This is a kicker of a mountain bike climb, and real easy to find from town. Get yourself onto Zhongshan Rd (anywhere) and head towards the mountains. Zhongshan ends in a T-junction, take a R and then follow road around to the L and up up up to the trailhead car-park (pic).
Trail is 4km long, and ascends 340 metres. It is climbing virtually all the way, and is granny-gear territory almost from the start, so be prepared.
This trail was overhauled in late 2009 – it used to be a rock-filled rutted 2 lane track. They’ve now laid down a few more concrete sections, put in a load of ‘speed-bump’ drainage tunnels (they make for fun coming down), removed the bigger rocks and smoothed the ruts out. So all in all it’s easier to ride now, but it’s still a challenge to get to the top without a foot down.
Forget to mention The Wall. About 1.5km up, it’s only about 50m long but the steepest part of the route. There’s a lip halfway up, which means you’re hanging out of the saddle over the front wheel just trying to keep it on the floor.
[color=#4000BF]Mar-2011 edit:[/color] rode the Tso Tsang twice this week: 1 cleated fall and 1 forced dismount on The Wall. The lip has expanded and steepened, and I don’t think I can ride it now , got to push for a bit. Perhaps a young whippet half my age could still make it up…
[color=#0000BF]Aug 2011 edit:[/color] The Wall is no more. They’ve driven a guai-shou up there and the trail is all rubble. An 80m section is getting nice new wide concrete drainage, and will be better graded as well once finished. I’ll be able to climb it again. Change, chnage, chngae.
[color=#0000BF]Nov 2011 edit:[/color] The Wall rebuild is complete. It’s no longer the monster it used to be - still steep, but is easily rideable now. Challenges are now in other areas, particularly the concrete lateral humps of the covered drainage ditches. The gravel is being eroded on the downslope, and those humps are getting tricky to ascend over…
The best ride within easy reach of town. This is 2 ‘trails’ (all tarmac road), total maybe 6km, the Fenglin and Baiyun. They climb up about 200m and then bump into each other along a ridge road. Nice climbing and great views both ways. Best done on a mtn bke, suspension makes it nicer coming down, and also if you go up the Fenglin side first then there’s a couple of tough steep sections along the ridge.
Baiyun trailhead:
Go up Ji-an’s Zhongshan Rd and turn left here. That’s not a left onto the cycle path, but a left onto the road just before the river. Go down there, don’t take the first left, and you’ll hit the trailhead.
Fenglin trailhead:
Harder to find. Go all the way up Fuxing Rd and take a left here. There’s a steep 0.5km of steep road, then you got to take a left onto the Fenglin trail itself. Going straight leads to a temple and a dead end.
There’s also a 3rd road you can use to connect to the middle of the ridge section, it runs up through a temple and cemetery area. Starts here at the end of Jichang 1st St.
This is a few km and 30 mins longer than just riding up Hwy 9, but much nicer. The directions aren’t easy though, so had to put a few links in. From Hualien town-centre, ride out towards the mtns on Zhongshan Rd, and turn R onto Jingshan Rd Sec 2 lane 36. 3/4km down there, take this left, after the flat bridge.
About 7km later and a couple of villages later, the road turns into a rough track right by the railway. Don’t panic. Continue, do a left across a field, then up the ribbon of road that’s just visible below the pylon. The track rejoins the main road into Sanzhan, and once you’ve ridden through through Sanzhan turn left onto Minxiang Rd.
The other option from town is to ride up the coast on the #193. But the #193 won’t take you all the way to Taroko, it ends at Hwy 9 near Sanzhan. Cross straight over Hwy 9 and go on 200m, then climb right over the large bridge into Sanzhan. From here, it’s the same as the route above, picking up Minxiang Rd.
Prob should do, but don’t know the best one to use. I saw another site last week, with a lot of Taiwan rides (mostly tagged in Mandarin). Didn’t bookmark it though .
Funnily enough, rode it for the first time yesterday. They’ve done a nice job for the most part. So you can now do a complete loop down the coast along Beibin and Nanbin Beach Parks, cut across to Liyu Lake, then back again into town along the foot of the mountains (that part of the circuit has been there for a while).
I’d pick them up on the choice of fancy paving slabs for the new beach section. It’s not 100% smooth. But the other tarmac sections are great - Local Gov’t here have done a lot of sound work on bike paths in the last couple of years :bravo:.
Has anyone managed to find out how to get down into Shoulin from the top of the ridge. I can’t find the road down shown on the map. I know that it could be just a trail, but can anyone verify it is actually there?
Also what is riding across the hills from Shuilian like? Looks like you could do a great loop.
The whole 20-25km of this ride is now signed bike-paths. And then there’s the further 5km up and around Liyu Lake.
I’m not sure where the Qinshui bike path starts in town, but it meets the Qinshan bike path out on Jian’s Zhongshan Rd, left here. This runs all the way to Hwy 9丙. I skip some bits of it as they involve some steps and dismounting, but the way around ain’t easy to explain. So I won’t.
Get to Hwy 9丙, then follow that upstream and then across the Mugua River. At the end of the next village is a left – at this point it’s only another couple of km continuing along the main road to Liyu Lake, and a good call is to head up there, loop the traffic-free road around the lake, and back to this junction.
The left is the highlight of the ride IMO, a great little road tucked between the south bank of the Mugua and a mountain, with a climb in the middle. After that, there’s busy traffic on Hwy 9 as you cross back over the Mugua. But the bike path quickly leads off right just after the bridge, and then the rest is mostly neat rural riding. It takes you back to and along the coast, giving you a great smell of Hualien’s great polluter (the paper factory) before finishing up at Nanbin Beach Park.
