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| Zhongkengshan (462m) - the highest point reached on the Feifengshan Trail |
A popular trail suitable for most hikers and active families. Feifengshan is number 27 on the list of the 100 Small Mountains of Taiwan (Xiao Bai Yue 小百岳). The trail is mostly easy and surfaced and there are lots of attractive rest areas where walkers can take a break, have a snack or just enjoy being outdoors. We walked a shorter version of the route -- going over two small peaks and returning by way of a quiet dirt trail through lush forest. It is easy to get here from Taipei or Hsinchu by public transportation and there are stores and restaurants near the bus stop.
Distance/Time: 4 hours 8 mins/ 8.8 km More details as well as a map can be found here
What to bring: I took 2 liters of water and some snacks. A hat is a good idea. The trail is mostly shaded but sometimes is exposed. I took a rain coat, but even though it rained, I did not use it because it was a warm day.
There are shops near the bus stop if you need to buy anything.
The Trail: This an easy to moderate hike. The trail is mostly surfaced with good traction. It climbs, often up steps, but is not very strenuous. There are not a lot of views except near Zhongkengshan but it is a very pleasant, relaxing walk. We started our hike with a road walk from the bus stop to the trailhead. If driving, of course, it would be shorter.
It is popular and you are likely to see lots of other people. We saw hikers of all kinds including families with kids, and hikers carrying dogs in their backpacks. I enjoyed the main trail but the return route that we walked was my favorite part. It was a beautiful dirt trail surrounded on all sides by dense greenery and we had it to ourselves.
Note: I feel the route we walked is suitable for families and we saw people hiking with children but there was quite a bit of traffic on the road walk and we did not walk the full loop.
There are three summits on the Feifangshan trail. Feifengshan (423 m) is actually an unexciting summit with no view. Zhongkengshan (462 m), the highest point on the trail, is more interesting and the actual goal of hikers who want to claim they have hiked the trail.
It's possible to walk a bigger loop that includes the Guanriping Historic Trail 觀日坪步道 and Shibitanshan 石壁潭山 (402m). We did not go that way but I will describe how to get there in the post below.
Transportation: We took bus Kuo-Kuang (King Bus) 1820 from the Taipei Bus Terminal in the Q Square Mall near Taipei Main Station and got off at Qionglin. It took a little over an hour and a half. You can also take bus 1820A.
The bus runs about once an hour--though more frequently in the morning. Check the schedule on the BusTracker Taiwan app.
On the bus I read some of Zadie Smith's The Fraud--partly about a Victorian era fraudster claiming he was the lost heir to a fortune. Even though he was lying, he had his share of supporters, particularly among the working classes. Clearly it has commonalities with modern events. The book is not unsympathetic toward him though and of course there was good reason why the working class would be happy to see someone get one over on the upper classes in Victorian era England. It's a fascinating book but the narrative structure made it hard to get into it.
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The hike: The bus dropped us off right next to a row of restaurants but it was early and they were mostly closed. We were at a big Y-shaped intersection and we were located at the top of the left hand side of the Y.
It was easy to see which direction we needed to go. In the middle of a traffic circle there was a large colorful sign pointing the way with the Chinese characters for Feifangshan, a depiction of the three peaks on the trail and a flourish of what looked like feathers or maybe was supposed to be the wind.
We crossed to the other side of the busy street, turned left toward the top of the other side of the Y and then turned right onto a smaller road. This was Hsinchu Route 24. A brown sign above the traffic light read "Fei Feng Mountain" in English and Chinese. We starting walking at 9:15.
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turn right here onto Hsinchu Route 24 |
From here it was about a twenty minute walk to the trail. We passed rice fields, a lumber yard stacked with fragrant wood, some workshops of indeterminate purpose--some with flocks of chickens scurrying around--and several opulent-appearing gated homes. There was more traffic than I expected and we sometimes had to keep close to the edge of the road in single file. In some places there were sidewalks.
