The Zhukeng Stream Trail is an easy hike that takes you through a beautiful forest, past waterfalls, and over several suspension bridges. The highlight of the trail is Longgong Waterfall—a 20-meter-tall ribbon of water that cascades down a rocky cliff with a path that takes visitors behind it. Judging by the number of children on the trail, this is a fun walk for families with older kids.
Distance: About 7.7km in total, but if you just stick to the pretty and easier first half (up to Longgong Waterfall), the walk would be around 5km.
Time: This walk took me about 4 hours, but it would be closer to two if you only walked as far as Longgong Waterfall before turning around.
Difficulty (regular Taiwan hiker): 2/10 or 4/10 – If you only make it to Longgong Waterfall, then this is easy peasy, but the steps beyond that get steeper and pretty tiring.
Difficulty (new Taiwan hiker): 4/10 – or 6/10 – For exactly the same reasons as above. The hotter it is, the worse it will be too (although bear in mind that it’ll be a little cooler up here than down by the coast).
Total ascent: About 750m—almost all of that is done after Longgong Waterfall.
Water: I drank about 0.8L on a warm November day. There are vendors at the start selling some drinks and snacks, but the choice is limited.
Shade: Shade was patchy on this route. I used a sun hat and long sleeves to keep out of the sun.
Mobile network: Pretty clear throughout.
Enjoyment: There are some wonderful views here, and this walk is very unlike any I can find closer to Taipei.
Other: For most people, I would advise only going as far as Longgong Waterfall, beyond that isn’t as spectacular. However, if you have someone ready to pick you up, then it would be easier to start at the top trailhead (not the one I started from) and walk down.
Bathroom facilities: There were toilets in the shop where I started this walk, beside the first bridge, and at the top, close to the eastern trailhead.
Route type: There-and-back
Permit: None needed
Jump to the bottom of this post for a trail map and GPX file.
After parking in the lower of the two carpark at the trail’s western starting point, I realised that to get up to the top carpark (and official trailhead), I was being directed right through a shop. I’ve got to admit, it’s a nifty bit of marketing from the proprietor—he was doing a roaring trade in tea eggs and bottled drinks.
Once you exit the little shop, the trail diverts you along a walkway beside a greenhouse, then takes a left turn past some fish ponds and climbs a flight of steps before arriving at the upper carpark. Take the little track on the right here.
After heading down for about 50 metres, the track splits in two. There’s no signage, but Zhukeng Waterfall Trail can be found by following the one on the left. More vendors have set up here along the way—there’s even a coffee shop.
The start of the trail proper is marked by the first of twelve bridges. Some of these bridges are so insignificant that you might not notice you were even crossing a bridge without a sign to tell you so, but others are quite spectacular.
There are very few junctions along this trail, and every single one of them is kind of insignificant in that they cannot result in you getting lost. At this first one, you can choose whether to take the steps going up and over, or take a narrower trail going around the side of the hill. I opted to take the flatter trail. There are a couple of points which offer great views of the hills rising far off in the distance, however, if you’re even a little bit queasy about heights, I would recommend taking the stairs instead. The two trails join back up again after only a couple of minutes.
The second junction is equally (if not more) insignificant. Here, the main trail goes left, while a 50m spur trail takes you down to a viewing platform overlooking the majestic drop of Longgong Waterfall (龍宮瀑布). However, you get equal or better views of the waterfall from the next bridge.
A group of pink-and-red-clad crossed the bridge by huddling together in the middle and grabbing onto each other. There is another (less impressive) waterfall to be seen on the left side of this bridge.
Of the trail’s twelve bridges, this one is by far the most impressive. Its slender design cuts high across the river valley, and as you walk over it, you get a clear view of Longgong Waterfall.
You can also watch matchstick-sized hikers scurrying through the covered tunnel cut into the cliff face to allow safe passage.
At the far end of the bridge, you can either go straight and continue up to the eastern trailhead, or you can take a detour to the right to get a little closer to the waterfall. The narrow walkway hugs tight to the cliff face, and if you visit on a weekend, you’ll find yourself stopping frequently to let people pass.
The trail takes you all the way round to meet Longgong Waterfall.
In fact, if you duck, you can even walk right behind the water curtain (just prepare to get a little damp while doing so). If you look down from the railings beside the waterfall, you’ll find that it is facing a second, much smaller cascade with its own blue-watered plunge pool.
Spurred into moving by the shouts of an approaching hiking group, I returned to the junction by the large suspension bridge and took the trail heading upwards.
NOTE: The remainder of this trail is steeper than what has gone before and also not as interesting. If you just turned back and concluded your journey here, you would have seen the best bit.
As the trail climbs, the forest seemed to get denser and darker. For a while, it tracks quite close to a small tributary of the bigger river below.
One of a noisy flock of white-eared sibias that were chatting up a storm.
A lot of the trail on this upper portion is made of wooden steps. I prefer walking on these to walking on cut stone or concrete, but they are prone to rot, and in at least two sections, some steps had disappeared competely.
At the end of the second-longest suspension bridge, there is a pavilion overlooking the skinny string of Shengmaoshu Waterfall (生毛樹瀑布). I stopped for a while to dig the salt candy I’d brought with me out of my bag before continuing on.
There’s another bridge right beside the pavilion—this one decked out with loads of lifejackets and flotation devices. There were so many that it looked kind of creepy, like talismans to ward off drowning—not that it would be possible to do much swimming in the stream at this spot.
For the remainder of the journey up, I was passing members of this large hiking team that had ended up getting all strung out. They were obviously starting to flag as the steep steps showed no sign of relenting.
When the steps change to concrete slabs, and you find yourself walking through betel nut trees, you’ll know you’ve almost made it. At the top of the step, there’s another couple of pavilions and a toilet block.
If you’re doing an A-B hike, you’ll need to carry on a little further and head up the steps at the far side of this farm track.
Along the way, there’s one final view to enjoy of tea farms cloaking hills on the far side of the valley.
Then the steps spit you out at the eastern carpark, right beside this land god temple. As you can probably tell by how the cars are encroaching on the temple’s space, the car park was rammed! I had half a mind to try and scrounge a lift back from someone, but that would have been cheating, and since there was nothing else to see or do here, I turned back and retraced my steps.
How to get to Zhukeng Waterfall Trail
Google Maps address: I parked my scooter at this free carpark a little further down the hill from where the trailhead is marked on Google Maps. The top trailhead can be found here. There’s a small number of car spaces and plenty of scooter space at all three spots listed here.
GPS location:
- Eastern trailhead – N23 33.700 E120 39.070
- Western trailhead – N23 33.240 E120 40.220
Public transport: Only two buses a day pass this trail (the 7315 and 7315A), both of which run between Chiayi Train Station and Xinxingliao bus stop. However, unless you’re planning on staying in a hotel near the trail, publiic transport isn’t really a feasible way to reach this spot.
Zhukeng Waterfall Trail Map
GPX file available here on Outdoor Active. (Account needed, but the free one works just fine.)
Taiwan Trails and Tales 