Hehuanshan: Taiwan's Pink Peaks

With thousands of wild rhododendron bushes blooming every spring, Hehuanshan is a yearly favorite. From late April to early June, the mountains turn a beautiful shade of pink. The flowers just take over, covering hills, slopes, and even peaks. 

Hehuanshan is a national recreation area home to multiple hikes. My go-to's are Hehuan North Peak and East Peak. North Peak is a natural dirt trail that takes about four hours round trip. There's also a split in the trail leading off to a quiet little campsite for those interested. It is a great place to try and catch the Milky Way. 

Stairs the whole way up... and down, East Peak is a little less enjoyable, but the two-hour round-trip hike is a fun challenge with a rewarding view at the top (when it's not raining). 

For a quick weekend trip, the thing to do is drive up, hike to North Peak campsite and stay overnight. The next morning summit North Peak, then hike down to quickly run up East Peak before heading back to the city. 

The other trails in the recreation area are all easier and shorter than these two, with one exception: West Peak. This overnight trail looks fun, but I've yet to accomplish it and probably won't anytime soon :P

Other than West Peak, these are the easiest high mountain hikes in Taiwan and it's very possible to complete 2, 3, or even 4 of the shorter routes in a single day. Just drive up, park the car and get going. There are also a few rest areas around where visitors can grab some hot chocolate and warm steam buns. 

A word of caution: The quick ascent by car has a nasty habit of making these trails more difficult than they should be. Make sure to take proper care for altitude sickness by going slow, drinking lots of water, staying warm and sleeping lower than you climb. Bringing a hefty supply of ginger tea never hurts either.

Shuiyang Forest: The Best Campsite in Taiwan

It started out normal enough, just another four-hour hike through the woods. At the three-hour mark, we could have sworn we were making good time and would be out of the woods before dark. Two hours later, it's five o'clock and we're still in the woods. It's getting foggy, the sun is going down and we can't see ten steps ahead of us in the slippery medium-altitude evergreen forest. We just walk now, no stopping, no talking. We have to get out of the woods. Luckily, half an hour later we reach, drop the bags and give each other a big hug of relief. On the lake shore, we have just enough time to set up camp and collect firewood before night sets in.



Needless to say, this hike did not go as planned. The anticipated mostly flat four-hour trail turned out to be a five and half hour trek with four steep, roped rock climbs. Surprise! Not a problem, just unexpected, especially since the dogs were with us. There were multiple instances of dropping the bags in order to carefully assist the dogs down through the more challenging sections. They were champs though. No one panicked, complained, gave up or turned around. In fact, Atai really came alive on the second-day trekking back to the car. I could see the wolf. Poor Snoopy started strong but then began to wilt on the second day. An early morning swim in the lake may have had something to do with this.



What's been said so far doesn't sound very flattering, but the truth is we'd gladly do it again. We'd just be smarter and drive up the night before to camp at the trail head to get an earlier start and have more time at the lake. Staying two nights on the lake is also an option as there's a healthy running stream right next to the campsite. It'd be a great long-weekend getaway. I dream of going back there with a hammock, swimsuit and good book. Especially if you catch it during the week and have it to yourself.



The location is just amazing and the best camp site I've seen to date in Taiwan. This is mostly because of the view, lake, and freshwater source. The trail isn't bad either, a good three hours of it is on flat ground, winding in and out of evergreen forests and silver grass. It also crosses over a handful of running streams that could be made useful with one of those special filtering straws. As we learned the hard way, it's the final two hours of the trail that get you.



As we were running low on time, we hiked the lower, faster forest path to the lake. However, there is a higher mountain-way that crosses over a 2,000ish m peak. There are conflicting opinions over which way is easier, but the mountain way is most definitely longer, averaging out to about seven hours. The split in the trail for the different paths is clearly marked and easy to see. With more time, I'd have loved to try both ways, taking one in and a different one out.



The trail entrance is tucked behind a pagoda inside the Sun Link Sea Recreation Area. Campers will need to pay a $300 deposit per person upon entrance that includes overnight parking. From the resort parking lot, the trail entrance is about a 20-minute walk down the road. The pagoda is just beyond the flower center? or something like that? You'll figure it out. From the pagoda, the trail goes up into the woods, cutting over a road multiple times before letting out onto an old logging road. Follow the yellow and red tree flags.



Avoid Saturday night if possible when there can be as many as 50 to 80 people camping with tour groups. We went on a Sunday/Monday and it was perfect. There were maybe eight people total at the lake, including us.

Hot Spring Camping: Sileng Waterfall

Credit: Dustin Craft

The hot spring is nice, but the best parts of this adventure were the campsite and hike. Unlike Galahe, the trail on this one is beautiful: no stairs! The second half is almost like a miniature version of Wuliaojian with a few scrambles, jumps and repels. It’s so much fun, but exhausting especially when wearing nothing but a bathing suit in the freezing cold.

