Camping Sanxia/Full Moon Park then Hike to Wulai

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1

Hi,

I am planning on camping in or near Full Moon Park this weekend then hiking the next day to Wulai. The maps suggest such a hike is do-able, though it looks like a full day.

Questions:
1 Are there places to camp in or near Full Moon Park ? I have tent, but would prefer established toilets /showers.
2 Is there a bus to Full Moon Park ? Or to Sanxia, then are there taxis from there ? Or is taking a taxi from Taipei the best option ?
3 Is there a decenet trail to Wulai from Full Moon Park ? The map shows a few options - though in my experience some are far better than others.
4 If camping is not a great option, any recommendation for hotel/hot spings hotels in the area.
5 Places to eat around here, or best to bring all meals ?

Many thanks in advance.

2

[quote=“ac”]Hi,

I am planning on camping in or near Full Moon Park this weekend then hiking the next day to Wulai. The maps suggest such a hike is do-able, though it looks like a full day.

Questions:
1 Are there places to camp in or near Full Moon Park ? I have tent, but would prefer established toilets /showers.
2 Is there a bus to Full Moon Park ? Or to Sanxia, then are there taxis from there ? Or is taking a taxi from Taipei the best option ?
3 Is there a decenet trail to Wulai from Full Moon Park ? The map shows a few options - though in my experience some are far better than others.
4 If camping is not a great option, any recommendation for hotel/hot spings hotels in the area.
5 Places to eat around here, or best to bring all meals ?

Many thanks in advance.[/quote]

What you need to do is go out and buy a copy of Taipei Day Trips II (not I) as it has a chapter on this hike. It gives bus info, and as always, incredible details about starting, stopping, staying on trail etc.

The hike is about 6 hours, though if you are carrying a big pack, expect to take longer.

No need to camp out there if you just want to do the hike as TDTII gives a bus schedule to make it to the trailhead early enough to finish the hike before dark.

If you wait a few weeks you can do the hike with the forumosa hiking club. If you can’t wait, and must camp, yes, there are campsites on the road up to Full Moon Park. Several of them. Can’t miss them. There is also a pretty good hot spring hotel just a few km from the trailhead. Again, you’ll see it as you drive up to FMP.

There is only wilderness camping in FMP but it will take an hour or so to get to it meaning you will have to add another couple hours to the hike to Wulai (as it’s in the opposite direction).

The trail as far as I know (I’ve done parts of it) is very clear and easy to follow if you stay on the main route. As always, there are a million side branches which is why a book like TTDT is great. Also, make sure you have a compass. The last couple hours are completely clear and obvious as you follow the river from above.

On the last hour of the hike you pass by the magnificent swimming hole that is a second home to us in the summer. It is 5 minutes off the main trail. If you are interested let me know and I’ll give you directions.

I’d love to join you on this but not this weekend. If you are interested in overnight trips around the north let me know as I am looking for someone to do these kinds of trips too (most of the hiking club members just want to do day trips). There are a number of routes I’ve been meaning to do. All two or three days and all in the north including a couple that start right from Taipei.

Last point, please be extremely careful if going alone. In fact I would recommend you don’t as you will be out there a long time. The snakes are starting to come out and that route always has them on it.

Also, I would never set out by myself for an overnight trip in Taiwan based on a map. Not all the trails are in hikable conditions. And the maps are usually accurate but not always entirely. And distances mean nothing. It can take an hour to go one kilometre if the route is steep. But you won’t really know that until you see it for yourself.

3

Muzha Man - you are the man, many thanks. :notworthy:

1 I had read the guide book Vol 2 a year or so ago, but don’t have a copy - will fix that right now.
2 I do want to do an overnight hike this weekend - basically a training exercise for Yushan, which is the big goal in the near future.
3 Map accuracy - totally agree - I have been burned by inaccurate maps so many times now, if I am going to do something committing (like this hike) I try and get some words from the wise. Overgrown trails and landslides are a fact of life, right. Which is why I posted this message.
4 Sounds like the easiest option is staying at the camp sites on the road to FMP, rather than the full wilderness experience camping in FMP, as you then need to hike back down a few km the next day to go to the Wulai trail?
5 Swimming hole - do tell (or PM if it is not for the masses). I have had to satisfy myself with the river upstream from Wulai so far.
6 Snakes - I am expecting about 6-8 people, so I assume/hope desperately the snakes will scarper long before we run into each other.
7 Other hikes, overnight and otherwise - absolutely. I started a small hiking group when I first arrived here and realised what an excellent place this is for hiking, and have organised about 20 hikes so far, of between 5 and 15 people at various times. I also have recently joined the forumosa hiking group and waiting to see what is coming up there.

