7 Non Touristy Hiking Trails in Taiwan You Can Actually Reach by Public Transit
Skip Elephant Mountain, Yangmingshan, and Yushan.
Most people who picture Taiwan's mountains land on three names: Yushan, the tallest peak in the country, Yangmingshan, the easy hike right outside Taipei, and Elephant Mountain, the one everyone climbs for the skyline photo. They keep coming up because they're the tallest, the most convenient by MRT, or the most photographed.
But there are plenty of classic trails local hikers love, most of them half a day round trip, that foreign visitors just don't notice as much. These are seven I've actually hiked myself, and keep recommending to friends. I picked them on four things: public transit actually gets you there, the view is worth the climb, the trail has its own character, and the path is safe, clear, and well maintained.
Quick Reference: Difficulty, Time, and How to Get There
Trail | Region | Round Trip Time | How to Get There |
Jinmian Shan | Taipei | 1.5 to 2 hours | MRT Xihu Station, 15 min walk to trailhead |
Keelung Mountain | New Taipei (Jiufen) | About 2 hours | Bus to Jiufen Old Street, walk up to trailhead |
Yuanzui Shan | Taichung | 4 to 5 hours | Fengyuan Bus 252, weekends and school holidays only |
Dongmao Shan | Taichung (Guguan) | About 6 hours | Fengyuan Bus 153, 850, 207, 266 or 267 to Dadaoyuan stop |
Chaishan | Kaohsiung | 2 to 7 hours, route dependent | Bus 219A or Red 32 to Longquan Temple stop |
Weiliao Shan | Pingtung | 6 to 8 hours | Pingtung Bus 8218 to Dajin stop |
Meifeng Trail and Lieyingjian | Tainan | 2 hours (Meifeng only) to 4 to 5 hours (full loop) | Bus to Meiling stop via Yujing transfer |
North Taiwan
Jinmian Shan: Taipei's Rose Colored Rock Face With a 360 Degree View
Jinmian Shan has three or four different trail options, and at an easy pace the main route takes 1.5 to 2 hours round trip to the summit, where you get a full 360 degree view looking down over Neihu. The terrain mixes real scrambling sections with a
regular trail, and even the scrambling parts are secured, so it feels adventurous without feeling unsafe. The rock itself has a rose colored tint that catches the light, which is part of why people call the summit rock Scissors Rock. Elevation is under 1,000 meters (258 meters at the summit), but you'll still feel a bit out of breath on the climbing sections. It's one of the better spots in Taipei for sunset and night views, just bring a headlamp for the way down.
Getting there: MRT Xihu Station, then about 15 minutes on foot to the trailhead on Huanshan Road Section 1, Lane 136.
GPX track: Jinmian Shan on Hikingbook
Keelung Mountain: The Steep Climb Next to Jiufen Old Street
Keelung Mountain is a single trail, straight up and straight down, and at a relaxed pace it's about an hour one way to the summit. The payoff is a 360 degree view, and at night, looking down at the lit up rooftops of Jiufen's old mountain town is a completely different kind of view from the daytime one. The trail is steep but well secured the whole way, and because it's right next to Jiufen Old Street, it's one of the most convenient mountain hikes in the north to combine with an afternoon of sightseeing. There's little shade along the summit ridge, so bring sun protection during the day and a headlamp if you're timing it for the evening lights.
Getting there: take a bus or taxi to Jiufen Old Street, then walk up toward the trailhead just past the main strip.
GPX track: Keelung Mountain Trail on Hikingbook
Central Taiwan
Yuanzui Shan: Taichung's Cliff Edge Hike With Sea of Clouds Views
Yuanzui Shan has real scrambling terrain with a lot of exposure, meaning you're climbing along open rock with a clear drop on one side, but the payoff is a 360 degree
view for almost the entire route, and on a good day you might catch a full sea of clouds or a cloud waterfall spilling over the ridge. This is a popular mountain, so the honest advice is to start climbing by 6 or 7am, otherwise you'll hit a bottleneck of people during the scrambling sections. The scenery and the challenge are exactly why both first timers and experienced hikers want to do this one. If you have any fear of heights, skip this trail, it's not the place to test that.
Round trip usually runs about 4 to 5 hours, but if you get stuck behind crowds on the exposed sections, it can stretch longer.
Getting there: Fengyuan Bus 252 (Dongshi to Dajia Mountain Forest Recreation Area), but it only runs on weekends and during school holidays. There's no weekday bus service to this trailhead, plan accordingly.
Dongmao Shan: The Easiest of the Guguan Seven Heroes
Dongmao Shan is one of the Guguan Seven Heroes, a set of mid elevation mountains near Guguan that locals use to train before attempting Taiwan's Hundred Peaks. The summit has a wide open platform where hikers often cook a meal and take in the view, another full 360 degree payoff. The trail itself is well shaded most of the way and genuinely easy to follow, a gradual switchback climb the whole way up, so there's little risk of getting lost even without a GPX track.
