22 October 2019
The 7 best day hikes near Taipei in Taiwan
No car required - take a train or a bus
Time for another list.
Taiwan is full of mountains. By some statistics it is the most mountainous country on the planet. By other statistics it is not even a country. So all we have proved here is that statistics are useless.
I have been to Taiwan 4 times at the time of writing, with a 5th visit planned for April 2020, which will almost certainly feature more mountains, at which time this list may be updated.
Taipei is the capital in the north of the country, and has the best access to public transport to get you to the mountains, so here it is, my 7 favourite day hikes accessible from Taipei using public transport.
7. Elephant Mountain - Xiangshan subway station - 16 March 2012
The elephant mountain is a very popular hiking spot in Taipei for two reasons -
1. It is easily accessible from the red subway line.
2. It has great views of Taipei 101.
It is also a very easy hike, useful if the weather is hot and you still want to go hiking.
There are a lot of hiking trails in the vicinity to explore, and afterwards you can head back to Taipei 101 for a cheap food court lunch.
Click here to climb an elephant.
6. Guanyinshan - Luzhou station then No.20 Shuttle Bus - 26 March 2014
Guanyinshan is only a small mountain, but its a nice hike with good views and can easily be combined with a visit to the Bali area and then across into Tamsui by ferry.
Getting to the visitor centre is pretty easy, take the subway to Luzhou, and then the shuttle bus which is clearly marked Guanyinshan visitor centre. The descent down to the ferry goes through a very large cemetery. Hopefully when you visit it is not as smoggy as when I did!
Click here to climb over Guanyinshan to the Bali ferry.
5. Pingxi Three Peaks - Bus or train your choice - 29 March 2017
As the title suggests, this hike is actually three small mountains. All quite perilous and exciting with a series of steps cut into the cliffs where you haul yourself up by chains or ropes. There are a couple of ways to get here, if you are approaching from Taipei, the bus is probably more convenient, but you can also catch the historic train to Pingxi and head up the XiaoZiShan trail. It probably wont take you all day but that is ok, as the nearby Pingxi old street is a nice place to get lunch and have a look around.
The link below has lots of portait pics of the steep cliffs, the above pic shows one of the 3, you really do climb up to the top of that rock, squint and you can see people.
As you will be hauling yourself up cliffs hanging from chains, remember to bring gloves and be careful!
Click here to dangle from ropes and chains at Pingxi.
4. Huangdidian - Subway to the zoo then bus #666 - 7 March 2017
Although my visit was a slightly rainy day, this was still a fun climb.
The bus takes you into some old looking parts of Taipei, with houses and shops built into the river banks.
The hike itself is not too demanding, but there are some ridges where hanging on to chains is required, and some rather lengthy ladders to climb up and down. Fun times indeed.
If you cant find the trail head, click the link below, theres a photo of a trail marker with GPS coordinate!
A nice side activity after completing this hike is to visit the more modern old street of Shenkeng on the way back, a good place to grab lunch.
Also, that is Taipei 101 sticking up above the hills in the above photo.
Click here to climb Huangdidian.
3. Yangmingshan - Many different buses - Most recently, 8 March 2017
The most popular hiking spot in Taiwan. Yangmingshan hangs over Taipei and is very easy to get to, buses every few minutes, just follow the crowds.
The national park is very large, there are numerous peaks and volcanoes to climb and explore. I have been here 3 times so far, and I am sure I will go again when I visit Taiwan in April 2020.
2017 visit
2014 visit
2012 visit.
2. Teapot mountain - Train or bus then walk from the gold mine - 28 March 2017
This one is another really popular spot, but its worth it.
The day I went was incredibly windy, click the link below and you will see some really wind swept photos of me.
The path is easy to find from the gold mine, which is a tourist attraction that has thousands of tourists visit daily.
After you climb through the spout of the teapot you will find yourself in an unbelievably green shielded valley, it is kind of surreal.
From there you can hike down to a road and follow it back to the tourist street in Jiufen.
Click here to climb out the spout of a teapot.
1. Wuliaojian - Subway to Dingpu then 2 buses - 30 March 2017
According to some sources, this is the most dangerous hike in Taiwan. It is certainly fun and interesting, with countless ropes, ladders and ridges to ascend and descend. When it is busy this can be slow going, so go on a weekday, although the same applies to any popular hiking location.
It is worth the effort getting out to here if you want an interesting different style of hike, but the transport can be frustrating. From Sanxia, finding the right bus seems to be trial and error. Getting back again even more so, so much so that I walked the entire journey back to Sanxia along the busy road, adding to the overall danger or the day!
Click here to swing from lots of dangerous ropes.