Hei Long Tan (黑龍潭) Info Needed

黑龍潭 hei1 long2 tan2

Does anyone have info, maps, or links regarding Heilongtan? I know it can be accessed via Pinglin on the 北 42 Road just past the 13km marker.

Last weekend I was in Pinglin and found the signs but my scooter was running low on gas so I didn’t make it.

I know of a Longtan near Yilan, but I think that’s too far away to be what you’re looking for.

[quote=“dumas”]黑龍潭 hei1 long2 tan2

Does anyone have info, maps, or links regarding Heilongtan? I know it can be accessed via Pinglin on the 北 42 Road just past the 13km marker.

Last weekend I was in Pinglin and found the signs but my scooter was running low on gas so I didn’t make it.[/quote]

I have maps, but what is this? A town, campsite, mountain?

It is a campsite. Here are some photos I found on the internet, but I haven’t found any English sites.

http://myweb.hinet.net/home3/tungao/030322/0322/030322.htm

Go to the hiking shops near the train station on Zhongshan North Road. You can get an amazing map collection covering the whole north of Taiwan. It has 1:25,000 maps of the Pinglin area with campsites marked on it. The 42 is a nice area. Lots of campsites but most are pretty primitive and can be very crowded with locals (in the worst sense of that word) on the weekend.

Yeah it’s a campground at the confluence of two rivers. There is a trail system that begins here including the Wantan Old Trail that goes over to Shuangxi along the beautiful Beishi river.

This is the number for the campground.

[quote=“Feiren”]This is the number for the campground.

[/quote]
And this is a colour photograph of Feiren naked.

Found it on the map. It’s map number 12. These are the 1:25,000 maps from kmpress (which is Sunriver I think but on the map it says kmpress.com. Looks like it’s a few hundred yards before the Beishi and that other one join. Both start up in the hills above Daxi on the eats coast. We explored the Beishi a bit up there when we did that long long hike down the Daxi river. Funny, but I used to stop at the Beishi all the time when I drove the mountain route from Shuangxi to Daxi. Never knew it was the same river I had also paddled and sat beside for years in Pinglin.

Okay Feiren I am veyr interested to know what you know about the trail from that campsite following the Beishi. I am just starting to prepare for a river trace up or down that river in late August from the campsite to the road above Daxi or vice versa. Is the trail in good shape? How long? You mention that it continues all the way to Shuangxi. Interesting. I can see on my map that it does though you need to cross the road at the top.

How is the campsite btw? It looks like the last bit of anything manmade before you reach the road above Daxi 6-7 km later so the water should be the cleanest possible here.

Anyway, it seems like we could hike/river trace all the way down and then stay overnight or at least get the campsite to call taxis for us to Pinglin.

Feiren? I’m dying to know what you know about this area. :notworthy:

[quote=“sandman”][quote=“Feiren”]This is the number for the campground.

[/quote]
And this is a colour photograph of Feiren naked.[/quote]

C’mon Sandie. I’m white, but not that white.

The trail is in pretty good shape–about 6 km or so from the campsite to the road above Daxi. It runs along the north bank. At Heilongtan there is a red concrete bridge and you can see a meadow on the other side of the river. The trail begins on the far side of the meadow. Not sure how much more I can add–it’s really pretty straightforward.

There is a more detailed discussion (in Chinese) with photoshere.

You come out at the Wantan camping area on the Shuangxi side. hth

Let me know when youwill be going.

Thanks so much. Trail_hacker sent me a bunch of info too. His friends though did the south side of the Wantan Stream up to Wantan. According to my maps there are trails on both sides.

Ever gone up the Beishi River from the campsite? The route you’re talking about is along the Wantan Stream, right?

I was thinking of going the firts weekend in September as I thought about river tracing up, but it looks a bit wide and deep for that. Maybe late September when the weather is a little cooler. Maybe not. Seems like there are a number of good places to swim along the way and it’s only a few hours.

According to the maps, once you hit the mountain road above Daxi, if you head north, away from Daxi, you can get on a trail that connects to the Caoling Historical Trail. If the section is in good shape that would be a nice long day’s hike, maybe even an overnighter.

I’ve never seent his thread before, but oddly enough I was at Heilongtan today.

