Ruifang District, New Taipei City
Distance: 12km one-way
For my second day in Taiwan I stumbled across the
Sandiaoling trail while researching Shifen Falls, which had been mentioned as a
top sight in the V Air plane magazine.
I highly recommend the trail. I saw six waterfalls that day
(and you could find many more along the way if you plan ahead a bit more than I
did).
I navigated based off blog posts by Foodie Baker
and Hiking in Taiwan
but Towards Somewhere was another good resource.
Cycling/Hiking Taiwan is the best blog post I found (post hike).
Mistake #1: I did not buy food for the hike at Taipei Main Station.
I naively expected there to be some sort of convenience store or at least a vending machine at Sandiaoling station. There was not. Learn from my mistake. I had no food until
I got to Shifen.
Directions:
Take the train direct from Taipei Main Station to
Sandiaoling (NT$59, 1 hour). From the Sandiaoling train station turn right and
follow a pedestrian path alongside the railroad.
At one point you will cross
over the tracks (or under if you use the pedestrian path). Keep going in the
same direction until you reach Sandiaoling Elementary School. You will see a
trail map and stairway that mark the entrance to the trail.
The trails are well
marked and it only takes about 15-20 minutes to get to Hegu Waterfall 合谷瀑布, and another 20
minutes to get from Hegu Waterfall to Motian Waterfall 模天瀑布. Pipa Dong Waterfall
枇杷洞瀑布
is just five a 5 minutes walk beyond Motian Waterfall.
From Pipa Dong Waterfall 枇杷洞瀑布 follow the signs for
Fusing Temple up either steep, slippery-looking wooden stairs or a metal ladder
(visible just beyond the stairs).
When you get to the top and reach a split
intersection with a map, follow the sign left to the Yeren Valley (4km). Going
left, you will come out on a road and alternate a bit between trail and road.
There will be orange ribbons and pink laminated signs that say (Dahua Train
Station) to indicate the way. Sometimes other signs.
Eventually you will reach a small town with a pavilion.
Turn left after you
cross the small bridge by the pavilion.
You will reach the parking lot of the defunct Yeren
Valley tourist area.
Next to the signboard is the start of a trail. Keep right and parallel
to the parking lot (there appears to be another trail that heads up and to the
left) and after a couple of minute you will head upwards and then down extremely
slippery steps to a red bridge.
Cross the bridge and follow the path up to the
train tracks. Turn left to see Dahua Station (platform is visible), or
go left to walk to Shifen Falls and Station. You will walk through a
tunnel, and need to hop a fence to get to Shifen Falls.
The falls are about 1.5km from Shifen Station. You walk through Shifen Old Street to get the station. It is a great tourist area. If you come around dusk you can see people setting off paper lanterns and taking selfies when the train arrives.
I got a late start, as is usual for me when I do not need to
try to beat the heat of the day or wake up for sunrise (I woke up around 4am
for 3 days straight when visiting Angkor Wat). I managed to catch the 10:34am
train from Taipei Main Station. I got to Shifen Station around dusk.
After boarding the train I read a bit more from the various
blogs I found and saved the more helpful-seeming ones as pdfs on my phone (this
was a very good idea because there was no cell service along the trail and
without those pdfs I would never have found my way to Shifen. Even then, it
took putting together clues from two of them to figure out the trail).
You will see an orange ribbon at the village, but I did not
find any ribbons indicating where to go after arriving in the village. Cross a
small bridge and immediately turn left. If you walk along this path you will
arrive at the parking lot of the defunct Yeren Valley
I kept left at the train tracks to go straight to Shifen but
given how this worked out for me (fence hopping) I would recommend just
grabbing the train at Dahua, which I could see to the right.