We weren’t thinking and left all the water and snacks back at camp before continuing on to the hot spring, so after an hour of mountaineering and an hour soaking in sulfurous hot water, we were beat. Upon getting back, I crawled into my tent to huddle up with water and a protein bar until (finding that I couldn’t blackmail anyone into it) felt human enough to start the stove and make some tea.

Credit: Ryan Hevern

From the trail head at the road to the hot spring is about an hour total, but the campsite is located right in the middle. It’s misleading because the first half of the trail is easy, but the second half to the hot spring is more challenging and a bit longer. There’s also a chance that being cold and dehydrated on the return trip are making it seem worse than it really was.

The hot spring itself is small, making it difficult to spread out and you’ve got to feel around for the best spot. I definitely missed the fire hot water and pools at Galahe, but it was still nice. Everything’s wild, green and beautiful. The warmest place to be is in the little crawlspace behind the waterfall. Someone can sit in there and have a private natural sulphur-infused hot box. It’s awesome, especially on a cold winter day after just crossing a freezing river.

Credit: Dustin Craft

To get to the hot spring, everyone must cross a roaring, leg-numbing river. You’re thigh high in freezing blue water doing its best to push you downstream and it’s so cold you can’t feel your feet. (That was fun.) We watched quite a few people stumble and fall completely in. (No thank you.) In the summer, it would be great though and there is a rope to hold, so no one actually gets carried away.

The campsite is nestled in the middle of the woods with large clear tent spaces and a huge fire pit. A few of us spent the following morning lazing around in hammocks, looking at trees and reading books. Our guide mentioned that this is one of the best wild campsites around and I would agree. Of course, the screaming deer that woke everyone up at 6:30 in the morning were cute, but I’d definitely rather have them than a car alarm.

Getting Around

It’s about two hours outside of Taipei down winding mountain roads. You need wheels, so of course joining up with a group is the best way to go. I went with TAO and I think they take regular trips out there. Honestly, even with my own car, I’d probably still sign up with them. It’s a good group, with good food, people and lots of fun. We cooked steak, veggies and s’mores right on the fire and ate like kings for about four hours straight till bedtime.

Hot Spring Camping: Galahe Waterfall

Photo Credit: Ryan Hevern

There’s a natural waterfall hot spring in the middle of the mountains where you can have with some quality nap time. Just snuggle up to the hot rocks and relax in the warm water while trying to figure out the difference between things you can and can’t change to the tune of the waterfall in front of you.

The waterfall itself isn’t hot, but there are two steaming small streams flanking it. Don’t touch them. They are super-hot, but create perfect bath water when mixed with the chilly mountain falls. It’s amazing that something like this formed naturally. (Thank you nature.) Spots like this actually riddle Taiwan, averaging three per county. For real, my winters just got a lot better.



Even more incredible is that the hot spring has a natural set of tiered pools. Of course, the top one just beneath the falls is the hottest, but the two below are still warm and make for nice secluded spots out of sight from people hanging out above.

Most people don’t camp, so we had the spot entirely to ourselves in the evening and then again the next morning. Surprisingly though, we weren’t the last ones out of the pools on the first day. As we were getting out and prepping for the run back to camp, a lone hiker showed up as it was getting dark. He made sure we were leaving and followed up with: “Good. I want to be naked.”

Not going to lie, the weather was miserable: constantly spitting rain and the lowest temperatures of the year, but it was perfect hot spring weather. The issue was getting to the hot spring. We had to change into our suits at camp and then bolt for the freezing river, which had to be crossed getting to and from the pools.



Being dedicated to warmth and s'mores, we all took turns nursing the fire for four hours straight before bed. We literally forced it to burn with constant fanning and tissues. The stupid thing burned through an entire log and never caught. That’s ok though. The effort kept us warm and we got our s’mores. I know at least one person in the group ate five :)

The campsite itself was cozy, surrounded by jungle and within hearing distance of the river, so we all slept to the soundtrack of running water. Apparently, lots of people had to step out of their tents during the night. It was rocky though and a few of us woke up with small mountains digging into our hips.



Also the route to the campsite was a 700? meter hell that consisted of steep sketchy, slippery switchbacks and stairs, but we did it. It took an eternity of strenuous baby steps to keep from falling on the way down and our gear got a wet, but it was worth it. Between going down and climbing back up again, none of us needed to see the inside of a gym for at least a week.

That’s it! Put the phone on airplane mode and enjoy. With river tracing in the summer and hot spring camping in the winter, Taiwan is shaping up to be a nature lover’s dream. I might not leave guys.

Getting Around

It’s two hours outside the city down a winding mountain road in Yilan, so you need your own wheels or to partner with a group. I joined Taiwan Adventure Outings and loved it. Going with them also made my pack lighter because I didn’t have to worry about food or cooking supplies. They charge a bit, but the price includes a car rental, meals and good company. Our guide, Ryan, was nice, knowledgeable and knew what he was doing, which came in handy around the time we had to carve our own chopsticks to eat with. I’ve been out with them a few times and it’s always a blast.