Nanfang'ao and Nanfang'ao Lookout 南方澳觀景臺 Trail

 

Nanfang'ao is a small fishing village just south of Su'ao in Yilan. From the lookout there is a lofty view of the harbors and streets of the village as well as the surrounding green hills, beaches and rugged coastline. On a clear day you can also see Turtle Island. It only takes about 20 minutes to walk to the lookout up a steep trail with steps. Nanfang'ao makes for a tranquil overnight stay. There are home stays, cafes and restaurants that are just a few steps from the ocean. On this trip we also visited Dongshan, Dong'ao, and Nan'ao. 

Distance/duration:  From our home stay to the lookout was less than 2 km and took about 40 minutes. We did a couple of other short walks on this trip that were both around 2 km.

What to bring: Nothing special is needed. I walked in sandals and shorts and took just a bottle of water.

The Trail: I started from near Neipi Beach and Nanfanghai'an Junior High School. Steps leading to the lookout start on Xue Fu Road directly behind a Taoist temple. The steps are steep but its a short, easy walk. There are even benches along the way if you need a rest. There is also a parking lot next to the road at the top of the trail.

Transportation: We took a Kamalan Bus from Taipei Main Station to Luodong. The buses leave every 5-10 minutes and take about an hour and a half. We just showed up and were on bus within 20 minutes. 

We picked up a rented a car from Carplus in Luodong. 

You can also take Kuokuang buses 1766 or 1791 to Nangfang'ao. The first bus originates in Luodong. The second starts further north and passes through Jiaoxi, Yilan and Luodong. 

Accommodation:  We spent the night at the Sea Forest Home Stay which is almost at the very end of a small road across from the sea. From the outside it looked like it might not be that nice. The door was weathered and old-looking and my son commented that it looked crappy. But when we opened the door we were in for a pleasant surprise. 

It was very nice inside--clean, comfortable and tasteful. Our room was on the ground floor. The room was maybe slightly more expensive than I would have expected but had space to sleep six and we were only three. There was a double bed on the main level and two more futon style double beds in a loft. The only thing I did not like about the room was there was no window. Well, there was one small window but since it faced the alley we kept the shade down most of the time. The upper floors are smaller but they all have big windows and balconies. 

Sea Forest Home Stay

two beds in the loft

The shower was amazing with incredible water pressure and I thought the breakfast was top-notch. The main dish was traditional Taiwanese rice porridge but the ingredients were obviously of good quality and it was served with fresh fruit, eggs and a roll. 

We checked in next door and were given a code for the door so we could come and go as we pleased.

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The Trip: This walk was part of a quick family weekend getaway. After we picked up the car we ate lunch in Luodong and then I drove about 20 minutes north of Luodong to Dongshan to see a couple of waterfalls. 

In October of the previous year I had hiked the Xinjiuliao Mountain Trail which goes over a mountain from Jiuliao Waterfall to Xinliao Falls and takes about 4 hours.

This time we parked in the Xinliao Falls parking lot and walked 1.2 km to the first waterfall which took less than 20 minutes. 

Unfortunately, we couldn't proceed to the upper falls because there was a chain across the path and a sign saying the trail had been damaged in the recent typhoon.

Here are pictures of the other waterfall from my previous visit.

 

We went back the parking lot and drove around the mountain to the Jiuliao Waterfall parking lot. The walk to Jiuliao Falls was about 1 km uphill. There is a viewing platform near the waterfall and a nice spot just downstream where you can go right down to the water and wade in shallow water.
 

After this we drove to our home stay in Nangfang'Ao. Coming into the village we drove over the Nangfang'ao Bridge which is kind of well-known, mainly because the old bridge collapsed in 2019, injuring 20 and killing six. Some victims were on the bridge at the time and some were in boats in the water below. Construction of the new bridge was completed in December, 2022.

That night we walked on the path along the sea wall above Neipi Beach and checked out the menus of some of the cafes.

Later we drove to a supermarket just a five minute drive from our accommodation. There was a huge temple celebration going on and we couldn't find parking, so I stayed with the car while my wife and youngest son went in to buy snacks and (for me) beer. 

I have to take a moment to sing my son's praises here. I sent him in with clear instructions about which beer I did not want and while he was inside he took the trouble to call me on Facebook messenger and showed me the beer selection. He came back later with a six pack of Kirin. Such a good son!

