Trekking along the Holy Ridge Trail of Taiwan

Departures

November
April, May

A journey to discover the wild nature of the Taiwanese mountains, its oceanic coasts, and the hidden natural beauties in the heart of this volcanic island. A trekking adventure that will take you far from civilization, among peaks grazing 4000 m, just one step away from the ocean. We walk on trails anciently traced by the Japanese settlers, in the attempt of chasing the infamous indigenous headhunters. Adding one day of ocean kayaking and a biking adventure along the road carved into the marble walls of the Taroko River gorge, let’s explore together the intricate historical events, the culture, traditions, and specialties of this wonderful land, which has been for centuries a place of international meeting and exchange, being a base for trade routes between the East, the West, and Southeast Asia.

General Information

Duration:

12 days 11 nights

Participants:

maximum 11

Difficulty:

Activities:

🥾 hiking 🛶 kayaking 🚲cycling

Transports:

public transport, private minivan.

Type of accommodation:

hotels, hostels, mountain huts, mountain shelters.

The journey at a glance

Our trek will take you far from civilization, hiking for 6 days above 3000 m altitude. It will allow you to venture into Shei-Pa National Park, crossing it entirely on a rarely trodden path. You’ll walk along the “Holy Ridge,” the ridge of the Xue Mountain massif (雪山 xue shan), so called because it was anciently believed that its peaks were the deities that gave origin to the lineage of the local indigenous people. We’ll reach the summit of Mount Xue, at 3886 m, only a hundred kilometres away in a straight line from the ocean, then we’ll arrive at Mount Daba (大霸尖山 Daba Jianshan), a rocky colossus whose valley is inhabited by the indigenous Atayal and Saysiat populations. Before the trek, we will visit the wild eastern coast of the island, moving to the town of Hualian, homeland of the Amis indigenous people, where, weather permitting, we can admire from our kayaks the vertical rock walls of the Qingshui cliff rising vertically, for hundreds of metres, directly from the water. To conclude, we will visit the Taroko gorge, named after the Truku tribe, formerly the owner of the surrounding hunting territory, riding our bicycles on the road along the Liwu river, carved in white marble of the gorge during the Japanese colonial era. In the end a well-deserved day of shopping in Taipei or relaxing in its natural hot springs awaits us.

Gallery

Costs

Cost: starting from 1800€
On-site expenses: 200€
The package is completed by the purcahse of flights and travel insurance.
Flights: round trip, starting from 400€

Day-by-Day Program

Day 1

Taipei and the Elephant mountain

Meeting with the guide in Taipei, at Taoyuan airport. We take the high-speed train together to reach our accommodation. After dropping off our luggage we can fight the jet-lag with a nice walk in the park and a first small (optional) hike to the Elephant Mountain. If the usual fog covering Taipei will have some mercy for us, we’ll be able admire the sunset over Taipei 101, the city's most modern district. In the evening, we have a wide choice between restaurants and street food from the night markets, for a first taste of Taiwanese specialties.
Night in Taipei. Hostel with shared rooms and bathrooms.

Day 2

Jiu Fen and the Teapot mountain

We prepare our daypack for a day hike and leave Taipei with our driver, who takes us to Jiufen to drop off our luggage at the homestay where we will spend the night. Jiufen is a small settlement perched on the mountains of the eastern coast, overlooking the Ocean.
Today's hike takes us to the summit of the "Teapot Mountain," where we experience the first steep Taiwanese trails, immersed in lush tropical vegetation. Once we reach the summit, we can enjoy a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean and the Eastern coast of Taiwan. We then cross the small labyrinthine villages of Jinguashi and Jiufen, climbing and descending countless stairs’ steps, wandering among small shops of Taiwanese specialties, the alleys intermittently lit by characteristic red paper lanterns, to return to our accommodation in the evening.
Night in Jiufen. Hostel with shared rooms and shared bathrooms.

