This weekend a few of us are doing a three day hike around the north. The plan now is to start at the entrance to Manyueyuan Forest Reserve, hike up to Beichatianshan, then head down the back to connect with the Xiao Wulai Old Trail (it runs from Xiao Wulai in Taoyuan to Fushan near Wula). I know the rest of our route but not this trail. Have read about it on a blog and it seems we can hike it to Xiao Wulai. The plan would be to then walk the roads down and then back up to the trailhead to the old trees in Manyueyuan. From the old trees we would then hike back to the entrance of the park.
Does anyone know anything about the Xiao Wulai Old Trail? Thanks.
I think I know which trail you mean. Are you talking about continuing from the peak of Beicha and then over to the peak of 多崖山 and back around that way? We did that before, and you can walk back to either Xiaowulai or Manyueyuan through the forest that way.
Yes, though looking at the map again it seems the trail down to Xiao Wulai Old Trail is before the top of Beichatianshan and the trail back down to Manyueyuan (the way you guys went according to Stu’s blog) is on the other side after 多崖山. But it seems you are saying you saw signs for the trail to Xiao Wulai.
Ok, we are talking about different routes from Xiao Wulai. I justread Stu’s blog and you did the trail that runs through the old trees. Xiao Wulai Old Trail is a different trail that runs a bit south of that connecting Xiao Wulai with Fushan.
Btw, about how many km is it from Xiao Wulai Waterfall to the entrance of the trail to the old trees?
Wow, much farther than I thought. But in any case I discovered on some hiking blogs that we can climb down the back side of Beicha heading south, get on the Xiao Wulai Old Trail heading west and then connect with the trail to the old trees. No need to walk as far as the road. My map doesn’t show all the trails but this does:
Probably too late to be of use to you this time (only got back yesterday from 6 days of hiking in Nantou County),but the Xiao Wulai Old Path that is marked on the No.5 map series as a green dotted line going from east to west ie from back of XiaoWulai to back of Fushan doesn’t exist as a tagged path.Certainly, the routes east and west via BeiChaTianShan exist.
However, a month ago while I was hiking northwards along the main north south ridge from the 1907 and 1905 peaks intending to take the path to FuShan just after BeiChaTianShan I saw a rarely used path headed west on to a steep looking side slope between the two branches of the river far below. It was about 20 minutes north of where the Xiao Wulai Old path should be. I decided to bag the route to FuShan since there was heavy cloud action coming from that side and took this route that obviously isn’t on the No.5 map. After about 40 minutes steep descent there is an intersection. The right path judging by the map link you provided seems to link up with the path to the big tree area. Hopefully, that route is used and tagged well enough to navigate by because I took the left path at the intersection and it was not very clear as a path and with few tags. After keeping west for a while, the path went down and crossing the stream it carried on up the southern side and then just disappeared. I had to hike higher up and then contour westwards and link up with the main trail hikers use to access the 1905 peak from XiaoWulai.
I guess that was a new route since it isn’t on the map.
We’re looking for a route to do in 2 days: Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Possibly this one could be good. Can you please tell us how far a hut is from the Manyueyan start, and how far from the hut to the end of the trail. Or if you could suggest another route to do, that would be cool too. Thanks.
Also, would anyone be able to put up a map in English, since I’m not sure where the map you showed describes? Thanks again.
Didn’t end up doing that walk for various reasons, but the Fuba instead. This is the 18km trail from Fushan (past Wulai) to Lalashan (Shang Baling) off the North Cross Island Highway. Excellent trail starting out in a lush dense subtropical forest, changing to a mixed forest and a final temperate forest of giant cedars in the Lalashan Reserve. Some of the trees were over 2000 years old and there were many giants even outside the reserve on the way up.
It’s a bit of a slog as a two day trip because you’ll be slower with packs. You could push up fast to the campground at the 8.5km mark (excellent flat area with a water source 200m away) in about 5 hours, leave your heavy packs and hike up to the old trees and back in 6 hours. The next day it’s a leisurely 4 hours back to Fushan, though there is a side peak trail starting behind the campground you can do return (with some exploration at the top) in 1 hour.
Chung also recommended to me by pm a great two day loop route through Manyueyuan that begins and ends at the parking lot (or bus stop). I’ll post it if he’s okay with that.
Thanks, back home there are great huts up in the hills, and I guess I was hoping to find a trail with a hut-or camp ground to avoid carrying a tent and too much gear. Then we’d be more mobile. Maybe my ideas are misplaced. Still, hope to learn more about a camping 2-day hike/run.
Your hike must have been fantastic in the awesome weather. I’ve long ago done a good hike on a mountain next to Lalashan, with giant cedars. Beautiful area, but definitely a hike not a run, well small parts of it could be jogged. Straight up from the road!