It’s a ride north (maybe 8-10km?) from Nanbin Beach Park to Qixingtan Beach. Bike paths all the way, although sections can get busy in the late afternoon, or on weekends. Once at Qixingtan, there’s ice-cream and then a good extension is to ride the #193 further north along the coast.
Excellent stuff. I’ve written about most of these for the next LP Taiwan based on what I saw in the spring and talking to the tourism office. Good to see it really came together as planned and I won’t get a lot of angry letters.
From Liyu Lake heading south there is that nice path that veers off just before the Forest Recreation Area. I noticed it joined Hwy 9 for a stretch but then the bike signs veer off toward the hills and there are signs to lead you through the maze of backcountry roads all the way down to the south cross highway. These were not bike only paths but country roads. The signs just help you to know where to go. Have you done any of this? I drove most of it in my car but the signage wasn’t complete in the spring.
It looks like a nice quiet alternative to riding Hwy 9, even though of course that road has that nice shoulder now.
Oh, in Liyu Lake (just south) the Balanjeno Cafe is a nice place for a meal or some good coffee. The owner is a coffee importer and you can often see him outside roasting his beans. The cafe has a Guatemalan theme.
Good climb then a ridge ride along a mix of tarmac and rough track.
Got to get south of town to the Hualien Big Bridge 花蓮大橋. Best way is down Zhongzhen Rd into Ji-an, and turn left onto start of Hwy 11at the big 3-way junction with the gas station. The #193 also takes you straight there from town, but that section’s a mix of big trucks and accidents. Cross the Big Bridge on Hwy 11, and then climb up 200m to the Farglory Hotel 遠雄悅來大飯店.
The climb can be done 2 ways, the long way (turn right here) or go a few km further down Hwy 11 and turn right onto the local Alpe d’Huez - steep switchbacks, and obscene views of the Farglory Ocean (Theme) Park.
The two roads meet just past the hotel, and the ridge road continues on for several km, climbing up to 350/400m. There are a few junctions, but it’s not hard to keep going and reach the North Yuemeishan Trailhead. The trail itself is 4.8km long and goes over Yuemei Mtn to the South Trailhead (which also has car access, but on a different road).
I’ve been up here twice…
1st time I tried to cyclo-cross the trail, but there’s too many steps for that to be fun. I dropped the bike after a km and just hiked to the top of Yuemei (a trig-point and views in no directions) then back again.
2nd time I carried on along the track past the trailhead and tried, like Feiren, to find a route down west off the ridge to Shoufong / the #193. I got well lost, tried about 4 or 5 roads / tracks but each one either dead-ended or disappeared. In the end, back out again. I’m also sure there’s a way through or down, but maybe easier to choose a side road from the #193 and try and get up.
There is a great loop, from town the round trip is about 4 hours. Best done on a non-road bike. Like the above ride, first get to the Hualien Big Bridge 花蓮大橋. Then an easy roll down Hwy 11, through a section of long tunnels (well-lit but bike lights sensible) and a sexy downhill into Shuilian village (shops).
Finding the road here is a bit tricky. The turn off you need is right at the start of the village. Then almost immediately straight-on here (small lane), and you’re away IIRC. Once on the road, there’s only a few junctions and each time just follow the bigger track. It’s 95% tarmac, but does get rough and muddy in places. Road condition depends on recent slides etc. and repairs, but it is kept open. Goes up nicely to about 500m, thus crossing the Coastal Range, then begins to run off down into the Rift Valley. Here you’ll pass the South Yuemeishan Trailhead, and on the fast narrow 5km of downhill there are a couple of junctions where right turns would be worth checking out for that missing bike link to the North Trailhead.
Once down, the road quickly ends at the #193. If you’re doing the ride in reverse, here’s the junction. If you’re late/tired, the easiest way back to town is to take either of the 2 bridges over the Hualien River to join Hwy 11丙. Otherwise, it’s nicest back along the #193 to Big Bridge.
Very easy this. South of Liyu Lake you can ride down Hwy 9丙 or there’s also a bike path off to the right that runs parallel to the highway on smaller roads. The bike path leads you direct into the Baibao Valley, or turn right here from Hwy 9丙 and then fork right here. The designated bike path (Hualian County is selling the Baibao as an eco-valley) takes you along the valley floor for about 5km, it’s pleasant and pretty quiet. Good snake country.
Or (far less easy) take the left fork for the road that climbs steeply up the left flank of the Baibao valley - both my map & Google have it as the Baibao Xi Industry Road. Both also show the valley road and the high road meeting deep into the valley, but again I’ve tried to make that connection and I don’t see that it happens. The upper road ends in a gate which I threw the bike over, but still didn’t seem to be getting anywhere on the logging track that followed. The valley road also ends in a gate (+ dogs) - didn’t go there.
Coming back, it’s a good loop to turn right onto Hwy 9丙 and left onto this small road. It crosses a river and then keep left and ride through the back of Pinghe. You should join up with a marked cycle path heading north on a small road (Hwy 9 will be off to the right). This bike path joins up with the main Hualien-Mugua River bike path, where you can go left & return to Liyu Lake.
I’ve been into those roads a few times, but only as far down as Fenglin and Guangfu. You call it a maze because you got lost in there? I always do . South of Guangfu I’ve only biked the #193, but agree there’s other alternatives to Hwy 9 that deserve to be ridden.
Does the LP give 月廬 a mention? Really nice restaurant, in beautiful isolation on a hillside a few km NW of Fenglin. Good destination for a ride, but can be very busy. Reservation advised (weekends essential).
月廬 : Address 花蓮縣鳳林鎮鳳鳴一路71號 (03-8762206)
, got to push for a bit. Perhaps a young whippet half my age could still make it up…
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. South of Guangfu I’ve only biked the