Taiwan Trails and Tales

LINSHAN CAPE COASTAL TRAIL (麟山鼻海岸步道)

Expect coastal scenery and easy walking on this short loop in New Taipei’s Sanzhi District.

SAVAGE VALLEY (野人谷)

This loop walk in New Taipei’s pretty Pingxi District takes you through an abandoned pleasure park, past a couple of waterfalls, and past the odd landscape of Dahua’s potholes.

This short loop trail is located on the outskirts of Guanxi, a small Hakka town just on the Hsinchu side of the Hsinchu-Taoyuan border. Along the way, you can hope to spot tea fields, abandoned kilns and an interesting temple.

MOUNT HUOYAN RIDGE HISTORIC TRAIL (火炎山越嶺古道)

A short trail in New Taipei’s coastal Gongliao District that greatly benefits from having a beach and a coffee shop at the end.

QINGQUAN TRIBAL VILLAGE STROLL (清泉部落)

This short walk encircling Qingquan Tribal Village in Hsinchu’s Wufeng Township offers hot springs, historic figures, and a little peek into life in an Indigenous village.

MANYUEYUAN WATERFALLS (滿月圓國家森林遊樂區)

One of two National Forest Recreation areas within the Greater Taipei area, Manyueyuan and its waterfalls is a popular spot for city folk seeking respite from Taipei’s hot summers. The park has abundant greenery, two or three waterfalls, and a handful of easy trails to explore.

KEELUNG GUANYIN STATUE and LONGTOU HILL (基隆大觀音像/龍頭山)

This short and easy wander takes you up into hills and alleyways above Keelung Port.

XISHAN CANAL TRAIL and PINGJING HISTORIC TRAIL (溪山百年古圳/平菁古道)

Just up the road from Taipei’s National Palace Museum, Pingjing Historic Trail and Xishan Canal Trail offer walkers a pleasant and shady walk with the promise of coffee and cherry blossom at the top if you visit at the right time of year.

FULONGSHAN TRAIL and GUANYINSHAN TREETOP WALKWAY (福隆山/觀音山林梢步道)

This trail in New Taipei’s Wugu District is absolutely choc full of cultural interest. It follows a walkway dotted with pretty historic temples before segueing into a wander among the treetops. It’s a perfect little off-the-beaten-track adventure that requires no preparation.

CHECHENG TURTLE HILL TRAIL (車城龜山步道)

This is a neat little walk in Pingtung’s Checheng Township is a great little leg stretch if you have a spare hour.

DAKENG TRAIL 4 & MOUNT TOUKE (大坑四號登山步道)

This picturesque trail in Taichung’s Beitun District is a unique Taiwan hiking experience — an undulating log path leads up to some great views.

GUANXI (關西)

Guanxi is one of several sleepy Hakka towns dotted along the border of Taoyuan and Hsinchu. It’s a wonderful place for a gentle day of exploring history, culture, coffee shops, and traditional culinary delights.

LIYU MOUNTAIN (鯉魚山)

Climbing from the shore of Liyu Lake, the Liyu Mountain Trail is a short and pleasant shaded walk with ample opportunities for bird and monkey sightings.

ANPINGZHEN CYCLE PATH (安平鎮庄自行車步道)

This short walking or biking route sees you following the waterways of Taoyuan’s Pingzhen District. The scenery is gently rural — the perfect kind of low-energy, no-planning-required wander.

MOUNT DALUNTOU (大崙頭山)

Mount Daluntou can be found in the green-clad slopes separating downtown Taipei from the more extensive greenery of Yangmingshan National Park. It is an easy Xiao Bai Yue and a simple half-day Taipei hike.

KEELUNG MOUNTAIN EAST PEAK (基隆山東峰)

Climbing Mount Keelung is part and parcel of the Jiufen experience. Most visitors take a break from sampling the town’s many and varied treats to climb the thigh-testing, lung-burning steps. Far fewer people know that there is a secret back-route that reaches the summit via a series of thrilling scrambles.

SMANGUS LOOKOUT and KORAW ECOLOGICAL PARK (司馬庫斯觀景臺/KORAW生態公園)

This gentle trail climbs up to a viewing platform overlooking Smangus, a secluded mountain retreat once considered Taiwan’s most remote settlement. While many visitors come to admire the village’s cherry blossom or its grove of giant trees, this forest trail at the other end of the village offers a quieter escape for birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts.

FENRUI HISTORIC TRAIL (奮瑞古道)

Chiayi is truly a magical place for foreign hikers hoping to experience something distinctly different from Europe or the Americas. Mountain villages accessed by historic railways, forests made of towering bamboo and slopes clad in precision-clipped rows of tea. On Fenrui Historic Trail, it’s tick, tick, tick to all of the above.

YUANTONG TEMPLE TRAIL (圓通寺步道)

Yuantong Temple is an (almost) century-old religious establishment built into the hillside of New Taipei’s Zhonghe District. The ridgeline behind it is crisscrossed with a network of trails where you can find all kinds of small shrines, statues and other interesting sights.

JINGUASHI to BENSHAN GEOLOGICAL PARK LOOP (金瓜石/本山地質公園O型)

The area around Jiufen and Jinguashi is absolutely riddled with hiking trails — many of which can be found on this site. This latest addition to the collection details an easy-to-moderate walk that takes in some sites of historical and geological interest.