Day 3

Kayaking on the Ocean

Kayak/SUP: depending on the group's preparation, between 2km and 7km.
After breakfast with Jiufen's specialty, the artisanal Douhua with Taiwanese sweet potato (taro) from grandma A Mei, we set off towards Hualien County. Hualien is home to the Amis aborigines, one of the largest groups of taiwanese indigenous people.
We drop off our luggage at Aiwei's home, where we will spend the night, and move to the beach to engage in our kayak adventure along the oceanic coast of Qingshui. We paddle on the ocean, ready to spot tropical fish and sea turtles while following the rock walls that rise vertically for hundreds of metres above us.
We spend the evening at the lively city night market, where Taiwanese specialties mix with aboriginal ones, stewed in the hollow space of bamboo canes. It's not rare here to find Amis performing dances and songs in their traditional costumes.
Night in Hualian. B&B with shared rooms, bathrooms available in each room.

Day 4

Cycling Taroko Gorge

Cycling*: 46km +630m/-190m 4h
Hiking: 5km +363m/-363m 2h
Today we begin our biking adventure to explore the Taroko gorge! We prepare a backpack to spend the night out and set off towards the gorge of the Liwu river, with Sean accompanying us with his van on our ride, carrying the backpacks and providing us with snacks, water, and photo service. The first stop of the 46 km awaiting us today is Qixing, a panoramic point on the ocean, where we can take a refreshing swim and enjoy a coconut milk, or a tasty mango smoothie. Once we enter the Taroko National Park, we pedal on the road carved in the white marble wall in the Japanese colonial era, up to the Shakadang River, a tributary of the Liwu, flowing along the gorge. Here we leave our bikes and set off for a short hike, climbing up the Shakadang to a small Truku settlement. We return to our bikes and continue riding along the spectacular gorge, until we reach the hostel where we spend the night, at Tianxiang village, in the heart of the Park.
Night in Tianxiang. Hostel with shared rooms and bathrooms.

Day 5

Cycling to Hualian

Cycling*: 46km +190m/-630m 4h
Hiking: 3km +260/-260m 1.5h
We leave Tianxiang descending along the gorge, to reach the start of today's hike: we walk together on the ancient Zhuilu trail. This route is another of the mountain roads created by the Japanese soldiers when searching for a connection between the western and eastern parts of the island. The mountainous configuration of Taiwan, rugged and steep, had not allowed until then to create any infrastructure connecting the two coasts, which were only accessible by sea. After the hike, we retrieve our bikes and pedal to Hualien (or we can be transported in a van along with the bikes). In the afternoon, we prepare our backpacks for our long trekking in the high mountains, making the last purchases of snacks and any missing equipment. The traditional “mala guo,” the “boiling pot,” awaits us in a city restaurant for a tasty dinner. The Taiwanese “mala guo” consists of a large pot divided into two, containing two different broths, in which you insert your favourite foods -vegetables, fish, meat, tofu, etc.- and then, once cooked and flavoured, fish them out and consume them.
Night in Hualien. B&B with shared rooms and private bathrooms.
*Cycling with a support van, available at any time to load bicycles and tired cyclists, and to supply cyclists with drinks and energy snacks during the route.

Day 6

The Holy Ridge Trail: Sanliujiu

Hiking: 6.5km +1230m/-200m 5h
We set off towards the mountains with our private transport to reach Xue Ba National Park, named after its highest mountain, Mount Xue, and Mount Da Ba, one of the symbols of Taiwan. We start our hike in the shade of Taiwanese while gaining altitude. We walk across the first summit of the Xue massive, the East Peak of Mount Xue, and then reach the Sanliujiu shelter, at 3100 m altitude.
Night in Sanliujiu hut. Moutain hut with running water, shared room.

