I want to take 14 up to 8 and then ride it as far East as I can go, but I know not only is the road crap under normal circumstances, that rain, earthquakes, the slightest sneeze, etc., may result in closures and road damage.
I’m wondering if there’s anywhere that shows the latest closure status so I can figure out how far I can get on the 8 - whether it’s East (as I want to go now) or West (as I may go in the future)?
search here for Central Cross Island Highway. it’s closed on the western portion, likely never to reopen fully, while the eastern descent into Hualien via Taroko from the top is very doable. bring waterproof warm gloves…
many threads in cycling forum as well. for example,
welcome to Forumosa
Welcome. Ride what motorcycle, scooter, bike…?
Road information located here. Maybe easier to read on smartphone mobile. https://www.thb.gov.tw/sites/en/#
#14 - #8 via Dayuling https://goo.gl/maps/kayFF96Z5hA2 going east to Taroko is actually a fairly decent route and not crap. Lots of organized biking up, down, over, around. Not a lot of problems except on #8 inside Taroko when there could be rockslides or construction. Whole route is usually open except sometimes during bad weather where are certain sections near Hehuanshan that may be closed purely for safety.
From Dayuling going west is where #8 is crap.
Armchair traveler here. Do you share your explorations on you tube? Seriously, this kind of exploring sounds fun but I’m not capable of doing it.
#14 - #8 via Dayuling Google Maps going east to Taroko is actually a fairly decent route and not crap.
This is what I intend to take, probably on a motorcycle since I tried going up the route from the Hualien side with a car and I had to give up about halfway through, it was too stressful with people trying to always pass you on that one lane road - much easier for me to pull over on 2 wheels.
I presume the other half (from Dayuling) is about the same mostly-one-lane road?
Welcome.
welcome to Forumosa
Thanks! I just got the name. Well done.
From Dayuling, to Hehuanshan is a beautiful wide 2 lane road with wide shoulder. Then Hehuanshan to Chingjing on down to Puli is standard 2 lane road curvy on mountainside.
From Dayuling through Taroko eventually becomes mostly standard but narrow 2 lane.
I clicked the gov site on your earlier link and found this:
Based on the live camera footage, it looks like 14 is actually a one lane road from pretty early on (South), and the 8 after Dayuling becomes 1 lane pretty quickly.
Are those feeds the entire road, or is there a separate road for the other direction?
@The_Seeker I’m not a travel vlogger, but I bet there are plenty of videos on YouTube!
14 between Chingjing and Hehuanshan is one lane-ish in many spots where only one car can pass. The same for 8 initially starting down into Taroko for a few km. Very little traffic going North/East from Hehuanshan. Everyone turns around there and heads back South/West.