Later that night we had excellent pizza at the Pizza Cafe just across the street from our home stay. We ate on the rooftop from which we could see and hear the waves. 

In the morning, I woke up early and took the walk to Nanfang'ao Lookout. 

I would have liked to visit some of the temples in the village and to have walked around the harbor but my family's tolerance for sightseeing is not as high as mine. After breakfast, they were ready to move on. 

Before leaving town we did drive to Tofu Cape. There was a sheltered cove where people were doing stand up paddle boarding and we also saw some scuba divers. At the end of the land was a view point where waves beat and foamed against jagged rocks. It was a nice spot but I could not see why people think the rocks look like tofu. My suspicion is they just came up with the name to attract tourists. 

Next we drove to Dong'ao and visited Dong'ao Bay and the Dongyue Cold Spring. I've written about both places in a previous post: Camping at Mystery Beach 神秘沙灘: Mystery Beach Sea Cave and Waterfall 

Dong'ao Bay is a huge, beautiful bay with azure water. 

I've been to Dongyue Cold Spring many times. It's just a short walk from Dong'ao train station and is a great place to cool off on a hot day. The water is cool and clear and not very deep. It's a popular spot for families. There are toilets where you can change clothes and a few vendors selling snacks and water toys.
 

When we finished at the cold spring it was past lunch time so we drove to Nan'ao to have lunch at a local spicy noodle restaurant that is somewhat famous. They sell a variety of spicy sauces and I even saw a bottle of chili infused kaoliang. The lunch was not that spicy but it was delicious, ample and only NT$ 200 each. The interior is decorated with rustic wood furnishings and outside you can take your picture with giant anthropomorphic chili peppers. 

I have been to Nan'ao many times and love wandering around it's country lanes. Before we left we drove to Nan'ao Farm which is a huge, free campground provided by the Yilan government. 

I've stayed there several times both alone and with my kids so I was disappointed to see that it seems to have fallen into disrepair. Trees had fallen along the entrance drive way and they had not been taken away, there were brush piles all over and in most places the grass had not been cut for a while. There was also trash outside of the bathrooms. I would still stay there because I have great memories of the place but I hope they clean it up soon.  

By this time, we were thinking of getting back home because we all had work and school the next day. So we drove back to Luodong, returned the car and took the bus back to Taipei.  

Nearby hikes I have done: 

Camping at Mystery Beach 神秘沙灘: Mystery Beach Sea Cave and Waterfall  

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

Su Hua Historical Trail: Great Nan-Ao Mountain Crossing 蘇花古道 大南澳越嶺段  

Further info about things to do in the area:

The Occasional Traveler: Feeling fishy? Things to do in Nanfang’ao 南方澳, Yilan

Taiwan Trails and Tales: SNAKE HILL and DONGYUE COLD SPRINGS (蛇山/東岳冷泉) 

Taiwan Everything: The Suhua Highway in Yilan

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Places mentioned in this post:

Xinliao Falls Trail 

Jiuliao Falls

Nanfang'ao Lookout 

Tofu Cape

Dong'ao Bay 

Dongyue Cold Spring

Nan'ao spicy noodle restaurant

Nan'ao Farm (campground) 

Map of Nanfang'ao Lookout Trail: 

 

Red Leaf Valley Waterfall 紅葉谷瀑布

 

Red Leaf Valley Waterfall is a 20 meter waterfall in Sanzhi District-- in the foothills of what those of us who live in Taipei think of as the other side of Yangmingshan National Park. It's a lovely spot, especially on a hot day. Not far from the falls, there is a flat, shady clearing next to old indigo extraction pits which is a good spot for a picnic lunch. The path from the trailhead to the waterfall is relatively straight forward. It is wide and not too hard, though it does get narrower and rockier toward the top. This post also describes some road hiking, a short-cut to the main trailhead (for hikers taking public transportation) and an exploration of the area just above the waterfall. 

Distance/duration:  10.9 km/ 5 hours 50 mins.  

Driving to the trailhead and just walking to the waterfall would make the hike only about 4 km. 

From Houdian bus stop to the waterfall and back is about 9 and a half kilometers.  My hike was longer because I went further upstream of the falls before going back. 

More details as well as a map can be found here on my ramblr account.

What to bring: In Houdian there is a small shop but it just sells a few drinks. It's better to pack anything you need ahead of time. 