Most low altitude trails don’t have huts. One I can think of at the moment is the Walami Trail near Fuli, Taitung. That is definitely a runable trail to a lovely A-frame cabin.
The Fuba trail is runable-hikeable. I would suggest you arrange for a B&B on the Shang Baling side to pick you up at Lalashan and then drive you back the next day so you can run back.
Not sure btw what you mean by a trail with a campsite. Do you mean a site with tents you can rent?
I did this as a run/hike when I was younger. Fast and amazing views. Kepler. In the sun. I still remember running the tops, running down, and running beside the lake.
Taidong would be too far away, regrettably. We ran most of the trail that goes from Wulai to Sanxia-last yr. Not too hard. However, we’d not be pushing it too much if it’s a two day trek. I’ll have to find out more about this Fuba trail, thanks. And I meant campsite with areas for tents and cheap huts too.
Dont think anyone mentioned it but for future reference, the Manyueyuan to Xiaowulai hike is also in Richard Saunder’s Taipei Day Trips 2, along with other great Sanxia hikes like Wuliaojian, Baiji Shan and the Sanxia-Wulai hike. Of those hikes, the Sanxia-Xiaowulai is the only one I havent done yet. Either that or the FuBa will probably be my next day hike.
I think it would be a fun weekend thing to do a group hike from Sanxia to Fuxing via Xiaowulai and then stay the night at the Youth Activity Center. Fuxing has kind of a fun night market vibe on weekend evenings and there are a couple good restaraunts there. I might arrange such a thing in the spring.
Another good possible hike in Northern Taiwan is Smangus commune in Jiansi Township to Chishan Old Trees in Ilan if it’s open yet. The tribal secretary (a very friendly younger guy who speaks decent English) told me last year that they were in the process of building it. I’m excited about the possibility of this as I havent been to the Chishan old trees yet and they are only reachable by formal tour from Mingchr, AFAIK (someone correct me on this if I’m wrong). I might email him soon to see if it’s finished.
There’s an aboriginal family that run a cafe and restaurant just below the YAC. Supposed to be building cabins for overnight stays. I’d stay there if they are ready. Great food and views.
Yes, those trees are only reachable by tour from Mingchi though you can also go with the same company on a long day trip from Taipei (bus leaves at SYS MRT).
A trail sounds fantastic though I would be curious how they would arrange permits into the old tree area. I guess wouldn’t be that hard specially if guys from Smangus led the tours. Wow, that would be cool. Please do find out.
MM, this route’s been “open” for years. I’ve had it on my walking list, but never seem to have the time. As you can see in the links below, it’s also possible to continue by trail from the trees all the way to Mingchih.
There’s a trail from North 114 in Sanxia that ends in Jiaobanshan. Taking this route allows you to skip a really long road walk on the Xiao Wulai side.
Bashen Bridge > Shuangxi Shan > Dongyan Shan > Zhihji Shan > Jinping Shan > Jiaoban Shan
[quote=“chung”]MM, this route’s been “open” for years. I’ve had it on my walking list, but never seem to have the time. As you can see in the links below, it’s also possible to continue by trail from the trees all the way to Mingchih.
Edit: Here is the two-day trek mentioned earlier in the thread.
Bashen Bridge > Shuangxi Shan > Dongyan Shan > Dongman Trail > Kapu Rd Trailhead Path (Xiao Wulai) > Huwei Shan > Pole 52 > Yunei River > Baisha Waterfall > Hewei Shenmu > Beicha Intersection > Manyueyuan[/quote]
Excellent! Good to know there is already a trail there. Maybe the tribe is working on a more groomed trail (that one looks pretty rugged) like the one near the village. Either way, it’s on my list for this spring!
Did the Xiao Wulai Old trail in its entirety last weekend. It took three days. And the verdict is this is a very tough hike. As mentioned above this doesn’t pass through BeiChaTianShan but cuts across the ridge at a lower spot to the south. The route begins via a farm road at Pylon 50 (blue colored sign) about 4 kms up the road to the big trees. I’d say the path on the Taoyuan side is quite okay, but down to Fushan is quite another story. I stayed at a hunters camp about 20 minutes beyond the pass which was a welcome sight and the next day continued down to the big river which flows down to Fushan and camped there. The path is tagged but not very clear which made for slow going. There weren’t any other obvious spots to camp except for another hunters camp further down the river. The final day was a short wade along the river side before the path re-entered the forest and went up slowly climbing above the river and eventually reaching an old logging road that joined a back road to FuShan. I’d only recommend this route to very experienced hikers.
