Taiwan Hiking Journal: Xinjiuliao Mountain Trail: Jiuliao Waterfall 舊寮瀑布 to Xinliao Falls 新寮瀑布

Saturday, October 21, 2023

Xinjiuliao Mountain Trail: Jiuliao Waterfall 舊寮瀑布 to Xinliao Falls 新寮瀑布

Jiuliao Waterfall

Rushing streams and a quiet mountain trail connecting three big waterfalls: this traversing trail in Dongshan Township, Yilan starts at Jiuliao Waterfall trailhead, climbs up and over the mountain and ends at the Xinliao Falls trailhead. Jiuliao Falls is a thirty meter ribbon waterfall with a smaller falls just below it. The two Xinliao falls are shorter but they are wide waterfalls in a rocky chute with --on the day I visited-- a thundering amount of water plunging into aquamarine pools.

Second Xinliao Waterfall

First Xinliao Waterfall

Distance/Time: 5.4 km/ 3 hours 58 minutes. A map as well as more information can be found here

What to bring: I packed snacks, lunch and water. A hiking pole was useful.

The Trail: The trail is a mixture of wooden and stone steps as well as gravel and dirt trails.

This is a moderate walk of medium length but it does climb up to 610 meters and then descends steeply. The trail lies in a mountainous area of Dongshan Township southwest of the city of Luodong in Yilan.

The walk to Jiuliao Falls is not difficult. It is only a little over one kilometer and is on a dirt path and wooden stairs. After the first falls there is a short and very steep climb up wooden steps. Then the trail reaches a dirt and gravel trail that is wide and easy but continues to climb. After the highest point, comes the most difficult part, a steep zig-zag descent, sometimes on lose rocks and soil. There are lots of fixed ropes in this part.

All of the trails are in good shape and there was evidence of heavy duty trail maintenance. In fact, I heard that the Xinjiuliao trail, connecting the two falls, was just completed at the end of 2022. The Xinliao Falls trail (opened in 2005) is a popular spot and we saw lots of people taking the short walk from the parking lot to the falls but we saw only two other groups on the traversing trail.

Transportation: I took a Kamalan bus from Taipei Main Station to Luodong in Yilan. The buses leave about every 10 minutes. They also stop to pick up passengers at Kamalan's Technology Building location. The bus makes one stop outside of Luodong and then about ten minutes later arrives at Luodong station which is across from the train station. It takes about an hour and a half and costs $143.

Two friends took a separate bus and we met in Luodong.

If you drive to the trail then when you finish you are stuck at one end with your car at the other end. It is possible to walk along the road from one trailhead to the other but it would take about an hour and a half.

We solved this problem by taking a 20 minute taxi ride from Luodong to the Jiuliao Falls trailhead which cost NT$300. My friend asked the driver for his number and then at the end we called him and he picked us up. The ride back was about 25 minutes and he only charged us $290.

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The hike:

The Jiuliao Waterfall parking lot was spacious and there was a line of new-looking toilets but they were all locked.

It was an overcast October day but as we got ready the sun broke through. The forecast for Yilan was 22-27 Celsius and cloudy but with zero precipitation. However, it had rained the week before and overnight. I felt kind of excited because I suspected it would be a great day to see waterfalls


Jiuliao Waterfall parking lot

We started hiking at 9:09. We walked to the end of the parking lot and over a bridge still under construction.

On the left just on the other side of the bridge is the entrance to the old trail. It is either closed or just not used anymore. In any case it bypasses Jiuliao Waterfall, so we continued straight on the road. This trail map shows the route clearly.


We took the blue Jiuliao Waterfall Trail up and then the Connecting Plank Road Trail to the Xinjiuliao Mountain Trail

The road got narrower and in just 20 minutes we came to the trail entrance and walked up wooden steps next to a wide stream. The stony stream was running high and swift.

Jiuliao Waterfall Trailhead

The walk to the waterfall was a combination of dirt path, and wooden and stone steps. It took only about 30 minutes and before we knew it we had arrived at a crossroads.

A path on the left led to the Xinjiuliao Mountain trail that passes over the mountain and two paths straight ahead forking left and right led to the waterfall. The lower path goes to a small falls just downstream of the waterfall and we went there first.

This was a really nice spot. I went right up to the base of the falls and dipped my hands in the cold water. I could feel the mist coming off of the falls. On the far side of the stream there was a huge curving stone wall with rivulets of water flowing down it. It couldn't have been more pretty if it had been designed that way. The stream sprayed and jumped over rocks and disappeared below.

A little further upstream along the other path there is a viewing platform with benches next to the main waterfall.

We spent some time at the waterfall and then went back to the crossroads and started up very steep steeps.

It was a fun climb but not long. We arrive at a T-junction at the top of the stairs in just 10 minutes.

We turned left and almost immediately passed the old trail coming up from the parking lot. It looked overgrown and disused.


The trail on the left is the old trail coming up from the Jiuliao Waterfall parking lot. We stayed to the right.

The trail was wide and easy. It was level for a while but then climbed consistently but gently. It was splendid, quiet forest with a thick undergrowth of ferns.

We rounded a bend and came to a pair of benches on either side of the path where we stopped for a snack and a rest.

The trail became a little narrower but was mostly the same until it got close to the top. There we went along a narrow ridge on steps.

We came to a crossroads and the highest point that we would hike to. A trail going straight led to Mt. Jiuliao but we turned left toward the Xinliao Falls Trail.

After the crossroad the trail started to descend. It felt as if we were very high up. There were not many views but we got some glimpses down into the valley far below and later could discern the outline of the river valley we were heading down into and the mountains rising beyond it.

The descent from the crossroads to the Xinliao Falls Trail took 50 minutes but it seemed longer. It was a steep twisting descent and some of the trail was loose rock but there were lots of ropes to hold onto. From the time we went over the top of the mountain we could hear the sound of water and it got louder the further that we went down.

When we arrived at the Xinliao Falls Trail we turned upstream and went over a series of walkways and arched bridges next to a spectacular stream roaring through a rocky canyon until we arrived at the Xinliao Second Waterfall. There was wind and a fine mist coming off the waterfall soaking the surrounding area.

Leaving this waterfall we headed back downstream until we came to a suspension bridge and the First Xinliao Waterfall. It was a bit taller than the other one and just as impressive but we couldn't get as close to it.

We had thought about eating lunch at one of the waterfalls but it was very wet near them, so since we were so close to the end of the trail, we just decided to finish first. It took 15 minutes of walking along an easy flat trail next to the stream to reach the road. There was a shelter house, toilets and vendors and we ate our lunch in the shelter before calling for the taxi back to Luodong.