Again, thanks for the advice.

4

Hi,

Yeah I noticed you had signed up for the hiking club. You know to check out the Events thread though for hikes, right? We don’t send out pm notifications.

Good to hear you have a group going with you.

The swimming hole is not a secret by any means. It’s in TDTII and has even been featured in the China Post and on Taiwanese news. Fortunately it is just a little bit of work to get to so most taiwanese drop out and settle for the weir pools further down. We usually have the place to ourselves in the summer except for the occassional passing group of river tracers (who always seem annoyed that we are playing blithely in a pool they need ropes and gear to cross.)

In the last hour or so of the hike you’ll be on a wide clear trail above the river. You’ll pass over a makeshift bridge. There is a stream flowing down to the right. It’s almost a waterfall as the slope is so steep. The trail will then swing to the left sharply. In a 150 yards the trail will turn right sharply round a bend. The trail widens out at this point into small clearing (you could pitch a tent on the flat area) and there is a small shrine of sorts in the rocks (a little hollow with bowls and incense - that sort of thing) on the right. Also there is a hose on the edge of the slope on the left with running water (it comes from a pipe that leads from the makeshift bridge).

There is a trail just at the edge of the slope heading down. You probably can’t see it unless you are standing at the edge. Follow the trail down a few minutes and when you come to a junction of trails go left. You’ll reach the river valley in a minute. There are numerous paths right at the end but they all lead to the river. Usually you hit a small tributary stream first and then follow it 50 feet or so to the main river. The swimming hole is right there.

One of our favorite activities is to climb up along side the channel where the water flows into the pool and then slide into the channel. The channel is smooth so it’s like a water park tunnel ride as you get rushed along and thrown into the larger pool. Don’t go too far up though. Two or three meters or so is safe.

Yushan. I’m planning to do that this year too. Also want to do Snow Mountain again in late May when all the alpine flowers come out.

Anyway, hope to meet up with you soon.

5

Hmm. Once you know the whole route we should arrange for a two day trip the other direction. From Wulai to Full Moon Park, and then Full Moon Park to Fulong on the North Cross Island Highway (I know this route). Be a great weekend trip.

6

Actually, I think I better understand where you aqre talking about for the swimming hole.

I did a hike last year that started at the temple at the top of the mountain in Wulai - drive across the bridge, through the gate, turn left, and drive basically to the end of the road. Hike west across a couple of peaks then head down the ridgeline. It was the most overgrown, steep, leech infested trail I have hiked here so far. But at the bottom you meet the river, aqnd follow it downstream. At one point there is a log across a side-stream that you need to cross. Follow this side-strem up about 30m into a great little rock pool which was almost good enough to make up for the hell hike.

Anyway, I was actually intending to end up at the same temple at the top of the mountain and then follow the road down tom Wulai, rather than follow the river down - basically because I wanted to end up at a hot springs place on this mountain road for some post-hike relaxation.

7

ps no I don’t really know how to check for upcoming hikes in the group - messages don’t get sent out somehow ? I am new to this BB.

8

It’s not they don’t get sent out, it’s that I don’t write them. The admin, not me, set up the group list, but they haven’t figured out to let me do a mass email. In any case, I don’t want to do mass emailings. So, we just post hikes in the Events Forum. Just go there and you will see some of our last couple. There is also a master list thread linked to all out previous hikes (though the earliest ones are no longer available :fume: ).

You may want to consider posting your hikes too, to give people more options.

I was looking at the map of the area and see where you climbed up from the temple. I don’t recommend you return this way. The path may not be accessible from the west which means you may end up having to retrace your steps, dangerous on a long hike.

Also it looks like you will have to cross over that one mountain which is 1100 metres. That will take hours even on a good trail. The main path in TDTII follows the Jia Jiu Liao Stream for the last couple hours. It’s more or less flat and easy going. Also at the end of the trail you can see there is a path along the Nanshi river heading back to Wulai. The path starts right before you cross the suspension bridge. It takes about an hour. It’s a wide clear trail. We used to do this all the time last summer. After swimming in the river we’d head back to Wulai for a meal and sometimes hot springs.

If you have the same map series as I do, I am looking at map 9. In the top left corner you’ll see a tent symbol. That’s where you head down off the main trail to the swimming hole.