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| the biggest waterfall in Sandiaoling |
One of the off-the-beaten tracks I discovered around New Taipei is the Sandiaoling Waterfall Hiking Trail (三貂嶺瀑布群), it runs through the borders of Ruifang and Pingxi districts and known to have the feature three majestic waterfalls. It used to be part of the ancient Tanlan Trail which was an important trade route from Yilan to Taipei.
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| the small community nearby of Sandiaoling |
HOW TO GET TO SANDIAOLING AND START YOUR WATERFALL HIKE
The usual route is to start at Sandiaoling Station, which is part of the Pingxi Rail Line. What I did was from Taipei, I took the train to Ruifang and then transferred to Sandiaoling. I have heard that there is a bus (bus #795) from MRT Muzha Station that also heads for the Pingxi Line but I haven’t tried this myself so I wouldn’t be able to comment about it.
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| a look at the local trains in Taiwan |
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| mangas at the train station, if I knew how to reach Chinese, I probably would have not left the station |
From the station, you’d see signposts, it will be about 2.7 kilometer walk to the start of the actual trail. You should be able to see Keelung River on your left. Just go straight and follow the rail tracks. Another landmark is a short pedestrian underpass that you take to cross so you don’t actually have to walk along the railway tracks. Follow the Pingxi line until you see a small town on your right, you will see an old school and a map of the waterfall trail.
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| take this underpass |
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| I initially thought this was the start of the trail, but my instinct prevented me from going here, turns out it I was right |
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| the elementary school, you'd see the trail's map on your right |
If you’re looking to veer away from the crowd then you have to try this nature trek. I was totally alone the whole time and only meet a couple when I was on my way back.to the station. Despite that, I had no problems navigating because the area is well marked with markers.
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| stairs, stairs and more stairs.. |
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| the trail gets flat after a couple of minutes, but the trail got muddy from the intermittent rain |
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| look at these cute flowers, you'd see a lot of these along the way |
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| creepy branches.. |
I suppose it rained hard in Sandiaolong the previous day. The ground was wet and muddy so I was glad there were some parts of the trail that were cemented. The trail was flat and easy and it was after 30 minutes that I reached the first stop, Hegu Waterfall 合谷瀑布. Out of the three, it has the highest volume of water and also the tallest at 40 meters.
It was a little disappointing that I could only get this view from a wooden observation deck at the top. The area is filled with dense vegetation which also make it quite difficult to take a zoomed in picture. It is still majestic even just from looking at it from afar.
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| Hegu Waterfall |
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| a bit out of my wits because this is the closest I can get to the first falls |
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| you'd see two suspension bridges as you get to the second waterfall |
I felt rain showers on my cheek as I continued my way and approached short suspension bridges. The path got narrower and I have to admit, I may have lost my balance a few times from the slippery forest floor (and also from only wearing sandals). It was refreshing to hear the loud gushing sound of Motian Waterfall 摩天瀑布 as its waters hit the big rocks at the bottom. One fun tidbit is that you can actually explore the crevice of this cliff, so you could see the waterfalls literally up close. The path leading to this gap is not that noticeable and I only saw it after coming from the third falls.
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| Motian Waterfall |
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| the small opening, you could walk here without any problems |
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| set of stairs leading to the third waterfall |
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| even with the rain falling, this wasn't that difficult. just use the ropes properly and you'd get there in no time |
The path gets a bit challenging as you get close to the third waterfall, Pipa Cave Waterfall 枇杷洞瀑布. To get there, be prepared to climb through a metal staircase and another path that is only secured with ropes. Even though I was getting rained on, it was quite safe. It was with the untamed tree branches that I had problems with as there was only a small gap to walk through and you have to really squeeze to fit. This waterfall looked like the smallest of the bunch but beautiful nonetheless. It was kind of refreshing to be away from the crowds and have this view for myself.
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| Pipadong Waterfall |
I only learned after the trip that there was a way to hike from the third fall to the neighboring towns of Houtong, commonly referred to as “The Cat Village”. But when I was in Pipadong waterfall, I did not see any pathway of some sort so I just took the same way back to Sandiaoling. The entire trip took me about three hours, I spent some time taking pictures but you could probably shorten this to two hours.
As it was already quite late and the drizzle turned into a downpour, I decided to cancel my plan of going to Pingxi and just head straight to Shifen, which is also along the Pingxi line.
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| this crazy blogger finishing this hike in the woods.. alone haha |
More of my 16-day exploration of Taiwan here:
Taipei
Taichung
Nantou
Tainan
Kaohsiung
Hualien
Yilan
New Taipei
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