is in Pratan Village (aka SanJhan South River (三棧南溪) and SanJhan Village (三棧)).
Jumping off one of the waterfalls behind the Golden Grotto near Hualian, Taiwan.
JiaLou Hu 加羅湖 is a mountain lake tucked high in one of Taiwan’s beautiful clouded forests. If you can get to the trail head, it’s a moderate three hour hike to the lake. On the way, you pass through some spectacular forests scattered with luscious green ferns, mossy vines, and a few 1,000 year old trees.
Three friends and I went there during the four day “Dragon Boat” holiday in late May. We did it in two days, but there is plenty more to explore in the area, and most of the people we met there were staying for the whole weekend.
I took this opportunity to give my first shot at a multi-media presentation. I would really, really like to get some critiques and feedback on what you think of it, so please feel free to comment below.
The multi-media presentation is above, but there are some still photographs and more information after the jump…
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.
Tiger Mountain(虎山) is the second subject of three in this series of articles on hiking Taipei, Taiwan’s Four Beasts Mountains (四獸山).
Tiger Mountain is the most northern of the Four 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 trail.
All along the trail are stunning views of Taipei 101, Taipei City, and Nangang.
"Taiwan's Tower of Babel" Viewed from Tiger Mountain.
One of my all time favorite hikes/photography locations in Taiwan is The Four Beast Mountains (四獸山) area. Located within Taipei City limits, these trails are an easy escape from busy city life and have amazing panoramic views of Taipei City and Taipei 101.
The 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 system. In fact, the base of Taipei 101 is only a 15 minute walk from the Elephant Mountain trail head.
If that’s not enough, many of the trails are lighted, 24 hours a day!
The view of Taipei from 9-5 Peak is unrivaled.
Taiwan is covered in hot springs. There are famous ones like Beitou, Jinshan and Wulai, but there are also many “wild” ones. Generally the wild ones are a bit more off the beaten track, and are almost always quite difficult to get to. The biggest problem getting to them isn’t the drive or the hike, it’s finding good directions (in English or Chinese). But then again, I guess if they were easy to get to or had good directions, there would be more people there and they wouldn’t be as interesting.
I recently went on a ride down the Northern Cross Island Highway 北橫 with some friends. The main goal of this particular trip was to find a remote, wild hot spring called the Siling Hot Springs 四稜温泉.
Crystal clear water under a hot spring waterfall... What could be better?
Hiking Huang Di Dian 皇帝殿 this past weekend was one of the best day trips I’ve been on in Taiwan. Just about 20 minutes from Taipei, this hike is one that shouldn’t be missed.
A perfect 360 view awaited us at the end.
Hiking in Taiwan just might be the best thing that you can do here. Fresh air, beautiful views, and a bit of exercise can really help you to forget the traffic, noise and pollution of the cities. I find it really sad that a lot of the people who live here never leave the cities. I’ve met foreigners who have lived here for years and have literally never left the city once. Personally, I go crazy if I can’t get out of Taipei at least every other weekend. Sometimes, I head to the mountains, sometimes the beach, sometimes the hot springs.
Last weekend, my friends and I decided that a little hiking was in order. Stu Dawson is completely insane about hiking and has started a website called Hiking Taiwan. He knows his stuff, so if he has a hike planned, I’ll usually try to tag along.
Last weekend we headed out to a small town called Pingxi 坪溪, just 30 minutes from Taipei. Surrounding Pingxi 坪溪 are some beautiful, jagged mountains that are perfect for a days get away.
We chose one called Feng Tou Jian 峰頭尖 that sits on a complex system of trails that crisscross Taiwan.
I’ll keep the story short because Stu did a great job of writing about it on his website. So if you want the details and practicalities of going to this particular trail, go to his site. I just thought I’d share my pictures from the hike to hopefully motivate some of you to get out there and start enjoying yourself!
In the beginning, we could see two of the peaks we would cross.
More hiking in Taiwan after the jump…
I had big plans for the weekend. The problem with planning anything on the weekends in Taipei is that the weather rarely cooperates. This weekend was the opposite problem of what usually happens. I was planning on a nice, lazy few days, with no other expectations except maybe get some stock pictures of the MRT (Taipei’s subway). To my surprise, the weather on Saturday turned out to be one of the best days of the year…cool, low humidity, and even sunny! Well, there goes my plans!!! I’ve definitely learned that you can’t waste a nice weekend in Taipei…it’s not that it rains ALL the time, but it does rain an awful lot.
After an hour or so of convincing myself to get out of bed, I decided to get up. So what to do? A quick call to my friend Ross who had a friend in from Japan and it was on. We decided we’d take a fairly easy 3.5 hour hike in the nearby mountains…
Wu Liao Jian (五寮尖) is a famous hike about 1 hour from Taipei. It has a complex trail system that allows hikes from a few hours to all day. The main attraction of this particular mountain is that it has a beautifully exposed rocky peak. There’s also a nice river by the trail head for a cool-down swim session afterwords.
As always, doing something proved to be the right decision over doing nothing…damn. Maybe next weekend it will rain!
Ross about to descend the very long rope ladder at Wu Liao Jian 五寮尖 mountain, near Taipei, Taiwan.
