Map, photo, and description by Matteo
A wonderful, easy hike that will bring you incredibly close to two breathtaking waterfalls, rivers and streams in the mountains above Sandaoling and Shifen. Takes roughly 3 to 4 hours.
Catch a train to Sandaoling to start the hike directly from the train station, then hike to Shifen (or, for a shorter version of the trail, to DaHua). Hiking to Shifen includes an unusual and somewhat thrilling 20 minutes on the rail tracks.
Pro Tip 1: bring river tracing shoes to negotiate the last part of the trail: the stone steps there are extremely slippery.
Pro Tip 2: To safely pass through the railway tunnel on the way to Shifen, just make sure to bring a copy of the train timetable or, better, take a break just before entering the tunnel, wait for a train to pass and cross to the other side immediately after. There are roughly 10 minutes between each train and it only takes about 2 minutes to reach the far end of the tunnel, so you will be safe.
GPX: We don’t link to GPX files directly anymore since links get broken whenever Wandermap updates their system. Instead you need to look on the Wandermap page, below the description of the hike, in the right corner for a “Export GPS Data” button. It will then download automatically.
Hiking and Riding in Taipei 
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