I packed lunch and snacks and two liters of water. It was a hot day and I also treated and drank some water from the waterfall. (My filter is broken so I used iodine). 

The Trail: My hike started with a road walk along country roads. I took a shortcut to cut out a large bend of the road and then arrived at the main trail to the waterfall. After that I walked above the falls looking for some ruins. 

The road walk was nice and there was lots to see. I don't mind walking on roads and consider it part of hiking and not a prelude to the hike.  

The shortcut that I took was slightly confusing but if you have an offline map, it's not that hard to find the way.

Red Leaf Valley Waterfall (Hongyegu Pubu) is also known as Neiganzhai Waterfall.The main path to the waterfall is easy to follow and very pleasant. There is one stream crossing. Near the top it gets steeper, narrower and more rocky but it is never very hard. The waterfall itself is spectacular. The water plunges into a dark, deep-looking pool but there are shallow areas of crystal clear water around the edge that are great for soaking your feet. The water felt cold even on a hot day.

The path that I took above the falls was treacherous: narrow, steep and often next to a big drop. I walked until the path recrossed the main stream. It was a nice spot but the ruins were underwhelming and I wouldn't recommend going up unless you just feel like doing some more exploring. 

The waterfall is near the Lujiaokeng Ecological Protection Area. You need a permit to enter the nature reserve but don't need a permit for the waterfall.  

Route landmarks: Houdian bus stop -- Yuanshan Village Liansong No. 2 Bridge --shortcut trail entrance --  Red Leaf Valley Waterfall trail head -- stream crossing -- Red Leaf Valley Waterfall

Transportation:  I took the MRT to Tamsui and then took bus 876 to Houdian. This bus shuttles between Tamsui and Sanzhi. It departs at Tamsui at 6:00, 9:30, 11:40, 15:10 and 17:15.  

I took You Can't Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe for the ride.

You can also take bus 866 but it only runs once a day, leaving Tamsui at 8:45.

Both bus stops are near exit 2 of the MRT station.

On the way back, I caught the 15:10 876 on its way back to Tamsui at 16:10.

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The walk: I got off the bus just a little after ten and started hiking at 10:12. Turning back in the direction of Tamsui, I took a smaller road forking left and uphill. This was 北 11. 

Coming around the first bend I could see True Dragon Tower high on a hill. It is the largest columbarium in the world; designed to hold the ashes of 400,000 people.  An article I came across described it as a "hotel for the dead."

After just five minutes the road split and I took the right fork. I passed a colorful, little Earth God shrine by the side of the road. 

I took the right fork here.

 

 

 

 

 

Tudigong Shrine

I walked along bucolic stretches of road and passed several clusters of houses. I saw a few large dogs but none of them paid much attention to me. As I got closer there were nice views of the mountains of Yangmingshan. It was the tail end of August but still summer weather, with flowers in bloom. The forecast was for an apparent temperature of 41 C. Waiting for the bus back in Tamsui, the sun had been brutal but as usual, once out of the city, it felt much cooler. 

Just 25 minutes after I started I came to Yuanshan Village Liansong No. 2 Bridge. There was a blue sign with the name of the bridge indicating it was an emergency rendezvous point in the case of a nuclear power point emergency.

On the other side of the bridge I turned right and faced a wide area with a green metal shed between two roads. The green building seemed to be a temple or a place for storing temple paraphernalia. I took the road on the left and went uphill and around a bend. Around the bend there was another fork and I took the right fork.

left at the green metal building

I took the right fork here.

This was a nice shady road which after a while brought me to the trail I was looking for--a short-cut to the main trail for the waterfall. 

trail entrance for the "short-cut"

There were four older people, three men and a woman, a couple of them smoking, who were lounging next to the road across from the trail. One of them asked me where I was going. Ni yao qu nali? I told them I was going to Hongyegu Waterfall and the whole group erupted in shock and laughter. 

Oh! There's no waterfall here! Zheli meiyou pubu! We live here we know! You can't get through this way! Ni bu neng guo qu!

 

Now I usually respect the opinions and knowledge of local residents but something about this group's dissolute appearance told me they had not been on a hiking trail for years. Also, I was checking the map on my phone and could see a trail right in front of me. 

 

One of them starting looking at my phone screen and laughed and said Google was useless there. Zheli Google mei yong. He was right about that but I told him I wasn't using Google Maps, I was using Maps.me which is still no guarantee of complete accuracy but it's a lot better for trails than Google Maps. 

