Taiwan Hiking Journal: Mt. Dawulun 大武崙山 and Dawulun Fort 大武崙砲台

Two ancient trails, a peak, a historic fort, and a lake. This very enjoyable walk starts on the coast at the Zhongshan Xiagu Historic Trail, goes along a ridge trail to Mt. Dawulun, then on to Dawulun Fort and Lover's Lake before descending the Haixing Historic Trail. Dawulun Shan (number 3 on the list of the 100 small mountains of Taiwan) is only 231 meters but commands a great view of the surrounding coast. Dawulun Fort is well-preserved historical monument and a good place for a picnic lunch in nice weather. Lover's Lake, a pleasant green lake, has a surfaced path all the way around. Both old trails date from a time when there were no roads connecting the coast to other areas.

Distance/duration: 6 km/ 3 hours which includes time checking out the fort and having a picnic lunch.

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

What to bring: Bring food and drink or buy it before leaving Keelung. Just about any sturdy shoes will do for this trail. Shorts are fine. On sunny days a hat is a good idea.

The Trail: This is an easy to moderate walk. There is some uphill climbing but it is not strenuous. Most of the paths are in very good shape though there are a few parts that could be slippery. It's a mix of earth, stone and surfaced paths. The ridge path between Zhongshan Xiagu Historic Trail and Mt. Dawulun is kind of messy. But it's possible avoid it by walking on the parallel road instead and then backtracking a short way to the peak. Overall, I loved this walk and thought it was fascinating. I found myself wondering why I had never visited before.

The Zhongshan Xiagu Historic Trail has an interesting history. There was a trail here long ago but it fell into disuse after the paved road was built. It was cleared again 22 years ago by a 78 year old veteran, Zhou Lizheng. Mr. Zhou spent 3 years clearing the trail using hand tools. It again became overgrown and recently was cleared again by volunteers. Mr. Zhou has sort of a tragic history. When he was young he was a soldier serving under General Sun Liren. There was a plot to replace Chiang-Kai-Shek with General Sun. When Chiang Kai-Shek found out about it General Sun was put under house arrest. The soldiers who served under him were also punished and Mr. Zhou was forced to leave the army. After that he had a hard life. He was poor and did mainly menial labor. This is my summary of an excellent, more-detailed article by Tony Huang which can be found here: http://www.tonyhuang39.com/tony0126.html

Photo from a newspaper showing Mr. Zhou clearing the trail 22 years ago

Dawulunshan (225 m) has a small clearing with a nice view. It can be reached by the ridge trail or by instead walking on the road to the fort and then backtracking a few minutes along the dirt path.

Dawulun Fort was first established as a defensive site in the Qing Dynasty during the First Opium War. It was rebuilt from 1900 to 1902 during the Japanese colonial period. It was opened to the public in 1989. There is a command post, barracks, ammunition storage and former cannon mounts. These days it is a pleasant park with walking paths and tall shade trees. There is a flat area with stone benches that overlooks the sea cliffs, Keelung Island and Yeliu.

Lovers Lake is kind of touristy but nice never-the-less. There is a surfaced path all around it and a suspension bridge in the middle. It's a popular place for families, birdwatchers and picture taking.There are two paths--the short loop around the lake and a longer one and there is a whimsical observation tower that looks like a castle turret.

The Haixing Historic Trail is a short remnant of an ancient trail fisherman once used to transport their catch to market. It is an easy walk but there are some slippery stone steps to watch out for.

Transportation: I took a local trail from Taipei to Keelung Station which took about 50 minutes. Trains to Keelung are frequent. On the train I was reading Infinite Country by Patricia Engel which is about a Colombian family separated by immigration.

Bus 305 and 310 run along the coast and there is a bus stop at the trailhead but I could not figure out the bus schedule and never saw a bus when I was there. I took a taxi from Keelung Station which took about ten minutes and cost NT$250.

On the way back I used the Uber app to call a taxi and took it back to the train station.

Subscribe: To get new posts by email you can subscribe here Subscribe or follow Taiwan Hiking Journal on Facebook

The Hike

My wife says that it always rains in Keelung, so I was lucky to go on a sunny, unseasonably, warm winter's day. The day before it had been chilly and I had felt cold all day in my apartment but this day it was warm enough in the sun to just wear a t-shirt. I packed a sweater and a rain shell that remained in my bag all day.

The taxi driver passed the Zhongshan Xiagu trail and dropped me off at the more well known Haixing Historic Trail. There is a temple, a kuai chao restaurant and toilets. However, it was only about a ten minute walk from one trail to another. Facing the road, I turned right (east) along a nice seaside pedestrian path next to the road. There were a few morning joggers on the path. Grassy hills rose up on the right, the ocean was on the left and Keelung Island in the distance.

The Zhongshan Xiagu Historic Trail starts across from the Huhai Road 2.5 KM bus stop.

The trail starts out in grass, goes into the forest and reaches the top of the ridge in about 15 minutes. It's a very nice trail, well-maintained with good shade under the trees and lots of bird life.

Looking to the right I could see the ridge trail that leads to Dawulunshan.

You can take the ridge trail here or the road

But first I stopped to check out the view. There were four colorful seats placed in exactly the right spot.

I took the ridge trail. There was lots of debris on the ground but it was not too bad. It kept away from the cliff and there were no views until it got to the peak. Sometimes it was so close to the road I could see people walking on the road below. There are several places where you can get off the trail and join the road but I kept to the trail.

I came to a clearing with bamboo. It looked like it had been cleared for farming but not used in a while. A fork went to left but there was debris piled in front of it to show it was the wrong way and a flag on the right fork showed the way.

The trail went back into the woods, parallel to the coast and then arrived at the summit of Dawulunshan. It took less than 40 minutes to hike the ridge trail.

From the summit it is just a few minutes to the fort entrance. The fort is reached by walking up a wide gravel path.

I spent some time walking around Dawulun Fort.

barracks

former latrine with a sink outside for handwashing

ammunition storage

After making a circuit I want back to the beginning to have lunch at a flat spot with stone benches with a view of the coast.

I was joined by a couple and their grand kids. The kids at first tried to speak English but soon lost interest. They were eating McDonalds out of a big, paper McDonalds bag. I chatted for a while with the grandfather. After I finished eating, I went on.

At the far end of the fort there was a stone path that went down steeply and had a view of the observatory tower near Lover's Lake.

It didn't take long to reach the bottom. Haixing Trail is to the right but first I went left to see Lover's Lake.

A wide concrete path between trees brought me to the lake.

When I arrived I heard some young people asking an older man how long it took to walk around the lake. He told them 30 minutes which turned out to be about right. It took me 24 minutes to walk all the way around. The path is paved and follows the contours of the lake. There were lots of other people including families with young children in strollers. I saw some ducks and lots of fish and turtles. There is a suspension bridge over the lake at roughly the halfway point but I walked all the way around. There is a longer loop that goes into the forest around the lake but I didn't take it or go to the observatory.

After my circuit of the lake I want back the way I had come but at the trail that climbs to the fort I went straight. I walked until I came to a fork and bore right. I fingerpost indicated it was the Haixing Historical Trail.