Advertisement: This trail gets you to the high point of the Batongguan Traverse across the Central Mountain Range of Taiwan. Many opportunities for seeing wildlife (Swinhoe or Mikado pheasants, Reeves's muntjac). Great views of river valleys, rivers, waterfalls
More photographs.
Difficulty:
Route: First, note that this information is subject to change since terrain changes often in Taiwan. Always try to find the most up-to-date info; I will not update unless I revisit the area. There are three variations on the route that one can take from Guangao to the Central Mine Cabin:
Another popular itinerary is to stay at Guangao Cabin. It's not officially allowed, so most people put down Lele but go to Gaungao anyway; I've heard that some people didn't get spots and had to sleep at the campground. In this case, one can either average Days 0 and 1 into two more reasonable days, or one can push onto the higher Baiyang Gold Mine Cabin (白羊金礦山屋). Our Day 1 was a very full day.
Water: The cabins collect rainwater for use. There is no natural source at Lele, but there is a stream at both Central and Baiyang Mine Cabins. Along the Batongguan traverse there are many streams to collect water from, but as one approaches Guangao and the Batongguan Grasslands these streams become more and more dry. On the official route between these two there is one stream.
Shelter: The cabins have mats. Lele is pretty rudimentary and is not much better than a lean-to. The Central Mine Cabin is the nicest, with solar panels for lights during nighttime. There is cell services there during the day, but the Chunghua telecom company shuts it off at 6pm sharp for some reason. Both mine cabins have toilets; Central is a squat toilet, I did not check out Baiyang's toilet.
Preparation: You need permits and cabin/campground reservations in advance, which you can apply for here. Before you go you have visit a police station on the way to drop off your permits and fill out some paperwork. Relevant maps: G2 and G16 from Sunriver (or search for 上河 高山地圖).
Names: This isn't relevant for the hike but I went on a deep dive on where these names come from and wanted to share. Source: Wikipedia and random internet searching. Did not do much verification. Corrections very welcome, leave a comment.
The name Batongguan (八通關) refers to many places on this trail: a mountain, a grassland, the trail itself. The name derives from the Tsou "Patungkuonʉ", which referred to Yushan (玉山), the highest peak in Taiwan. During Qing rule, various Mandarin transliterations (八通關, 八童關, 八同關) of the Tsou word were used to refer to the mountain range surrounding Yushan, and a traverse was built to connect east and western Taiwan and to "control" the indigenous people. When the Japanese took over in 1985, they built a different traverse (for similar reasons) in the same area which overlaps more with the current trail today. Remnants of Japanese police stations can be found along the trail.
For the peaks, I have attempted to refer to them by their original indigenous names, though this can be complicated. What I call Mt. Mahudas is commonly referred to as 秀姑巒山 (Pinyin: xiùgūluánshān). Originally, it was called "Mahudas" (meaning "old greyhair") by the local Bunun. The Amis called it "Ci'poran" (meaning "at the river's mouth"). The Japanese used the Kanji characters 秀枯栾山 (Hsiu-ku-luan, which transliterates the Amis name in Mandarin) but Katakana characters マホラス山 (Mahorasu-san, which transliterates the Bunun name in Japanese) for the mountain in a 1896 survey. For some reason or another, the Amis/Kanji name ended up sticking, thus 秀姑巒山.
Confusingly a nearby mountain I am calling Mt. Ulamun ended up getting a Mandarin transliteration 馬博拉斯山 (Pinyin: măbólāsī) of the Bunun/Katakana name for Mt. Mahudas. This peak was originally called "Ulamun" by the local Bunun, and sometimes get written 烏拉孟山 (Pinyin: wūlāmèng), a Mandarin transliteration of the Bunun name. The name 烏拉孟斷崖 is still used to refer to the cliffs to the east of the peak/cabin on Mt. Ulamun.
Even more confusingly, the Japanese ended up naming a different peak about 10 km to the north 裏門山 (read "uramon" in Japanese) by transliterating the Bunun name. This name is now read in Mandarin via the Kanji characters (Pinyin: lǐménshān).
As for Mt. Dashuiku 大水堀, as far as I can tell this name has Chinese origin; the name means "big watering hole". It's named after a water source on the saddle of the Batongguan Traverse from the late Qing era.
The river (and valley) that the first part of the hike traverses to the southeast is called 陳有蘭溪 (Taiwanese: Tân-ū-lân, Mandarin: Chényǒulán), which I have called the Kunhukan River after the Bunun name (note the dictionary translates 溪 to "creek" but this is not what most English speakers would think of as a creek) but often gets transliterated from Mandarin as Chenyoulan River. It appears on Qing maps as 丹柳蘭溪 (in Taiwanese, Tan-liú-lân). The Taiwanese readings almost feel like a transliteration of the Bunun name.
The second half, which traverses to the east, is called 荖濃溪 (Taiwanese: Ló-lông, Mandarin: Lǎonóng) and which I've written as Laku Laku River after the Bunun name. According to Wikipedia, this means "unceasingly ferocious river." Some sources have this river starting at Yushan 玉山, but others have it starting at the saddle between Mt. Mahudas and Mt. Dashuiku. Either way, this is a major river that eventually forms the boundary between Kaohsiung and Pingtung. I couldn't get much name on the etymology here. It's not to be confused with the 樂樂溪 (Taiwanese: Lo̍k-lo̍k, Mandarin: Lèlè), which I will call the Laklak River from the Bunun name. The characters are a transliteration of the Bunun name when read in Taiwanese, but these days it's often read in Mandarin; for example, the Lele Cabin is named after it (despite being on the other side of the divide; this is because it is at the site of an old Japanese police station that took on the same name).
