Thanks Muchaman
I was thinking of hiking the trail. What’s the best way to the starting point? Would a bus to Wulai and then a taxi out there be best?
Cheers
[quote=“spunkymonkey”]Thanks Muchaman
I was thinking of hiking the trail. What’s the best way to the starting point? Would a bus to Wulai and then a taxi out there be best?
Cheers[/quote]
It’s hard to get a taxi as they have no chance of getting a fare back. You be better off starting in Jiaoshi and taking a taxi fromthe train station as it is not as far. It’s 30 minutes or so from Wulai to the trailhead.
Hey, maybe I will arrange a hike here on Saturday. Even if it is a bit rainy the trail is good.
[quote=“Muzha Man”]
Hey, maybe I will arrange a hike here on Saturday. Even if it is a bit rainy the trail is good.[/quote]
Tonghou…!! Yeh…one of the top 10 bird-watching trails. I will have my binoculars with me. 
[quote=“kate.lin”][quote=“Muzha Man”]
Hey, maybe I will arrange a hike here on Saturday. Even if it is a bit rainy the trail is good.[/quote]
Tonghou…!! Yeh…one of the top 10 bird-watching trails. I will have my binoculars with me. [/quote]
Different part.
Sorry for all the questions, don’t want to go there and horribly lost.
Is the trail at the end of a-yu road (阿玉路)? It follows the river after passing shiaoyi?
I’m definately keen to do this weekend and i might know a few others
If you guys plan to hike Tonghou, I strongly suggest you get transport to the trailhead (where the campsite and suspension bridge are). From Wulai to the trailhead is about 20km of paved road, which is great to bike on but very boring to walk on (unless there’s a hiking trail from Wulai to the trailhead that I don’t know about). Same thing for the Yilan side; it’ll be all asphalt after you get down the mountain before you get to Longtan.
I’ve hiked the trail before, and know how long that windy road from Wulai is. Our own Omni once drove a scooter to the trailhead, hiked to Jiaoshi, caught the train back to Taipei, then a bus to Wulai and walked along the road back to his scooter.
That won’t be the way we’ll do it. 
http://heresjonny.com/blog/2011/04/04/tonghou-trail-wulai-to-yilan-by-mountain-bike/ on bike … we did it last weekend, taking a car out from Taipei.
Enjoy!
I have done the Tonghou trail up to the top and down from Wulai side a few times now.
Now I’m planning on riding the Running Horse + Tonghou together with a mate someday, but need some more info.
Here’s the plan:
The evening before the ride, drive to Wulai with two cars and drop one off at the police station or even closer to the trailhead if possible.
The day of the ride drive to the start of Running Horse trail then start biking along the trail down into Jiaoxi.
Then from Jiaoxi ride to Longtan (?) and start climbing to the Tonghou trail and follow that one down towards Wulai.
From Wulai take car back to start of Running Horse to pick up the other car.
Sound like a plan, eh!
Now the following questions:
[ol][li]What’s the Running Horse trail like? Is it a real downhill trail (DH) or more like crosscountry trail going downhill?[/li]
[li]How to get from Jiaoxi to Tonghou trail? Ride to Longtan and follow the Xiaojiao river upstream? Easy to find?[/li]
[li]How cruel is the uphill from Jiaoxi to Tonghou?[/li]
[li]How long would the trip take (from start Running Horse to end Tonghou on Wulai side), considering I’m a slow climber 
[/li][/ol]
Any info is appreciated!
Hey Roel, the OP here. Glad you’re giving this a whirl. You’ll enjoy it no doubt.
We did it almost 4 years ago, so some things may have changed, but for the better I’m sure. I heard they built several bridges on the Wulai side, so the trail is more bike-friendly now.
[quote]Here’s the plan:
The evening before the ride, drive to Wulai with two cars and drop one off at the police station or even closer to the trailhead if possible.
The day of the ride drive to the start of Running Horse trail then start biking along the trail down into Jiaoxi.
Then from Jiaoxi ride to Longtan (?) and start climbing to the Tonghou trail and follow that one down towards Wulai.
From Wulai take car back to start of Running Horse to pick up the other car.
Sound like a plan, eh![/quote]
That’s a walk in the park compared to what we did. We did the whole loop on two wheels over two days. You’re giving yourself the five-star treatment with the door-to-door pickup. But hey, if you have the resources, more power to you.
No, not a real DH trail. It’s a fairly wide (~2 meters) crosscountry trail going downhill, doable on a hardtail.
This will be your biggest challenge. We had to ask around several times, but the ride on small country roads amid rice paddy was very pleasant. There’s a bigger alternate road with heavier traffic. But I highly recommend you take the country road. I remember it was Yilan County Road #5, which is more inland (west) than the big road.
Very cruel, about 70% granny gear with the ground changing from asphalt to cement to dirt/rocks to grass. My advice: bring lots of water!
Everyone is reduced to a slow climber, if not a bike pusher, on that heartbreak hill, but once you go over the pass and hike your bike (for about an hour if memory serves) it’s a sweet descent through the beautiful forest. I’d say give it at least 5 hours. Good luck!
