While Hualien County is famed for its rugged mountainous terrain, the city itself is remarkably flat. The one exception to this is Meilun Hill. The sweet-potato-shaped mound rises 109 metres above sea level and is criss-crossed by walking trails and dotted with rest areas. The hill’s usefulness as a vantage point has been appreciated by various waves of settlers to the area, some of which have left traces of themselves on the land that can be seen by present-day visitors.
Distance: About 3 kilometers.
Time: 50-90 minutes depending on how quickly you whizz round.
Difficulty (regular Taiwan hiker): 1/10 – An easy wander with a few steps.
Difficulty (new Taiwan hiker): 2/10 – There are some steps and the trails criss-cross each other, but overall, this is very easy.
Total ascent: Not quite 100 metres.
Water: I visited before breakfast, so I took my morning coffee, but a small bottle would suffice.
Shade: On and off shade. If I’d visited later in the day, I would have needed proper protection from Hualien’s strong UV.
Mobile network: Clear throughout.
Enjoyment: It was clear from the number of early-morning exercisers I encountered that Hualien citizens greatly enjoy having this hill on their doorstep. It may not be a wild adventure in the great outdoors, but it’s definitely a pleasant and convenient spot to enjoy a spot of exercise right in the heart of the city.
Sunrise: In clear weather, you can watch the sunrise over the ocean. Check any local weather app to see what time you can expect the sunrise and allow at least half an hour to arrive at the viewing spot.
Route type: Loop
Permit: None needed
Jump to the bottom of this post for a trail map and GPX file.
There are a couple of entrances to the Meilun Hill trail complex, but since the Shangzi Road one was closest to where we were staying, that’s the one I picked. A big sign reading Meilun Hill Park (美崙山公園) marks the start of the walk.
A broad, flat trail leads upwards, and when I arrived at around seven o’clock, it was full of people exercising both their bodies and their vocal cords.
At a bend in the track, I took the smaller path branching off to the left.
The trail here is shaded and gentle, and I saw several different types of birds flitting through the trees.
A grave marker for members of the Republic of China Military Academy. In the early years of Chiang Kai-shek’s rule of Taiwan, some troops were stationed in Hualien for training. Of those, several died and were buried at this site. It has been suggested that the monument should be moved to somewhere less “eerie” and more full of life, but for now, it seems like those who wish to preserve the historic site as it is have prevailed.
After turning a bend, the trail starts to climb. The steps are well-spaced and pretty gentle, though.
To the right of the path, there is a small shrine with a rest area. I paused here to watch an old man light some incense and offer up his morning prayers.
At the top of the steps, the loop I was following continues to the right, but first I headed left to the lookout point.
Here I came across the first of several (now unused) military defense bunkers. You also get a view looking inland over Hualien City and towards the mountains. The tallest cloud-topped and sun-dappled peak is the cute-sounding Papaya Mountain (木瓜山).
The roots of the banyan trees growing at this mountain-top clearing have forced their way neatly through the square tiles.
Turning back the other way, I passed the steps I’d come up from and carried on over the ridge of the hill. Hidden just to the right of the path, there’s another hidden bunker–in fact, I think the path runs straight over the top of it.
Where the path makes a turn to head down, there is a seating area that would make the perfect sunrise viewing spot. Even after the sun had been up a while, the light was rather pretty.
The path keeps going down until it reaches a four-way junction. Here, I just kept going straight along the most clearly defined path (where the guy in the white T-shirt is going).
Not long after, there’s another junction, and here I took the leftmost path leading in the direction of these twin pavilions.
After another brief climb, I found myself on top of Meilun Hill. Lots of early risers were exercising in the mountaintop clearing and several of them even greeted me with cheery good mornings. At the summit there is another old military structure and a toilet block. (This whole mountaintop park seems to be very well-equipped with such facilities.
I found the triangulation marker hidden by some bushes on the right side of the trail just beyond the clearing. I’ve seen photos of several in this style online, but I think this is the first one I’ve actually visited. They remind me of something you’d find on a crazy golf course.
For a while, there are twin paths snaking their way through the trees. I’m not sure why there was a need to lay two, since the pair reconnects pretty quickly.
After another toilet block, the path curves to the right and starts to go downhill. This area was a hive of all sorts of activity. There were stretchers, vocal exercisers, joggers, and bird-spotters all converging on this one popular spot. The guy in the left-hand picture had spotted a brown-headed thrush, and despite not knowing what he was looking at, he spent a good few minutes trying to photograph it. At the bottom of the steps, I rejoined the road, then followed it round a bend to the right and then back through a gateway.
Here you can choose to either follow the road along the top of the grassy area or take the winding trail around the bottom edge of the space. Both reconnect in the end, so it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference.
At the far end of the grass, there’s a large pavilion (at the time I visited, it was playing host to a group of pink-and-white-clad dancing aunties). Just beyond that, I turned left to head down the broad paved road, and very soon, I found myself back at the junction where I’d earlier turned left onto a narrower trail. About half-way down, I met an older man who asked what kind of bird I was photographing (it was a grey-cheeked fulvetta), and in the five minutes it took us to walk back to the trailhead, I found out that he’s been everywhere in Europe except for the UK; he has one son; he loves living in Hualien; beef in Hualien is cheap; he’s a massive badminton fan; he thinks stretching is a waste of time and Hualien’s doctors are useless; and he visits this trail every morning, afternoon and evening. He was quite the chatterbox. I bought breakfast for Teresa on my way back to where we were staying, but when I arrived, I was still the only one awake.
How to get to Mount Meilun
Google Maps address: I started my walk from somewhere around here. I’m not 100% sure whether or not the carpark in this location is open to the public, but it’s not generally too hard to find parking in Hualien.
GPS location: N23 59.490 E121 36.640
Public transport: The starting point listed above is a 20-minute walk (or 5-minute taxi ride) away from Hualien station.
Meilun Trail Map
GPX file available here on Outdoor Active. (Account needed, but the free one works just fine.)
Taiwan Trails and Tales 