Lingjiao Waterfall to Shikongzi Waterfall: A Four Waterfall Walk in the Pingxi District

 

A moderate walk in the Pingxi District that includes four falls. Lingjiao Waterfall, Wanggu Waterfall, Huiyao Falls and Shikongzi Waterfall all lie along the Keelung River or its tributaries. The first two waterfalls are connected by a nice forest trail. The last two are reached by walking along a country road and then a trail. Swimming is not permitted at the first two but many people swim at Huiyao. The gem of the walk is the last one, Shikongzi, which fewer people visit, perhaps because its not possible to drive there. It's in a peaceful setting and there is a clear pool at the bottom. 

📏⏱️Distance/duration: 11.7  km/ 5 hours, including rest stops

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

🚌Transportation: I took the MRT to Muzha Station and then took bus 795. Be sure to take the one that says Shifen or Shifenliao. As some 795 buses just go to Pingxi.  

On the weekends the bus leaves its point of origin at 7:10, 8:10, 9:10, 9:40, 10:20 etc... and arrives at Muzha about 10 minutes later. 

I took the 8:10 bus to Tianzi station which took about 50 minutes.  

On weekdays the times are: 7:10, 8:10, 9:10, 10:20, 11:30 etc... You can check the full schedule using the BusTracker Taiwan app.  

On the way back to Muzha I took the bus from the Pingxi Zunkou stop.  

You can also take the train to Lingjiao Station but you have to transfer and it takes longer.   

👣Walk overview:  This is a moderate walk, great for a hot day but nice at anytime of year. 

The first waterfall, in the village of Lingjiao, is reached by road and a short trail. A well-maintained forest trail goes from Lingjiao Waterfall 嶺腳瀑布 to Wanggu Waterfall 望古瀑布. After that the walk follows a dead-end road passing Huiyao Falls 灰窯瀑布  on the way. At the end of the road another short trail takes you to the last waterfall.  Retrace steps along the road to a different bus stop to return to Taipei. 

The walk is mostly level. There is some climbing and the road is slightly uphill on the outward trip. The trail to Shikengzi Waterfall 石硿子瀑布   is narrow and slippery in places. 

Lingjiao Waterfall is two torrents of water flowing from a massive rock face into a huge green pool. Wanggu Waterfall is in a dark, cool alcove surround by stone walls and shaded by trees. Signs prohibit swimming at the first two waterfalls. 

Many people swim at Huiyao Falls where there is an upper and lower pool. It's right next to the road so it's possible to drive right to it. It's nice but its too crowded for my taste. Shikongzi is my favorite. It's a short, but beautiful cascade with a mass of white water sliding down a rock face into a small clear pool. It's beautiful, peaceful and it seems not many people go there. 

Route landmarks: Tianzi Bus Stop -- Lingjiao Train Station -- Lingjiao Waterfall -- LingJiao Train Station -- Cai Family Mansion -- Wanggu Waterfall -- Pingxi Zunkou Bus Stop -- Huiyao Falls -- Shikongzi Waterfall -- Huayao Falls -- Pingzi Zunkou Waterfall 

🏕️What to bring: 

Recommended: food, water, sun protection (hat, sun sleeves, sunscreen) a decent pair of shoes. (I also took a hiking umbrella for sun and rain.)

Optional:  Sandals, a change of clothes. 

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The Walk

 I did this walk in the summer when the temperature had been hovering around 38 degrees everyday. I wanted a hike that was not to taxing and where I could cool off in water near the end.  

When I got on the bus I asked the driver if it stopped at Lingjiao just to be safe. I was impressed that he remembered and he gestured to me when we got to Tianzi.

Directly across from the bus stop there is a road that leads, straight-as-an-arrow, to Lingjiao Train Station. 

 

It only took about 6 minutes to walk to the train station. I crossed a bridge over the Keelung River just before reaching the station. 

Lingjiao Station

 Just before the station there is a parking area on the right. At the end of the parking lot there is a path on the right side of the railroad track. 

 In a few minutes I came to the trail which goes down to the waterfall. At the time of this visit there was construction.

Unfortunately, Lingjiao Waterfall suffers because of it's popularity and ease of access. There is lots of trash --some apparently left by people who come here to barbecue and some, to be fair, maybe washed up by the water. 

There are artificial holes and tunnels carved into a rock wall nearby. They were carved by local people a long time ago when it was a private scenic attraction. 

Swimming has been banned here since an accident in 2020. In any case the murky water and trash strewn shore didn't make it an attractive place for a swim. The waterfall itself is impressive. 

 

 

I walked back to the train station. Lingjiao is a quaint little village next to the Keelung river and the picturesque Pingxi Branch Line. A train arrived at the station and I waited for it to pass before crossing to the little store next to the station for a cold drink. 

 

Above the village, near a temple, is the Guanyin Dripping Water Cave 滴水觀音. I have never been there and sort of wish I had gone this time but it's at least an hour's walk up there and back and it was a very hot day. 

Passing the station and store I went straight uphill and took the first right. There was a sign for the Lingjiaoliao Trail.

 Following this lane I passed the Cai family Mansion. It's a red brick western style house built in the 1930's by an affluent family that profited from the Pingxi coal mining industry. It has been designated a historic building but unfortunately it has fallen into disrepair and was surrounded by a green metal construction fence. 

 In a few minutes a came to a map board. I turned right onto a trail that climbed up concrete steps next to and then above a house and then I entered the woods. 

