A Pretty Boardwalk Trail in Changhua County
Fangyuan sits about halfway down Taiwan’s western coastline. It’s a rural township in Changhua County, that in recent years has been selling itself as a destination for travellers hoping to find a slower, more rural side of Taiwan. The area is mostly known for its oyster farms, but there are areas where the coastal ecosystem has been preserved. Fangyuan Wetlands is one such spot.
Distance: 2.1km
Parking: There is a large carpark with some accessible spaces in front of Fanyuan Putian Temple.
Time: 45-90 minutes. It took us about an hour and a quarter, but we did spend a lot of time looking at crabs.
Trail conditions: Well-surfaced and smooth. Some gentle inclines. Some areas of the trail are on the narrow side (see pictures), but there are frequent wider areas. This trail has ramp access, but the only access point for pushchairs or wheelchairs is right beside the southernmost entrance. This is fine if you plan to complete a loop since you can just start and finish the loop here. Seating is provided in a few places.
Bathroom facilities: There are toilets at Fanyuan Putian Temple. Unfortunately, I did not think to check whether any have ramp access, but after checking photos online, it appears that one does.
Food and drink availability: There are usually vendors gathered in the temple carpark, particularly on weekends and holidays.
Shade: None at all. On a sunny day, you will definitely need to cover up.
Mobile network: Clear the whole way.
Enjoyment: This one will definitely be a hit with kids (and adults) who are into nature spotting. There are so many crabs, mudskippers and birds to see.
When to visit: If you’re heading there for the photos, then the prettiest time would be sunset at high tide. But if you’re more interested in crab-spotting, then low tide will be more fruitful. Information on tide times can be found on the Central Weather Bureau’s website.
Route type: Loop
Permit: None needed
Jump to the bottom of this post for a trail map and GPX file.
The massive carpark in front of Fanyuan Putian Temple makes me think that this place is probably heaving with visitors on weekends. Even on a weekday there place felt pretty lively once a couple of bus-loads of day-tripping retirees spilled forth from their air-conditioned mobile KTV palaces.
We used the temple’s toilets and dodged the dried fruit vendors before heading over the road towards the coast. We decided to enter the mangrove boardwalk through the southern entrance, so we turned left as soon as we saw the water. It’s pretty obvious when you need to turn off the seawall and start following the path out towards the sea.
We started our walk amongst one of the busloads of aunties and uncles, and got all caught up in the middle of the tour guide’s shouted description of the place.
We tried to dawdle and let them pass us by, but it seemed that the stream of new aunties was as neverending as the ebb and flow of the tides!
At least the dawdling was very enjoyable. Wherever you look, there are interesting sights to be seen. Out to sea, there are the deceptively slender-seeming white stems of many wind turbines. “They’re not moving today,” noted one uncle. “Yes, they haven’t been turned on yet,” said another with certainty. “No, no! They’re broken,” retorted another with an equal level of certainty. The world according to Taiwanese uncles is often contradictory. Looking down to the waves below our feet, we could see the water lapping at the mangrove roots and red-armed fiddler crabs guarding their muddy burrows.
The path curved through the mangrove trees under the looming presence of the stationary wind turbines.
Close to the point where the southern, middle and northern trails intersect, there’s a multi-level viewing platform. The upper level offers views over the tops of the low-growing mangroves, and a half basement allows you to get close to the muddy floor.
It was thrilling to be able to squat down right beside the mud to watch the crabs defend their burrows. There are multiple varieties on sight here, different types of highly territorial fiddler crabs, rock crabs, sentinel crabs, and plenty of others.
Perhaps even more exciting than the crabs were the many tiny mudskippers which hopped and flopped and flipped their way across the bay, causing the fiddler crabs to wave their oversized pincers in irritation. It feels like if you could just set this to the right music, it would look like some epic adventure film.
We stayed at the shelter so long that we managed to slip far behind the noisy tour group. And by the time we were ready to head onwards, it was just us and one other family. We took the northern arc of the boardwalk (on the left here), but if you’re feeling too tired/hot you can take a shortcut and head straight back to the middle path.
It’s worth heading along the northern route though, because, for a stretch, the high railings drop away leaving just a short, ankle-high barrier (or trip hazard perhaps). It’s really pretty.
Even when the path starts to draw close to the road, it’s still beautiful. In fact, I almost found it more beautiful in a strange way. The neat lines of both path and elevated road bordering the landscape.
Where the boardwalk rejoins the sea wall, take a right turn and follow the road back towards Putian Temple.
The walk along the top of the wall was pretty, but we soon made the choice to duck down and walk in the shade of the road. (As it turned out, that was a good call, I’d already managed to pick up a little bit of sunburn by that point.)
How to get to Fangyuan
Google maps address: The walk starts from Putian Temple. There’s plenty of space to park here, but on a hot day, it might be smarter to find one of the spaces in the shade of the elevated road.
GPS location: N23 55.740 E120
Public transport: You can make your way here using public transport (the 6738 bus from Changhua to Nanwang Gong, alighting at Bei Fangyuan), but buses are infrequent and the journey is long given how short the trail is.
Further reading: This area is known for its traditional method of harvesting oysters (using carts pulled by oxon), so if that sounds like something you’d be interested in, check out this article from Taiwan Everything about the area.
My new words learnt on this hike:
- 彈塗魚 / tántuyú / mudskipper
Fangyuan Wetlands Trail Map
GPX file available here on Outdoor Active. (Account needed, but the free one works just fine.)
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