Wuling Farm

Travel Taiwan Travel
1

Has anyone been to Wuling Farm outside the peak seasons (sakura, maple leaves, etc.)? What’s it like in May? Too wet? Too cold? Worth it regardless?

It’s one of the few places in Taiwan I still haven’t visited, so I’ve been looking to check that box.

I’d be taking the bus, not cycling or scootering.

2

If you visit, take photos and post them here. I’m curious to hear about your experience.

Guy

3

Don’t know if this helps. Dropped in random times throughout the year sometimes overnight and sometimes just stopping a few hours transiting.

May can be chilly at night but mostly in hotel after dark Take sweater. Long trip from Taipei or anywhere except Yilan in one day even if driving car. Going by bus can be deceiving as as the few hotels are scattered and could be walking a bit from bus drop to hotel. Probably need couple nights if by bus to do some hikes which I haven’t done as just a couple getting away from the city.

Beautiful curvy steep drive.

4

I have been to Wuling Farm once, can’t remember time of year, no cherry blossoms. If you combine it with other attractions in the area, like Fushoshoushan/Lishan/Hehuanshan or make it a stop on your way to climbing Snow Mountain it’s OK, I wouldn’t mind camping there on the site close to the trailhead. I wouldn’t make it my only stop on a trip up to the mountains though. I’d rather go to SunLinkSea/Xitou or Aowanda or most of the other national forest recreation areas. One reason is the people going there, mostly tour groups of retirees. Food and accommodation are typical bland and nothing tho write home about. SunLinkSea is similar, but in that regard, but the scenery is more attractive, I find.

5

This I agree with! Just visitied

Our lunch there, I liked it (at the main lodge/info center upper levels)

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On the road up there, we parked in small shop and took off road ute, up to to here , with a walk/hike, like a euro forest
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like a euro forest

6

Outside the peak seasons is probably the best time to visit any place in Taiwan.

7

Not sure I’d want to camp. There were an unholy swarm of monkeys running around the campground when I was there. Those things give me the heeby-jeebies.

8

Is that the proper English term? A school of fish, a murder of crows, an unholy swarm of monkeys

9

If it isn’t, it should be.

10

No. The collective noun for monkeys is barrel. Everybody knows that.

11

Just watch the weather and book only if sunny is forecasted…

But then May is prime hiking season for xue mountain and dabajian as well as holy ridge.. but I think most people don’t sleep locally but further away and start hiking by mid-day so likely less booked Vs March

12

FWIW, one of my travelling companions is an octogenarian, so I won’t be camping or doing much extended hiking beyond any easy trails the area might have.

The main appeals will be just enjoying the view and breathing the air. Seeing some stars for a change would be nice, too, though the moon will probably limit a lot of that even if the sky is clear.

13

I think it’s a good place for elderly people, you can opt for easy-grade walks or steeper ones and the air is fresh. Just walking here is already good for breathing in fresh air and looking at fine trees and mountains:

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14

I neglected to post anything after my trip.

Overall, I was glad to have gone, even though early May is not one of the area’s awesome viewing times (e.g., cherry blossoms, fall foliage). If I’d gone a few weeks earlier, I would’ve caught the wisteria season. Oh well.

The weather was great: not too cold, not too hot. Brief, light showers were the only rain – no problem.

Pros:

  • Another beautiful spot in the mountains worth visiting.
  • The small Salmon Eco Center (臺灣櫻花鉤吻鮭生態中心–鮭魚館) is pretty cool, with a large plexiglass tank made in which one can see the Formosan landlocked salmon in what has been made to look at least a little like their natural environment. This is an especially good thing because if one goes to the spot along the river where the wild fish are said to congregate, don’t count on seeing any (though you might get lucky).
  • Science/history geeks like me might get a kick out of seeing several direct descendants of Isaac Newton’s apple tree (not far from the CKS vacation house).
  • Spotted several wild barking deer.

Cons:

  • The twisty mountain roads to get there can induce motion sickness. Or was it just the hotel breakfast I had?
  • Flies. OMG, there were a lot of annoying flies in some (but not all) areas, esp. by the river.
  • I had no idea so much land had been taken over for cultivation of cabbage. Alongside the road to Wuling is cabbage, cabbage, and more cabbage. Not mere occasional fields of cabbage or a wide expanse of cabbage, but collectively a veritable ocean of the vegetable, which might indicate about how much water is needed to irrigate that. Whoever it was that spread the “mountain cabbage is the best” idea should definitely be spending some time in purgatory.
  • Not as many trails as many other national forests.

Live fish cam:

15

How was the accommodation?

Guy

16

We stayed in the Wuling Farm Guest House (Wǔlíng guómín bīnguǎn / 武陵國民賓館), which was perfectly fine. The food was actually a bit better than usual for such places.

One tip: Try to get a room far from the hallway water dispensers. Those damn things beep every time someone presses a button. So if someone wants to get water at 6:30 a.m. or some other ungodly hour, BEEP! Then BEEP! Then BEEP! And maybe another BEEP! on top of that. :persevering_face:

17

Did the stay reduce your crankiness, that is the question. And did you have cabbage at breakfast?

:blush:

18

Why would I want that? :whistle:

I’m pretty sure that question number 27 on the Taiwan citizenship application test covers this:

Q: When staying in a national park, a national forest recreation area, or other such officially designated national space, are Taiwanese required to eat cabbage with their breakfast?

A: Yes.