From Pinglin take the number 42, and just keep an eye out for the signs. They are little brown signs in Chinese (黑龍潭) and will take you all the way there. It’s 15-20 minutes off the main road (42).

The campground is old, but pretty good. There’s grass and trees, and a stream running through it. The best thing is it’s pretty big, with a few different areas, so I imagine you could get a little privacy. Has water, toilets, showers and lights. They said there’s not many people at the moment becuase of Ghost Month (which is two months this year, so 2 months of less crowded beaches, swimming holes and campsites has to be good).

Yesterday and today I looked at about a dozen campsites around Pinglin to Shuangxi and this and one in Shuangxi called Ding-something were the best (the latter newer, cleaner, but smaller and probably more crowded). The two were better than any I’ve seen around other places in Nth Taiwan I’ve looked (mostly around Sanxia, Taoyuan, Xinzhu). Compare very well with that Meishu/Yufeng place we went on Dragonboat Fest last year with Forumosa.

Oh, you might not be able to swim at Heilongtan. The warning signs were more frequent and emphatic than usual. The Ding-something one does have swimming, but I didn’t check it out.

Ding-thingy is 150pp for tents and Heilongtan works out at much the same. Ding has nice looking wood cabins for 2000+ and Heilong has crummy looking tin shack cabins for 1200.

If anyone wants further info, I’ll retrieve the namecards/DMs from the car.

Brian

Interestingly enough Omni and I were in the area yesterday morning. We didn’t go to Heilongtan but to the end of the road to the where the Beishi and Wantan River meet. there is another campsite called the Zhang Family Mansion or something. The setup sounds similar to Heilongtan.

No swiming? Oh yes my friend there is. The biggest natural river pool I have yet seen is just upstream from Heilongtan a few hundred metres where the two rivers converge (Heilongtan is on the Beishi). The water was as warm as bathwater. The pool was at least 30 metres across and 80 long. Not sure how deep but I tried sinking down and didn’t hit bottom so at least 3 metres. Bigger than the average swimming pool.

There’s also another sweet but smaller pool arond the 13 kilometre mark on the 42. As you cross a bridge look left. There was a flat section near the pools you could camp on though there was a fair amount of litter around it. If you go bring a bag or two.

The Shuangxi place, did it have nice wood cabins with leopard print bedsheets? Is it beside a river? Down a road off the road down to Fulong?

Some pics of the big pool:

That’s the one. The name is Dinglangu (丁蘭谷). 24930266. Heilongtan is 26656038.

Brian

[quote=“Muzha Man”]Interestingly enough Omni and I were in the area yesterday morning. We didn’t go to Heilongtan but to the end of the road to the where the Beishi and Wantan River meet. there is another campsite called the Zhang Family Mansion or something. The setup sounds similar to Heilongtan.

[/quote]

The Zhang Family Manor is where the trail I mentioned above begins. Some beautiful, beautiful water up there, no?

[quote=“Feiren”][quote=“Muzha Man”]Interestingly enough Omni and I were in the area yesterday morning. We didn’t go to Heilongtan but to the end of the road to the where the Beishi and Wantan River meet. there is another campsite called the Zhang Family Mansion or something. The setup sounds similar to Heilongtan.

[/quote]

The Zhang Family Manor is where the trail I mentioned above begins. Some beautiful, beautiful water up there, no?[/quote]

We didn’t have time for more than a swim where the two rivers meet. But that was beautiful enough. I’m not sure which trail you mean as the one that follows the north bank of the Beishi does not go to Wantan. The Wantan river trail, which is on the south side of the Wantan River goes to the Wantan campground. At least that is what I have figured out from the map and my brief visit.

Looking forward to doing this trail maybe in a few weeks when it is a little cooler though interestingly Omni’s car thermometre showed the temp around 27 in this area whereas it was 32 in the city.

I went out to Heilongtan for a BBQ on Sunday. It was great. Not many people at all for a weekend. Good grass and trees. Not too hot. Awesome swimming in the river. I really recommend it.

Brian

I am thinking about packing the old toyota make some sandwiches, and take the girls up there over one of the coming weekends.

Is it a kiddie friendly place?

I can’t see what would be kiddy unfriendly about it. You’d just have to make sure they ddidn’t wander into the river, I guess.

Let me know if you want to go there for an overnight camp soon. I’m keen as mustard.

Brian