I am stubborn and their attitude made me want to prove them wrong. So I just told them I would check it out (Wo jiu qu kan yixia.)  and started up the trail. 

You can see from the map screenshot below the route I took. The red arrow is the direction I came from. If I made a sharp left, I could have followed the road in a big curve around a hill but instead I took a trail over the hill.  The short cut was a little confusing so if in doubt-- or if you just want to avoid being told by the locals that you don't know where you are going-- take the road.  

 

The red dot on the left is the short-cut trailhead. The red dot on the right is the main trailhead for the waterfall. The map shows two trail entrances on the left (west) side but the first one was next to a farm and a blue mesh barrier was pulled across it.

 

The trail split almost immediately. At first I did not notice the narrow left fork and I took a right fork that wasn't shown on the map. Within a couple of meters I noticed I was heading away from the direction I wanted to go so I went back, saw the left fork and took a steep, crumbly trail uphill through a copse of bamboo. 

 

I came to a place where a tree had fallen on the path but I went around it and kept going. 

I came to a wider path that was leaf strewn and grassy and turned left. 

There are two paths here on the right and going straight leads back to the road past the farm. The first path goes up and over a hill and looked pretty rough and anyway at first I didn't see it because it is not marked.  

The path to the waterfall trailhead is clear. It is the first clear, path on the right, heading downhill. It just took a few minutes to find it. 

This was a really enjoyable trail and it took me right to the waterfall trail. I got there at 11:26. An hour and 15 minutes from the bus stop. There were 7 cars parked on the side of the road.

The trail to the waterfall is very nice and as I said wide and easy. 

After about 20 minutes I came to a pretty stream crossing. 

 

 

There is one place where the path forks but both routes join together later. I took one way on the way there and the other on the way back. 

I passed several old stone walls.  I passed the clearing next to indigo extraction pits. Though the indigo dye industry in Taiwan experienced a resurgence during WWII when industrial dyes where hard to get, it pretty much died out once industrial, synthetic dyes were available.  There were a lot of people eating and talking at the clearing. I kept going to the falls. The closer I got to the waterfall the narrower and stonier the trail became. 

There was a large, noisy group at the waterfall. A group of four hikers --two men and two women-- arrived after me and one of the men struck up a conversation in English. He had just come back from a trip to Washington D.C. The big group headed back down and then it was just the five of us at the waterfall. 

The other guy filtered some water with a Sawyer Squeeze and started cooking lunch. The two women went through an elaborate procedure of changing into swimming suits inside of large bath towels and then only got their feet wet. I had some lunch, splashed some water on myself and soaked my feet. 

On the map it says there are ruins above the falls, so I decided to walk up there and check it out. First, I walked back downstream and took a fork marked with trails flags just before the waterfall. 

The route to the ruins is only about 500 meters but the trail is overgrown and very rough. It was hard going and took a while. There were several very steep parts. It climbed high above the falls with a big drop on the right and up and down ravines where tributaries ran into the main stream. There was one junction at the top of a steep climb but the obvious path to take was the one on the right, following the stream.
 

The ruins are where the path crosses the main stream again. I don't know what the story behind them is but all I saw were the remnants of a stone wall.  I would have missed it if I had not been looking for it.

I rested for a bit enjoying the stream and the solitude and then headed back to the waterfall. On the way back I fell once and ended up with bloody knuckles.

Back at the waterfall I talked with the four other hikers as well as some newcomers, washed off again and then started my hike out. I took the same route on the way back. When I took the short cut I first walked right by the trail going down to the road. Look out for two large stones. The path starts between them. 

On the way I checked the BusTracker Taiwan app and realized I had cut it a little close for catching the bus.  I jogged part of the way on the road and arrived with a few minutes to spare. I had a cold drink from a shop and changed out of my sweaty t-shirt. According to the app the bus was due at 16:15 but it arrived at 16:10. 

Further Information: 

Here is a video by Tony Huang about the trail.

Here is another video from YouTube with some beautiful images of the trail and waterfall.

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 Map and coordinates:

Houdian bus stop: 25.225237, 121.51607, Google Maps link

Short-cut trail entrance: 25.21652, 121.531012

Hongyegu Waterfall trailhead: 25.215975, 121.534992,  Google Maps link

Hongyegu Waterfall: 25.203985, 121.544679, Google Maps link

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