 At the top of a small ridge I turned right. It took about 40 minutes to walk along this very nice wooded trail to Wanggu Waterfall. There are some ups and downs and some inventive rope structures for climbing eroded slopes. It is a shady, well-looked after trail. There is one very pleasing spot where the trail crosses a small stream. Despite the hot weather I saw quite a few other hikers. Taiwanese walkers don't let the heat keep them at home. 

The trail came out above a crossroad. I could hear several people heading toward Wanggu Waterfall which is to the left. 

 

There had been a lot of development since the last time I had been there. There was a new set of wooden stairs and a viewing deck with benches above the falls. There is a small, wide cascade and then upstream stone walls form a corner with the waterfall in the middle. 

 Swimming is also prohibited here. A sign warns of undercurrents and whirlpools. There have been several accidents here and in fact the last time I visited was in 2020 just after a man had died snorkeling. At that time there was a person who sat all day by the waterfall to warn people not to swim. Now there is a camera. 

 

Suffice to say swimming, for both safety-related and legal reasons, is not a good idea. However, its a lovely spot and it was cool sitting at the edge of the water feeling the spray and wind from the falling water. 

 

 A group of ladies and a western man were there. The man who turned out to be from England introduced himself and we chatted a while. 

I left and walked back the way I had come but this time continued straight until I came to a path next to the railway. 

 

 I followed steps up to a road and turned right on the road. 

 I followed the road past the ruins on the Qinghe Suspension Bridge until I came to Wanggu Station, which is a small unmanned station with an open platform. 

Wanggu Train Station

 

Just before arriving at Wanggu Station there is a bridge over the river. I crossed the bridge and followed steps (next to toilets) up to the road. 

 

 I turned left on the road and in just a few minutes saw Pingxi Zunkou bus stop. This is where I would later return to take the bus back to Muzha. (The stop for returning buses is just across the street but there isn't a shelter.)

Pingxi Zunkou bus stop

 Leading off to the right, parallel to the main road and then turning away from it to follow Huayao Stream is a country road. 

 I started walking along the road. I saw a few other walkers. They seemed to be either local folk or people who had parked their cars and were walking. 

After about 30 minutes I came to the lower pool of Huiyao Falls. It's just down a steep path on the left.  Look out for the deep water warning sign.

A few meters further up the road is another warning sign and the trail to the upper pool.  

 As I had been walking along the road, dark clouds had been threatening. They seemed to be moving closer. While I was at the lower pool, there was thunder. There were people getting ready to jump from the top of the waterfall and one of their friends said, "Thunder! Hurry up and jump!" Dalei. Gen kuai tiao. 

I headed on up the road and the clouds moved overhead and got darker. There was more thunder. I started keeping an eye out for shelter in case of a furious afternoon thunder storm. The kind that are very common in Taiwan in the summer. I considered hurrying back to the bus stop where there was a roof but a certain point it was too late to worry about it. Whatever was going to happen would happen. 

 

Less than 15 minutes after leaving Huiyao Falls I came to the end of the road. There was a fence with a gate. On the gate a sign in Chinese said to keep the gate closed to keep Reeves Muntjac deer from eating crops. 

 I went through the gate and passed a map board and some hiking flags. 

Just as I entered the forest it started to rain. I put the rain cover on my back pack and got out my umbrella. The rain was not as bad as I had expected and the trees gave me a lot of cover. 

This was a terrific trail!  I passed some the ruins of buildings and the ruin of a bridge. There seemed to be a trail leading to and over the bridge. You would have to be crazy or brave to go that way. The first part was made of rickety looking planks and the rest of it seemed to be made of plastic pallets places across the bridge frame. 

 The path to the waterfall was straight ahead along a dirt path. It was a beautiful path,mostly easy, but with some narrow parts and some places where I had to climb over slippery rocks. 

I passed the junction for Mumu Shan which I had hiked a few years earlier. MuMu Shan 畝畝山 to Stone Raft Waterfall  (Stone Raft Waterfall is the English name shown on maps for Shikongzi Waterfall.)

Junction with the trail to Mumu Shan

 

I continued straight. More or less half way to the waterfall the trail passes a small cascade. Keep going to the waterfall. 

 Just before reaching Shikongzi Waterfall there is another junction. Again I went straight. The waterfall could be seen through the trees. 

I stopped for a while and had some food. It was still raining. I was disappointed about the rain but just as I was thinking of leaving I had a stroke of luck. The rain stopped and the sun came out. I decided to stay for a while and wash off in the pool. It was amazing how much different it looked in the sunshine. There were lots of small fish in the pool. 
 

After a while I headed back along the trail and road to the Zunkou bus stop. It was faster going back since the road is downhill. Afternoon buses are not as frequent and I had to wait about 40 minutes. I waited in the shelter but be sure to cross over the the other side of the road when the bus is coming or it may not stop. 

 

 

 Nearby Hikes:

MuMu Shan 畝畝山 to Stone Raft Waterfall 

 

Xinliaodacuo 新寮大厝 to Sandiaoling Station 三貂嶺車站 Waterfall Walk  

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Map and Google maps links:

More details as well as a map and GPX file can be found on ramblr: https://rblr.co/p5WMr

Lingjiao Waterfall: 25.028586, 121.74806, Google Maps link

Wanggu Waterfall: 25.034848, 121.758687, Google Maps, link

Huiyao Falls: 25.017901, 121.766922, Google Maps link

Shikongzi Waterfall:  25.012476, 121.773732, Google Maps link  

(At the time I am writing this Google Maps says Shikongzi Waterfall is "permanently closed" but don't believe it.)