This trail is not Tefuye Historic Trail. That is a longer, more challenging point-to-point (or there-and-back) route. Instead, this is a short and sweet trail that encircles the Tsou tribal village of Tefuye. Along the way, you can stop of one of the small coffee stores selling locally grown coffee (I sat right next to the plants my coffee beans came from as I drank), take a stroll through an aboriginal village, and learn a little about the life and culture of the Tsou.
Distance: About 4.5 kilometres.
Time: 1½-3 hours – If you’re walking this just for the purpose of having a walk, then it isn’t a long trail, but I walked it as something to do while having a relaxing nothing-to-do-nowhere-to-be type of day in Dabang, and it took me three hours, including lots of photo stops, reading all the signage, and a leisurely break for coffee.
Difficulty (regular Taiwan hiker): 2-3/10 – This trail should be considered easy for a regular hiker in Taiwan. There are steps, but you should be used to those.
Difficulty (new Taiwan hiker): 4-5/10 – For a fit walker new to Taiwan, this should be relatively easy, but for someone who doesn’t regularly do any kind of cardio exercise, the steps will leave you out of breath (doubly so in the summer).
Total ascent: About 200 metres (almost all done on steps).
Water: I took 0.5L and finished most of it as well as the cup of iced coffee I bought part-way around.
Shade: The shade is on and off. I had my sun hat on for much of the walk.
Mobile network: Clear throughout.
Enjoyment: This is an excellent way to enjoy your visit to Dabang and Tefuye. The trails are pleasant and pretty, but not demanding. They pass through a range of different types of scenery and are absolutely full of birds, and you can pause to enjoy some organic, locally-grown coffee while you’re here.
Other: The coffee shops here don’t necessarily follow standard business hours. I passed one that just had a sign advising would-be patrons to call the boss if they want a drink, and the other one seems to have disappeared from the map entirely.
Bathroom facilities: There’s a toilet block right at the start of the loop.
Route type: Loop
Permit: None needed
Jump to the bottom of this post for a trail map and GPX file.
From the carpark, the track climbs to cross the suspension bridge.
Before crossing the bridge, I passed through a corridor of beautiful purple flowers that were completely abuzz with huge bees gorging themselves on nectar.
The entrance to the bridge is adorned with pretty tiles, each featuring a plant or animal species that can be seen nearby.
Looking downstream, I could see the red road bridge that runs up to Tefuye Village, and upstream, a fisherman cast his line into the pool below a small artificial waterfall.
From the pavilion, steps climb up in the direction of the giant camphor grove.
Before reaching the camphor trees, the path is shaded by elegant bamboo stems.
Beside the trail, a pile of rocks gathered around two bamboo stalks marks the position of Tefuye’s tribute stone. Even without the stone, the spot feels somewhat special. The formation of the rocks means that the wind whistles noisily here. Residents leave offerings to their village’s guardian deity on this flat-topped rock.
On it were cigarettes, chocolate coins and some actual coins. Cigarettes, it seems, are a currency for all the gods of Taiwan, be they aboriginal or Han.
Head straight over at the junction.
A gap in the tree coverage showed the mountains doing their most afternoon darkening.
Merge straight onto the road and look out for the sign leading you left off the road towards the giant camphor tree.
The trees are indeed giant. Their branches spread, just about touching each other and covering the ground with dappled shade.
Ferns fringe their upper branches and the crevices in their bark host lots of small critters.
At the top of the steps, turn left and follow a track through more camphor and bamboo.
The second coffee store I passed was open, and I got a cup of iced toffee-coloured coffee.
I was the only customer and I enjoyed listening to the combination of bird song and eighties pop tunes. I spent quite a long time there. Long enough to get chatting to the proprietress who moved here from a neighbouring village when she married.
Before I left, she gave me a couple of sweet, plump bananas that she said she’d fought the monkeys for.
From the store, the path heads up through a coffee plantation to arrive at the little village of Tefuye.
At the top of the steps, I turned left to take a big loop through the village, passing a convenience store and a small restaurant along the way.
The road climbs through more coffee trees then doubles back on itself. The coffee plants here were in bloom and the smell (though faint) was very pleasant.
The lane climbs up to join a bigger road, and here I turned right to walk back through the village.
Walking down the main street, the thatched roof of the village’s kuba came into view.
Kubas are unique to the Tsou, and only Tefuye and Dabang villages have them. Two-storeys high, with thatched roofs, these buildings are an important part of the life of the Tsou people. Only men are permitted to enter the second floor and take part in the ceremonies conducted there. Standing on the road above Tefuye’s kuba and looking up, you can see the smoke-blackened bamboo beets and grasses. Stand further away, and you can see the living plants placed on top of the structure’s two central poles that signify the deities preside over this building.
A large fire pit occupies the courtyard in front of the kuba, and on the wall, children’s artwork shows scenes from Tsou life.
Reaching the end of Tefuye Village, take the path heading up to the left of Tefuye Archway.
If you feel so inclined, you can climb onto the archway and enjoy views in both directions.
The track climbs up past the village’s graveyard, then past a couple of buildings that could be either farms or homes.
At the junction, keep straight. (The noisy dogs down the track on the left will make sure you don’t get lost.) Just past the junction, I found myself playing a game of “dodge the water” as rotating sprinklers provided water to the coffee trees.
The path climbs to a pavilion accompanied by a sweet gum tree with views over Dabang Village. Each of the fence posts surrounding the pavilion has been hand-carved with depictions of birds, fish, tools, and plants.
The mix of plant life on the way down is very different to the lower part of the trail. Here, mountain cherries and plum trees line the path. I visited in March, when most of the blossoms had dropped, leaving bright red berries or hard green plums in their wake.
Then the blossoming trees give way to a beautiful forest of bamboo.
Each culm is ie own work of art. Some are patinated with lichen, others have been commandeered by climbing vines or boring beetles or bear the traces of a snail’s slow zigzagging progress.
At the junction, take a left and keep heading downhill.
The trail passes through a six-sided pavilion, then too quickly, arrives back at the junction that will return you to the suspension bridge.
How to get to Tefuye Trail
Google Maps address: The trail starts from the Dabang side of Dabang Suspension Bridge. There’s an unmarked carpark here with plenty of space for cars and scooters.
GPS location: N23 27.450 E120 45.070
Public transport: This route is served by the 7314 bus which runs between Chiayi County Daya Bus Station (starting point) or Chiayi Train Station (pick-up point along the way) and Tefuye Entrance bus stop. However, online sources seem to disagree quite significantly as to how many services there are and when they leave. From what I can tell, this is because the departure times vary depending on whether you travel on a weekday or weekends.
To the best of what I can ascertain, on Mondays to Fridays, two buses travel in each direction daily, leaving Daya Bus Station at 05:45 and 16:55, and returning from Dabang (this terminal stop is just a couple of hundred metres along the road from the Tefuye Entrance stop) at 08:00 and 19:10. On weekends, there are also two services in both directions. They leave Daya Bus Station at 10:55 and 16:55, and return from Dabang at 14:10 and 19:10.
The ride up takes about 2.5 hours, so although it would be possible to travel here for a day trip, it would be a far more enjoyable experience to plan an overnight stop in either Dabang or Tefuye. This would allow you to have time to sample the excellent Tsou cuisine on offer at places like the Tsou Fengguan Tribal Restaurant.
Nearby trails
- Dabang Bird Divination Pavilion Trail
Tefuye Trail Map
GPX file available here on Outdoor Active. (Account needed, but the free one works just fine.)
Taiwan Trails and Tales 