“Mt. Qixing (七星山) is considered as the highest mountain in Taipei which is located 3,675ft (1,120 m) above sea level at the center of Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園).“
It was one cold winter day when we just decided to go on a hiking on Mt. Qixing. Though we’re really not into hiking, we just tried this new adventure and took up the challenge. The starting point of the trail is just accessible by public transportation. From Jiantan MRT Station (劍潭站), we took BUS S15 going to Lengshuikeng (冷水坑). You don’t need to worry of getting lost as all the buses display electronic signboard in both English and Chinese with voice notes to keep you on track as to which stop you’re currently at.
When we arrived at the Lengshuikeng Visitor Centre (冷水坑游客服務站), we asked for an English map of Yangmingshan as to not get lost in the area. There’s not that much people in the visitor center when we got there, or maybe the weather was just too cold for them to go on a hike. The weather in Taiwan is just so unpredictable so you really can’t tell as to when would be the perfect time to climb up the mountain.
We started the hike at Lengshuikeng Trail (冷水坑登山口), a 2.1km trail going to the peak of Mt. Qixing. You’ll be welcomed by the stairs made of mostly marbles and stones ascending toward the forest road. The road going up is quite steep and once we finished hiking the forest, we were enticed by how beautiful the landscape of Taiwan is, surrounded by its magnificent mountains and fields.
Hiking up was not really that hard as we were taking it slow by stopping by to take some pictures and resting at the same time. We were sweating a lot despite the cold weather and surprisingly, we saw some little kids running around the trail. What? Kids in Taiwan do really love hiking which they considered as part of their playtime. No wonder, there a lot of Taiwanese in their senior years we met along the way, and maybe hiking has already been part of their lives since they were young.
Then without minding how much time we already consumed in this hike, we eventually reached the peak of Mt. Qixing. We were in awe as the majestic scenery of Taiwan is really amazing!
At the peak, there is also a resting area where you can take some rest, eat some snacks, and hydrate yourselves to regain energy. You’ll surely need this in going down as well.
We looked at the map and decided to take the Xiaoyoukeng Trail (小油坑登山口) for our descent as we were curious on what do sulfuric vents and giant fumaroles look like. Fumaroles are openings in the earth’s crust where volcanic gases are emitted. Mt. Qixing is actually the highest dormant volcano in Taiwan and it’s so thrilling to actually experience hiking on it. Though the smell of sulfur was so bad, we were not disappointed at all.
Below is the trail we took for the readers’ information:
Lengshuikeng Visitor Centre (冷水坑游客服務站) -> Lengshuikeng Trail (冷水坑登山口)-> Mt. Qixing East Peak (七星東峰) ->Mt. Qixing Main Peak (七星主峰) -> Xiaoyoukeng Trail (小油坑登山口)
At last, we finally reached the trailhead and we will definitely go back to hike again soon, but maybe on a different mountain in Taiwan. It took us more or less 4 hours for the whole duration of the hike and it was a success! After our hike, we went back to Jiantan station and went straight to Shilin Night Market for our dinner.
If you want to challenge yourself in hiking the highest mountain in Taipei like us, please don’t forget to bring the following:
- 2 liters of water in order to stay hydrated especially when hiking during summer time.
- Umbrella or raincoat just in case of rain.
- A towel to wipe your sweaty face when hiking.
- Sunscreen to block the harmful rays of the sun.
- Camera for picture taking.
Great pictures! That looks like a really fun hike.
Thank you, Sarah! Yes, it was such a fun hike and tiring at the same time lol 😀