Day 7

The Holy Ridge Trail: the Snow Mountain

Hiking: 7.75km +910m/-615m 7h
We prepare to leave in the warm light of dawn, as the sun shyly appears among the clouds and the mountain peaks in front of us, and we set off towards Mount Xue. We cross the so-called "black forest," a stretch of the mountain covered by such dense Taiwanese fir vegetation as to darken the daylight, hence its name. Coming out of it, the view opens up on the ridge of the Xue mountain massif, and a few hours separate us from its summit, at 3886 m. If the day is clear, from the top of this mountain it is possible to see the ocean in the distance. We are on the Holy Ridge, where the indigenous people locate the myth of the creation of their lineage. Walking along the ridge line, we first reach the summit of Beijiao (3880m), then we will pass through Mount Kailantekun (3730 m) and then arrive at the cabin where we spend the night, facing the North Peak of the Xue mountain massif.
Night in North Peak mountain cabin. Mountain cabin without running water.

Day 8

The Holy Ridge Trail: on the ridgeline

Hiking: 6.15km +550m/-1000m 8h
We set off half an hour before dawn, not to miss this wonderful spectacle from the North Peak of the Xue massif (3703 m). We continue our journey immersed in the forest, then emerge again on the ridge, reaching first the Sumida cabin, then Mount Mutelebu (3626 m), Mount Sumida, Mount Buxiulan, and finally Bashalayun, climbing through some sections equipped with fixed ropes, before diving into a sea of dwarf bamboo. Making our way through with our hiking poles, we walk past the old Bashalayun cabin, and finally arrive just at sunset at the Banan cabin, located at the saddle that divides the Xue mountain massif from that of Mount Daba. At this point, we will have covered the entire “sacred ridge”! With the rocky colossus of Daba towering above us, we just need to replenish our energy by consuming what remains of the food supplies, to get ready for the last great climb the next day.
Night in Banan cabin. Mountain cabin without running water.

Day 9

The Holy Ridge Trail: Mount Daba jianshan

Hiking: 9.20km +640m/-1000m 7h
We leave the Banan mountain shelter to walk towards Mount Daba and Xiaoba, -in Chinese big and small “ba”-, phonetic transliteration of the word that in the indigenous language means “ears”. In the mythology of the Atayal tribe, in fact, it was believed that this mountain was an animal deity, whose ears were the peaks of these mountains. We reach Daba (3492m) and take a small detour to climb the summit of Xiaoba (3418m), then return on the main trail and start our descent along the ridge to Jiujiu hut, the “hut of the 99 cabins”. Here, the Atayal aborigines will be waiting for us with tea and our evening meal. We prepare to say goodbye to the national park and for the final stretch that separates us from the civilised world.
Night at Jiujiu hut. Mountain hut with running water.

Day 10

The Holy Ridge Trail: Madala river and Guanwu

Hiking: 22km +600/-1500m 8h
We begin to descend in the dark along the steep trail that leads us to the Madala river, also a protagonist of the tribe's legends. After the crossing, a day of walking on the forestry road awaits us, crossing multiple rivers and slowly losing altitude, to finally arrive at Guanwu, where our driver will be waiting for us. We descend along the valley where we find the Atayal and Saysiat indigenous settlements, and we make a small stop to visit the first of these, Qingquan, with its suspension bridge, natural hot springs, and a peculiar Catholic church built by European missionaries, but decorated in indigenous style. Here we can taste the local food, and then descend back to the city, back to Taipei.
Night in Taipei. Hostel with shared rooms and shared bathrooms.

Day 11

Taipei and Beitou hot springs

We are back in the city: we have some free time in the morning, to allow everyone to recover from the long trekking. In the afternoon, we can choose whether to visit the natural hot springs of Beitou, or to engage in a cultural-gastronomic bicycle tour of the city. In the evening, a tasty Taiwanese specialty restaurant awaits us.
Night in Taipei. Hostel with shared rooms and shared bathrooms.

Day 12

Time to fly back!

We reach Taoyuan airport by high-speed train. The moment to say goodbye to this beautiful island has come. We board on the flight home or to other destinations.

The walking hours per day during the hike refer to the time needed to move from one bivouac to another, including stops for eating, resting, or taking photos.

Would you like to have more information or book your spot for this trip?

Drop me a message!

Name *

Email Address *

If you have any particular queries, please write them here: