I was wondering if you guys have done the hike to Ba Yan (8 salts/minerals) hot spring.
It’s a great hike from from cingtiangang up top yangmingshan.
You walk across yangmingshan for about 5km to the Jinshan rd (Rd no2) and from there down to a really cool hotspring that has been set up by the locals in beautiful natural surroundings. Its open 24/7 and free!
The only tricky part of the hike is working out the trail from the Jinshan rd but there are some markers.
After the hike there is nothing better than having a soak in the springs and then jumping into the cold river next to it.
20mins walk from the spring there is a bus back to town.
Anyways, its one of the best hikes I’ve done around taipei
Haven’t done it yet. It was on the schedule for last fall but weather and things interfered. Would love to do it but I have heard from Richard Saunders that the springs are closed to the public now because people were destroying them with all kinds of makeshift structures.
[quote=“Muzha Man”]Haven’t done it yet. It was on the schedule for last fall but weather and things interfered. Would love to do it but I have heard from Richard Saunders that the springs are closed to the public now because people were destroying them with all kinds of makeshift structures.
Have you been recently?[/quote]
Hey Mucha man,
Yes, I did it recently around mid-jan.
It is open. It would be a little difficult to close. There is a fence at the entrance but its very easy to go round. One of the access roads has been blocked with a big pile of dirt. This appears to be an effort to stop cars from parking near the springs. Walking in is fine.
Over the past year the locals have made some changes. While I do have some reservations about some of what has been done, overall they have done a nice job with with at least 6 pools with different temps and the water fall is set up like a shower (cold!).
I usually start from shilin MRT and get the S15 to cingtiangang. This bus trip sucks because it is generally full and you gotta stand up most of the way…but from then on its ok.
The return bus is the regular jinshan to taipei bus (its green) that seems to leave jinshan on the hour so I try to be on the road on the hour and it generally turns up…and its usually empty…
This wed and thurs are looking good weather wise…but I am concerned about crowds as I went to wulai today and it was jammed…
The springs are popular on the weekends usually and there can be up to 30 people there at a time…but its all very friendly