Alishan Mianyue Line Reopened (Sept 2026): Permit Guide and 3 Day Itinerary
Updated: September 2026
On September 1st, 2026, the Mianyue Line, one of Alishan's best trails, reopened after
a construction related closure, and for the first time since then, hikers can finally walk the full trail end to end. However the permit process has a step that trips up almost everyone who hasn't done it before.
Chapter 1: The Trail and What Just Changed
Mianyue Line Trail Distance, Time, and Reopening Date
Detail | What to know |
Distance | About 9km one way, roughly 18km round trip |
Time needed | 6 to 7 hours round trip, with stops for photos |
Permit required | Yes, for the full trail through the Taiwan Aspidistra Nature Reserve |
Daily quota | 350 permits per day |
Permit portal | |
Application window | 60 to 5 days before your hike date |
Zone type to select | Nature Reserve |
Area to select | Taiwan Aspidistra Nature Reserve |
Reopening | Accessible again from September 1, 2026 |
If your dates are flexible, aim for mid to late October to end of November. That's when the maple trees along the trail turn, and it's genuinely one of the better reasons to time this trip around.
Chapter 2: The Permit Application Trap Nobody Warns You About
How to Apply for the Mianyue Line Permit at pa.forest.gov.tw
The permit portal at pa.forest.gov.tw asks you to pick a zone type and then a specific area. You need to select Nature Reserve as the zone type, then Taiwan Aspidistra Nature Reserve as the area.
The steps, in order:
Create an account on pa.forest.gov.tw (foreign passports work, you'll need your passport number).
Choose your date, the window is 60 to 5 days before the hike.
Select Nature Reserve as the zone type.
Select Taiwan Aspidistra Nature Reserve as the area.
Enter your details and submit.
There's no fee for the permit.
Chapter 3: The Lottery Rule
Are Mianyue Line Permits First Come, First Served
Only 350 permits are issued per day. If fewer than 350 people apply for your date by
the 30 day mark, everyone who applied correctly gets a permit, no draw needed. But if applications pass 350 by 30 days before your hike, all the applications are thrown into a draw, and it doesn't matter whether you applied first or last. The order of application is irrelevant.
What this means in practice: there's no advantage to applying the minute the window opens at 60 days out, apply any time within the window. Popular autumn dates, especially October weekends around the maple turn, frequently exceed the cap and go to a draw. If you want a weekend in peak season, apply well within the window and treat it as a lottery, not a race. Weekdays are easier to get, not because of faster processing, simply because fewer people compete for the same 350 slots.
Chapter 4: The Part Most Itineraries Miss
Hiking Half the Mianyue Line With No Permit at All
You can hike roughly half the Mianyue Line, including two of its most memorable features, without a permit at all.
The permit is only required for the section through the Nature Reserve, which begins around Bridge No. 13. Everything before that is open. The no permit section includes the landslide scramble, ropes are already in place, and the caved in railway tunnel, arguably the most photogenic parts of the whole trail. You just have to turn around at the reserve entrance before Bridge 13.
Detail | No permit section |
Distance | About 5 to 6km round trip |
Time needed | 2 to 3 hours round trip from Chaoping, 5 hours from Alishan village |
Permit needed | No |
Highlights | Caved in tunnel, landslide rope section, abandoned forest railway |
So missing the permit or losing the lottery doesn't lock you out of the trail's best moments, just the reserve half.
Chapter 5: Where to Stay Before You Go
Should You Stay Inside Alishan or Down in Shizhuo
You have two real options. Staying down in Shizhuo is cheaper, but it means catching the 7am bus up the mountain, which eats into your morning and adds a layer of timing risk if the bus runs late. Staying inside Alishan itself costs more, but it removes that entire problem.
If the Mianyue Line is the centerpiece of your trip, two nights inside Alishan is worth the extra cost.
Chapter 6: The Itinerary
A 3 Day Alishan Itinerary Built Around the Mianyue Line
Day one: Take the Alishan Forest Railway straight up from Chiayi and spend the day on some of the shorter trails near the park center.
Day two: Start the Mianyue Line at 6:30am. On the way back, walk through Sister Ponds, a shorter, low effort add on after a long day.
Day three: Catch sunrise at Zhushan in the morning. After that, you have a choice. Head down to Fenqihu and walk around the old town, or go to Shizhuo instead for the tea plantation trail and a Tsou indigenous culture tour. The Tsou tour is genuinely worth doing if you have the time, but the guided portion runs about 4 hours, which means picking it rules out Fenqihu on the same day. Either route ends with the last bus back to Chiayi around 4pm.
Chapter 7: The Backup Plan
What to Do If Alishan Forest Railway Tickets Are Sold Out
If Alishan Forest Railway tickets are sold out when you check, that's not the end of it. Check again a couple of days before your date, or the day of at the station counter, seats do open up as other travelers' plans shift.Even you didn't get or don't want take Train, you still can take bus.
Hope you can enjoy the time on the incrible place.
Wondering if your itinerary is too rushed or doesn't actually make sense? Run it through the BraveOn check tool and find out. [ Check your itinerary →]
Written by Yu Chen, BraveOn. Kaohsiung based, Taiwan travel consultant for English speaking visitors. [ More about the author →]
Last updated: September 2026, current as of publish date. Permit rules, quotas, and application windows on pa.forest.gov.tw shift periodically, always confirm before you apply.
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