We passed through the tripartite arch marking the entrance to Feifengshan. Just down the road from the entrance the road splits. We turned left and uphill for the short route.
To walk the longer route along the Guanriping Historic Trail and over Shibitanshan, bear right here. This would add 3km to the total length.
I have not been there but am just describing the route from the map: walk along the road till you pass a temple (Xiuxin Gong). Then turn right onto a smaller road until you come to the trailhead for the Guanriping Historic Trail. Follow it up and over Shibitanshan, ignoring side paths until eventually it rejoins the short route south east of the Feifengshan summit and south west of Zhongkengshan.
I plan to go back and explore the whole area more. There are three temples and we only visited one. At the time I think I was suffering from what the travel writer, Tim Cahill, called Zippy's Disease. Basically the irrational compulsion to just keep moving toward a (sometimes arbitrary) destination without slowing down.
Anyway.... we turned left and just after turning spotted a trail on the right that runs above and parallel to the road.
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| This lovely trail runs above and parallel to the road. |
We bore right and continued uphill. On the left we saw the trail entrance but we continued uphill to a temple (Dai Quan Hall).
There were vendors selling cherry tomatoes, the small flavorful bananas known as ba jiao and boiled corn. There was a rest shelter in front of the temple and toilets. It started raining steadily while we were there and we set off in the rain.
There was a short cut to the trail left of the temple incinerator.
The shortcut joined a paved track and then we started to climb steps. It was still raining.
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| looking back down the path |
When I got to the top of this section, my hiking companion had fallen behind, so I stopped at another pavilion next to a right turn, to wait.
Behind the pavilion there is short path (and another just after the turn) that leads to the Feifengshan summit. There is not much to see other than the sign marking the summit.
After twenty more minutes of walking we came to a wide T-junction. On the way the path split into two trails but they came back together later.
This junction is where the Guanriping Historic Trail would join the Feifangshan Trail if doing the bigger loop.
It was raining harder than before. We turned left and continued.
There were views in two directions. From one side you are supposed to be able to make out Taipei 101 but it was too cloudy for us to see much of anything.
We turned left, passed around the left side of an ugly metal fence and came to the pleasant summit. There was a nice view with threads of clouds rising off the surrounding hills.
A couple joined us. We were standing in front of the summit plaque hogging the view and they very gently told us that they wanted to take a picture. We talked for a few minutes and the woman told us that she was trying to hike all of the Xiao Bai Yue.
We walked back to the pavilion we had stopped at earlier and had some lunch.
While my friend was still eating I went back to the cooking huts where I thought the trail I wanted to return by should be. The map showed a trail here and I could see there used to be one but it was blocked by metal fencing. I asked some of the people eating about it and my friend later translated a sign. It turned out that this was private land and the owners had erected the barrier.
However, between the pavilion and Zhongkengshan there was an easy way to get around. We walked back toward Zongkengshan and took a dirt trail on the left.
This was a wonderful trail! My favorite part of the walk! It reminded me of the Neidong Forest Road near Wulai but it is much, much shorter. It went gently downhill through the forest and we made great time.
We passed a farm with banana trees and papayas and came to another barrier but obviously no one paid any attention to this one.
Looking to the left I could see one of the pavilions we had passed on the way up. If I were to hike the trail again I would probably just go left here. We turned right and took the stone path down to the road which took 20 minutes. But it sloped steeply downhill and was slippery and I have to admit I didn't enjoy it much.
We turned left on the road. At the next intersection we turned right and took a road that was like a beautiful green tunnel back down to the Feifengshan entrance. (This was the road we had walked parallel to on a trail, on the way up.)
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Map and GPS coordinates:
Qionglin Bus Stop: 24.762811, 121, 088752
Feifangshan: 24.765875, 121,112121
Google Maps link
Shibitanshan: 24,756674, 121,110076
Google Maps link
Zhongkengshan: 24.7666, 121,118991
Google Maps link
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