Jinmianshan Trail 金面山步道 and Scissors Rock 剪刀石

 

A short walk (about 2 hours/ 4 km) in the Neihu District that is within walking distance of Xihu MRT station. There are great city views and a lot of fun rocky scrambling. It is a very enjoyable hike and though it is very popular there are some quiet spots. Experienced hikers will find it very easy but it is also suitable for beginners and families. Jinmianshan (258 m) is also known as Scissors Rock.

 Distance/duration: 2 hours 11 mins / 4 km. 

More details as well as a map and GPX file can be found here on ramblr.

Trail Overview:  This is a hike that I have known about for a long time but I had never done--probably because I knew that it was so popular. I'm glad I finally did it because it is a really enjoyable short walk that is easy to get to. The rocky trail involves lots of (easy, safe) scrambling and is a lot of fun. It is suitable for families and for hiking companions that may not enjoy longer, harder trails. 

There is another Jinmianshan in Taoyuan which is a great hike but harder and harder to get to. You can read my post about it here: Jinmianshan 金面. It is unlikely anyone would confuse the two because if you Google "Jinmianshan" almost all the results will be for the more popular one in Neihu. 

Jinmianshan means "golden face mountain" because the composition of the rock makes it shine in the sunlight. It is also known as Scissors Rock because the rocks on the summit are said to resemble -- you guessed it-- scissors. We did not notice the resemblance but the rocky summit with a view of the valley beyond is very nice. There is a particular rock where everyone poses for pictures. 

There were a lot of people when we reached the summit and since, neither of us felt like waiting, we did not get the iconic picture of ourselves on the rock. 

The trail is mostly stone with some packed earth. There are ropes and there are footsteps gouged out of the rock. Near the top you need to climb over and around boulders. The stone was all dry and really grippy but its probably best to go on a fine day. On the way down we took a detour on a quieter dirt trail. 

Route landmarks: Huanshan Rd trailhead -- cliff -- Lunjian Pavilion --- Jinmianshan/Scissors Rock -- Lunjianshan -- Huashan Pavilion - Qing Dynasty Quarry Site -- Huanshan Rd trailhead. 

What to bring: I only took 1 liter of water and some snacks. Good shoes are important but I think even sneakers would be okay on this trail.  There are plenty of places nearby to buy food or drink. After the hike we had lunch near the MRT station.

Transportation:  We took the brown line to Xihu Station exit 1

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

The Walk

 My wife and I had the day off because it was May 1st, Labor Day and decided to do a short hike together. We left Xihu MRT by exit 1 and turned right. There was a sign for Jinmianshan Trail right outside the exit. 

At the first intersection we turned right again and walked until we came to the gates of Takming University of Science and Technology. At the university gates we turned right again on Wenhu Street. At the fourth light we turned left toward the ridge of green peaks onto Huan Shan road. There was another trail sign at this intersection but it was faded and the name could barely be made out. The trail could be seen at the end of the alley. 
 

There was a nice stone arch bridge with a waterfall but despite the fact that it had rained the day before, the waterfall was dry. We walked through a shelter house on the right. 

Instead of taking the trail going uphill on the left we took the straight trail leading off and slightly to the right. I had read that this was the recommended route since you go up the cliff rather than down. 

 We went up some steps that were quite steep at first and got our heart rates up. In about 300 meters we came to a junction. 

Because of construction, we got a little confused here and went the wrong way at first. We went straight and then turned left after a construction site but I soon realized we were going the wrong way. If you start going downhill, it's the wrong way. 

We went back to the first junction and followed a trail around and above the construction site. 

Soon after this we started climbing the cliff section. It was a lot of fun and there were awesome views looking back toward the city. 

 Closer to the top we ran into a traffic jam. 

 We came to a T intersection where the boulder covered path led to the left and uphill to the right. We turned right toward Lunjian Pavilion. 

 

At Lunjian Pavilion I had a chance encounter. I saw a foreign woman standing next to the pavilion and we saw each other but then she turned away and we continued to the top of the ridge. I found out later when I posted and she commented that she is one of the two people who writes the Taiwan Trails and Tales  hiking blog. We have interacted online before but never met so we didn't recognize each other. I feel like we missed an opportunity but it was very cool that we were in the same place at the same time. 

 

At the top of the ridge we turned right and came to the rocky summit of Jinmianshan/Scissors Rock in just a few minutes. 

My wife and I both decided we didn't want to wait to take our picture on the rock so we headed back along the ridge the way we had come. At the intersection where we had come up we went straight toward Lunjianshan. 

The path turned to dirt and went down for a while and then slightly up. 

 We passed an intersection but went straight and in a few minutes came to Lunjianshan (256 m). The summit is just off the main path on the left. There was no view. Just small clearing with an antennae. 

Lunjianshan was underwhelming

 Lunjianshan was a disappointment so if you want to take the rocky trail back down I recommend just going down after Scissors rock. Or you could continue to the quieter dirt trail that we took down. We were the only ones on the dirt trail but we could hear groups of people just uphill on the rocky path. 

After Lunjianshan we retraced our steps to an intersection and went downhill. 

We turned right, down-hill here

We followed this nice trail for sometime but when there was a fork we headed to the left and uphill and rejoined the main path. 

 

 From here we simply walked downhill back to the the trailhead at Huanshan Street. There were a few more nice viewpoints along the way and we passed the site of a Qing Dynasty stone quarry. During the Qing Dynasty it was discovered that the stone in this area was very useful for building. 

 We walked back toward the MRT station stopping at Xihu Market for lunch. 

  

 

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

Map and GPS coordinates:

More details as well as a map and GPX file can be found here on ramblr.

Huanshan Street Trailhead:  25.08914, 121.56791

Scissor Rock: 25.09325, 121.571563

Lunjianshan: 25.094901, 121.569939