Taiwan’s Mountains to Sea Greenway (台灣山海圳) is an 188-kilometre trail that strikes inland and uphill all the way from the historic coastal reaches of Tainan to the very tip top of Jade Mountain — Taiwan’s highest peak. The route is unique in that it brings hikers into contact with the various groups of people who have made modern Taiwan what it is today — from the Dutch traders who established Fort Zeelandia, to the pious Fujian settlers who erected grand temples to their gods, the Japanese pioneers of water engineering whose ambitious irrigation projects still help power Tainan’s high-tech factories, and the earliest Indigenous whose folktales offer explanations as to why the land is the way it is. Culture aside, the Greenway also offers insight into the vast range of scenery and natural habitats that can be seen in Taiwan. As you make your way inland, the landscape segues from coastal mangroves full of oyster beds and fish farms, to small farming towns on the outskirts of regional tech hubs, to lowland reservoirs, longan orchards, tribal villages, monoculture forests replanted after large-scale logging efforts, grand old growth forests, and finally the alpine reaches up in the sky… and all of this within the space of 11 days.
Mountains to Sea Greenway Map
This map shows the full route of the Mountains to Sea Greenway, along with various points of note (hotels, eateries, sights, trail stamps). If you only want to see the routes, you can toggle off the other layers by clicking the layer button at the top left of the frame.
Mountains to Sea Greenway Day by Day Route Guides
Unlike the other long distance walks featured on this site, which I walked section by section, I completed the Mountains to Sea Greenway as an 11-day through-hike. Here are the full blog-style route guides for each day.
Mountains to Sea Greenway YouTube Videos
In addition to my usual blogs, I also decided to turn the Mountains to Sea Greenway into a mini vlog series. If you’re expecting sharp edits and the kinds of visual/audio effects that most local vloggers use, you’ll be disappointed I’m afraid — it turns out my natural vlogging style is pretty much the same as my writing style.
Taiwan Trails and Tales 