Taiwan Hiking Journal: February 2022

A long route connecting Wulai to Yilan via road and trail: misty mountains, a wild river valley, waterfalls, monkeys, barking deer and wild pigs.

Distance/Time: 39.42 km/ 11 hours.

This was a very, very long way to walk and even though the trail is relatively flat it was really tough. To do the entire route,we had to push ourselves and keep moving with few rests.

A better option would be to camp in the middle. At the end of Ayu Road and just at the start of the Tong Hou trail, there is a basic campsite. We also had to do a lot of road walking once we reached the end in Yilan. The route could be made about 12 kilometers shorter by arranging for transportation on the Yilan side.

Another option might be to drive, park near the trail head on the Yilan side and to just walk the Tong Hou Trail section there and back. However, even though the first half on the Wulai side is on a road, it is a really enjoyable walk.

The Trail: The first 20 kilometers were mostly on the road. There is a control point at the entrance just past the village of Xiaoyi and motorized vehicles are not allowed past this point. We did see two vehicles so I assume only local residents are allowed in. Walking on the road is nice and there are spectacular river and mountain views all along the way. And no need to worry about traffic! Some parts of the road were slippery.

The Tong Hou Trail is mostly level though there were a couple of climbs and more rough sections in the middle and near the end. On the day we were there it was very wet and muddy. There are a few shallow stream crossings. I slipped and had wet feet for the rest of the hike after one crossing.

We saw some runners, one mountain biker and some hunters on the road. But we didn't see any other hikers all day and no one once we reached the Tong Hou trail.

We heard and saw monkeys in the trees above the trail several times, heard Reeves Muntjac (barking) Deer very close to the trail and though we could not see them could see they were moving through the undergrowth. My hiking partner saw a wild pig right on the trail but by the time I rounded the bend it was gone.

What to take: I packed plenty of water but it would have been possible to save weight because we were never too far from a water source. Though I always treat or boil water just in case before drinking it. Its possible to stock up on food and drinks in Wulai. A hiking pole was very useful for balance during stream crossings.

I took a headlamp and a back up flashlight because I knew we would finish in the dark.

On the day we hiked there was light rain throughout the day and I was glad to have my rain gear.

Transportation: In Taipei we took the MRT to Xindian and took bus 849 to Wulai outside of exit 1. The bus takes about 30-40 minutes.

On the way back we took a taxi from the village of Longtan to the Yilan bus station and then a Capital Star bus back to Taipei. The bus ride is an hour or more depending on traffic.

The Hike:

Originally my long time hiking partner had suggested that over Chinese New Year we walk this route in two days camping in the middle. But because it was raining constantly I did not want to camp and so we came up with the crazy idea of going light and walking it all in one day.

We started from the Wulai parking lot and walked toward Wulai village. After crossing the bridge at the village entrance we turned left.

We followed this road for about 5 and half kilometers to the village of Xiaoyi.

Along the way there were already great views of the mountains and of the Tong Hou River below on the left. We would follow this river for the entire route.

A sign said it was 17.3 kilometers to the Tong Hou Trail.

At the end of the road we turned right. There were two roads on the right and we took the higher one. It went down, around a curve and came to a traffic control point manned by a police officer. This was the entrance to Ayu Road. It took us about an hour and 40 minutes to reach this point.

The police officer asked us what our plans were and seemed incredulous when he found out we planned to walk to Yilan. He calculated aloud what time we would get there: "Right now its almost ten o'clock, you will get there...." Finally he concluded it was more than 30 kilometers and that we wouldn't make it. But then he kind of just shrugged his shoulders and lifted the barrier for us to pass.

I took a picture of the police check point after we passed.

We knew we had a long way to go but the conversation with the police officer was a good reminder and so we picked up the pace a little.

About two kilometers after the check point we came to an impressive unnamed (as far as I know) waterfall. On my map it just said "waterfall."

It was really nice walking on the road. There was (almost) no traffic. The road was wide and since we didn't need to watch our feet much we were free to stroll along looking at the the mountains, the river and tributary streams flowing down ravines. The river alternated between noisy sections of white water sometimes spilling over mad-made weirs, quiet wide sections and deep blue-green pools.

A pick up truck with six big dogs in the back driven by two aboriginal hunters wearing camo passed us. They waved and said hello. After a while we caught up to them. They had let their dogs out. The dogs jumped over the barrier at the side of the road and we could hear from their barking that they quickly descended the hillside. After just a few moments we could hear the loud squealing of a wild pig.

The first hunter said to us in English with a thick accent "Pigga. Pigga" and started running toward the sound. Then he said in Chinese "Get the knife." went back to the truck and started off again with what looked like a huge spike. The second hunter was more nonchalant. He calmly took out a large hunting rifle and set off after his friend. We were tempted to stay and see what happened but we didn't know how long it was going to take and had to keep moving.

As we got close to the area marked as Tong Hou on the map, the road forked. We took the left fork. Though I think there is a gate across the right fork anyway.

As we neared the entrance to the Tong Hou Trail we could see a camp site through the trees on the left. A little further there was what we guessed to be a hydro-electric station. Turning left a path beside the electric station led to a couple of abandoned buildings and the campsite.

campsite near the entrance to Tong Hou Trail

The entrance to the Tong Hou trail was just a couple of minutes further. We had walked a little over 20 km so far and it had taken us 4 hours and 40 minutes. We had lunch and rested for about 30 minutes.

A trail short trail led down to the river and to a place where a waterfall and a narrow spot in the river flowed together and churned up the water.

The map beside the trail entrance said it was 7 kilometers from here to the end of the trail but we knew we would have to do a lot more walking after that to get to a point where we could get transport to Yilan.

The trail was flat at first and continued to follow the river.

In less than 800 meters we came to a side trail on the right leading to Da Jiao Xi Shan (1161 m). A loop trail climbs up to the summit and returns to the main trail. But it looks like a potentially tough climb and we didn't have time for it.

There was a stream crossing via a bridge made of a concrete slab and more straight path following the river. This section was very wet.

There was one section that climbed steeply up and made a big U shape before coming back to the river. On the map board next to the trail head it was called the "detour route" so I assume it was to bypass a section of damaged trail.

We descended back to the river via metal steps and then the path went straight again.

At about 4:00 and I feeling fatigued so I decided it was time to try a packet of energy gel I had been saving. I was disappointed that I did not feel much effect from it. It tasted good but that is about all I can say for it.

The trail was narrower and rougher near the end.

Just near the end of the Tong Hou Trail we came to a very different section. The trail cut through tall, wet grass high above the river and around the side of a hill. The trail was narrow and close to the edge of the cliff so we had to watch carefully where we put our feet. Then we walked in a shallow stream for a short distance, eventually crossing to the other side.

We went through more grass, through a very muddy section and came to the sign board indicating the end of the trail. We had been walking for just over eight hours and gone 28 kilometers.


Feeling very tired but still about 12 km to go

However we still had about another 12 kilometers of road walking before we would get to Longtan: where we got a taxi to the Yilan bus station.

We walked down the dirt road and at a fork went right and down hill.

Soon it was time to get out the headlamps and flashlights.

We walked through the village of Xiaojiaoxi where all was quiet, joined the main road and walked and walked until we saw the beautiful sight of a 7-11 in the village of Longtan at about 8:20 pm. We took a rest, had a couple of beers and the staff helped us to call a taxi.