Does sound a good ride. I’d be into doing a day loop but would be starting from Yilan, then over the Tonghou and back along the 9.
I’m guessing though at the way in from the Yilan side. Is it out of Yilan up Dapo Rd Sec I+II, then straight on here to hook up with the Xiaojiao River.
Right or wrong?
[quote=“Nuit”] Is it out of Yilan up Dapo Rd Sec I+II, then straight on here to hook up with the Xiaojiao River.
Right or wrong?[/quote] Right. That’s the road, Nuit. 
Just stay on Dapo heading northwest. But note the street name changes to something else (I don’t know those characters on the map). It’ll eventually run parallel with Xiaojiaoxi river. A word of warning: Marker D on the map shows it’s the “town” of Xiaojiaoxi. There is no town there, much less a convenience store. The last place you can find a convenience store before you go into the wild is Longtan. Too bad the google car didn’t drive all the way in to show the street view up to the trailhead.
Nuit, RoelC - have either of you decided on when you might do this ride?
I would be interested in joining in if you don’t mind someone who is fairly fit and whose MTB skills were once good but now are a bit rusty due to lack of practice… if necessary I can take the Capital bus down to Jiaoxi to meet up with you there, do the Tonghu and then head home from Wulai to my home in central Taipei.
Thanks for the info!
I’m guessing the country road Incubus mentioned is Deyang Rd + Linwei Rd + Chaiwei Rd + Sijie Rd + Longquan Rd and turn onto Dapo Rd.
And the bigger alternate Rd is the 9 itself.
Anyway, I should be able to find it now. No concrete plan yet on when this is going to be happen. I’'ll post it here once I know!
Also thinking about transportation, maybe it’s easier to find someone with a van to drop us off at Running Horse and pick us up in Wulai.
[quote=“RoelC”]I’m guessing the country road Incubus mentioned is Deyang Rd + Linwei Rd + Chaiwei Rd + Sijie Rd + Longquan Rd and turn onto Dapo Rd.
[/quote]
Those are just street names, but in the country, you’re not gonna find street signs. Instead, you’ll see Yilan County Rd #5 (宜5). Just follow that. If you need to ask for directions, you can ask for directions to Longtan Hu (lake), which is a tourist destination all the locals know.
[quote=“greenmark”]Nuit, RoelC - have either of you decided on when you might do this ride?
I would be interested in joining in if you don’t mind someone who is fairly fit and whose MTB skills were once good but now are a bit rusty due to lack of practice… if necessary I can take the Capital bus down to Jiaoxi to meet up with you there, do the Tonghu and then head home from Wulai to my home in central Taipei.[/quote]
I’m leaving for the summer in 2 weeks, so it wouldn’t be Aug/Sep now (thinking, that would be a hot ride,…). But that could work, fit is good. I’d have to get the train up from Hualien though, and the only morning train that takes bikes is the 05.15 :raspberry:. Maybe stay over in Yilan the night before.
If the weather’s Ok, thinking about doing this on Monday. Stay overnight in Jiaoxi on the Sunday, then do it clockwise : Tonghou Trail - Wulai - Pinglin - Running Horse. Is that a long day? Would start at first light, 6am-ish, figuring on about 10-11 hrs.
Are you planning on doing the entire loop in one day? That would be insane even if you’re super fit. The climb from Jiaoxi up to the pass is a killer. You’ll be in granny gear most of the way up, if not pushing your bike at the steep sections. I suggest after you get into Taipei, just take transport back to Hualian (That’s where you’re from, right?) The Rt. 9 is just a highway in the mountains, and the Running Horse pales next to Tonghou. So the second half of your ride would be very boring especially after you’ve ridden the long and sweet cross-country offroad trail.
I don’t like the use of the word ‘insane’ there 
. Was figuring 5hrs from Jiaoxi to Wulai (11am), quick lunch, then another 5 on the 9# with added Pinglin ice-cream along the way (4.30pm) and a final hour back down the Running Horse. The 9# wouldn’t be that boring as I’ve not ridden it before. If it’s just a very long day, I’m Ok with that, but if you think my timings are wrong then shout!
Think I’m close to calling it off on Mon though, it’s been raining over the trail since Thu - and wet again this morning.
OK, insane maybe hyperbole, but I’m just concerned about your ability to complete this thing in one day. It took us two days and we were spent by the end of it. (I trained for a month before the ride.) That first climb is going to sap you, and then there’s the 3-4 km of hike-a-bike after you reach the pass. Even though it’s downhill, it’ll take at least half an hour of struggling through low-hanging branches and risking spraining an ankle if you try to go fast. By the time we got into Wulai we were ready to call it quits. And that’s not even your halfway point in your proposed ride. Also, you’ll have to be on the move constantly to get to the Running Horse before it gets dark. Forget about ice cream. It’ll be more like eating powerbars and bananas as you ride. Sure, 120k is doable on asphalt in one day for an experienced rider, but not when it involves a long, exposed offroad climb, hike-a-bike on a narrow hiking trail, and at least four major ascents. But if you’re really that fit, more power to you.