Round trip takes about 6 hours.
Getting there: Fengyuan Bus 153 from Taichung HSR Station, or Bus 850 from Taichung Train Station, or Bus 207 from Fengyuan Train Station, or Bus 266 or 267 from Dongshi Bus Station to the Dadaoyuan stop, then about a 1 kilometer walk to the trailhead.
GPX track: Dongmao Shan Trail on Hikingbook
South Taiwan
Chaishan: Kaohsiung's Coral Reef Mountain Full of Macaques
Chaishan has more than ten different trails, and if you haven't downloaded a GPX track, stick to the wooden boardwalk sections or you'll get turned around fast. The
whole mountain sits on coral reef terrain, which means genuinely rich, unusual ecology for a mountain this close to a major city, and you'll run into plenty of Formosan macaques along the way. One rule that matters here: never eat or drink anything other than water while you're on the trail, the macaques are used to food and will come after it. There's a lookout point called Yazuo with an ocean view platform that's worth building your route around.
There are four different trailheads, and the north trailhead is the main one, but the locals who hike here regularly tend to start from the Longquan Temple trailhead instead.
Round trip time swings from 2 to 7 hours depending on which route and viewpoints you string together.
Getting there: from MRT Yanchengpu Station take Kangdu Bus 219A, or from MRT Aozihdi Station take South Taiwan Bus Red 32, to the Longquan Temple stop, then walk about 300 meters to the trailhead.
GPX track: Chaishan (Beishoushan) Trail on Hikingbook
Weiliao Shan: Pingtung's Training Ground for Taiwan's Hundred Peaks
Weiliao Shan sits over a thousand meters up, but because it's further south, the honest advice is to avoid climbing it from June through August, it gets brutally hot. Locals sometimes call this the training ground for Taiwan's Hundred Peaks because of how
steep it is, but the terrain itself stays interesting the whole way, rock sections, dirt trail, and real scrambling all mixed together. The summit is a wide open platform rather than a full 360 view, but the lookout point at around 1,100 meters gives you a genuinely great view over southern Taiwan. Most of the people you'll pass are locals, including a fair number of aunties and grandmothers who will hand you snacks along the trail, that kind of hospitality is part of what makes this hike memorable. On the way down, around the 3.9 kilometer mark, there's a detour to Dajin Waterfall, a dramatic, cooling stop worth the short side trip.
Round trip takes 6 to 8 hours.
Getting there: from Pingtung Train Station take Pingtung Bus 8218 (Dajin line) to the Dajin stop, then walk about 100 meters to the trailhead.
GPX track: Weiliao Shan Trail on Hikingbook
Meifeng Trail and Lieyingjian Sky Slit: Tainan's Local Instagram Favorite
Tainan has its own share of interesting mountains, and this is one of them, though the same rule applies here, avoid June through August, it gets too hot to enjoy. The Sky Slit section, Lieyingjian's "yi xian tian," requires walking through a narrow rock crevice one person at a time, a genuine moment of natural rock formation up close, and Lieyingjian itself gives you an exposed rock ridge experience right after. The honest tip here is to go as early as possible on a weekday, because this spot is a favorite of local influencers and gets crowded fast on weekends. The best timing overall is late December through January, when plum blossoms are in bloom and you can pair the hike with flower viewing, or April through May for firefly season.
Meifeng Trail alone takes about 2 hours round trip. Combined with Lieyingjian and the Sky Slit as a loop, plan for 4 to 5 hours.
Getting there: from Tainan Bus Station take the Xingnan Bus Green Trunk Line to Yujing Station, transfer to Bus Green 22, and get off at the Meiling stop.
GPX track: Lieyingjian Sky Slit Trail on Hikingbook
Before You Go
None of these seven need a permit, but there are three things worth doing before you go:
Download the GPX track
Check the public transit schedule ahead of time, some of these routes only run on weekends
Bring enough water, and don't skip sunscreen and bug spray, even in winter you'll still get plenty of sun exposure on these trails
Work them into your itinerary. If you don't want to walk the same route as every other tourist, put a few of these mountains on your trip instead, and get a more authentic look at the scenery. If you want help figuring out which of these seven actually fits your dates and fitness level, or want to build them into a bigger South Taiwan itinerary, that kind of local judgment call is exactly where BraveOn comes in.
Written by Yu Chen, BraveOn. Kaohsiung based, Taiwan travel consultant for English speaking visitors, has climbed 50+ of Taiwan's Hundred Peaks. [More about the author →]
Last updated: September 2026, current as of publish date. Bus schedules and trail conditions can change, always confirm before you go, especially on routes with weekend only service.
Related reading:
[How Many Days Does Alishan Actually Need?] for a look at higher elevation, permit based hiking
[Get the Season Right on Your First Trip: The Best Time to Visit Taiwan] for when these seven trails are at their best.
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