The Laklak River is the main tributary river of 秀姑巒溪, which I will call the Siwkolan A Tarawadaw River, from the Amis name (but whose Chinese characters are the same as Mt. Mahudas above). This is a major river which flows into the East Rift Valley between Hualien and Taitung just south of Yuli 玉里 (whose name has an interesting origin too... but let me stop here), then flows north through the valley before cutting east through the coastal mountain range to Fengbin 豐濱. A major tributary of the Laklak River is the 米亞桑溪 (Taiwanese: Bí-a-sng, Mandarin: Mǐyǎsāng), which I will call the Miasang River after the Bunun name, which flows southeast from Mt. Mahudas. The Chinese characters here feel a bit more like a transliteration via the Mandarin reading.
Future: Would be nice to do the whole traverse someday. The cabin on the Dashuiku Plains looks like an amazing place to hang out.
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| The lower falls of Yunlong Waterfall 雲龍瀑布, a short and popular day hike from the trailhead. |
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| Looking down the Kunhukan River Valley 陳有蘭溪縱谷 toward the trailhead in Dongpu 東埔 from the west peak of Mt. Batongguan 八通關山西峯. |
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| Panorama from the top of Mt. Batongguan 八通關山主峯. From left to right are Mt. Ulamun 馬博拉斯山, Mt. Mahudas 秀姑巒山 and Mt. Dashuiku 大水堀山. The approach to the saddle is visible, which is the source of the Laku Laku River 荖濃溪. |
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| Dry chaparral-like vegetation on the saddle, above the source of the creek. Likely the soil here does not support much water. |
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| Clouds fill the Miasang River Valley 米亞桑溪 under the Dashuiku Plateau 大水庫草原, as viewed from Mt. Mahudas 秀姑巒山. |
More photographs.
Difficulty:
- Day 0: 5.5 mi (3.5 km), 500 m (1500 ft): Half day to Lele Cabin
- Day 1: 16 km (10 mi), 1800 m (5900 ft): To Central Gold Mine Cabin (中央金礦山屋) via Guangao Plain (觀高坪) and Batongguan Mountain (八通關山)
- Day 2: 12 km (7.5 mi), 1000 m (3300 ft): To Mt. Ci'poran (or Mt. Mahudas, 秀姑巒山) and back
- Day 3: 23 km (14 mi), 200 m (650 ft): From Central Gold Mine Cabin (中央金礦山屋) to trailhead via Batongguan Grassland (八通關草原) and Guangao Plain (觀高坪) on the official (bypass) route
Route: First, note that this information is subject to change since terrain changes often in Taiwan. Always try to find the most up-to-date info; I will not update unless I revisit the area. There are three variations on the route that one can take from Guangao to the Central Mine Cabin:
- The Mt. Batongguan (八通關山) route. This is the most difficult. It gains 600 m (2000 ft) over Guangao and 500 m (1600 ft) over the trail junction to the north (near Central Mine Cabin).From the west this follows the official/bypass route until one reaches a T-fork, only a little bit past an obvious stream. This stream is your last water for some time (in both directions) so fill up here. Going right at the T-fork will take you down to the Batongguan Grassland along the official route. Going left will take you up on a rough unofficial trail toward a ridge between the main and west peaks of Mt. Batongguan. This trail gets steep and very loose at points. From here you can shed weight and summit the west peak, then take your packs to the main peak, then descend on the south face on an official trail. From the east it is easy to find; follow signs to Mt. Batongguan. To descend, head toward the west peak, and look for the trail on the north side of the saddle; I haven't attempted this so do not know how easy or hard it is to find.
- The official or bypass route. Routefinding is easy here since it is the official trail. It gains 200 m (650 ft) over the Batongguan Grasslands and 400 m (1300 ft) over Guangao.
- The old route (舊路). This is a shortcut which used to be the official trail but was closed due to cliff collapsing. It sees much less elevation change than the official/bypass route at the cost of some exposure and sketchy rope areas. It is marked by signs saying not to enter. From the west, there is only one such sign so it's clear where to go. From the east, there are three. The first two quickly lead to very uncrossable dead ends (the first is before the grasslands and bypassed by going slightly above; the second starts at the grasslands), but the third (which starts a little bit above the grasslands along the official route) leads to the old route. Here is a video of someone exiting on the grassland side; rewind to see the route itself.
Another popular itinerary is to stay at Guangao Cabin. It's not officially allowed, so most people put down Lele but go to Gaungao anyway; I've heard that some people didn't get spots and had to sleep at the campground. In this case, one can either average Days 0 and 1 into two more reasonable days, or one can push onto the higher Baiyang Gold Mine Cabin (白羊金礦山屋). Our Day 1 was a very full day.
Water: The cabins collect rainwater for use. There is no natural source at Lele, but there is a stream at both Central and Baiyang Mine Cabins. Along the Batongguan traverse there are many streams to collect water from, but as one approaches Guangao and the Batongguan Grasslands these streams become more and more dry. On the official route between these two there is one stream.
Shelter: The cabins have mats. Lele is pretty rudimentary and is not much better than a lean-to. The Central Mine Cabin is the nicest, with solar panels for lights during nighttime. There is cell services there during the day, but the Chunghua telecom company shuts it off at 6pm sharp for some reason. Both mine cabins have toilets; Central is a squat toilet, I did not check out Baiyang's toilet.
Preparation: You need permits and cabin/campground reservations in advance, which you can apply for here. Before you go you have visit a police station on the way to drop off your permits and fill out some paperwork. Relevant maps: G2 and G16 from Sunriver (or search for 上河 高山地圖).
Names: This isn't relevant for the hike but I went on a deep dive on where these names come from and wanted to share. Source: Wikipedia and random internet searching. Did not do much verification. Corrections very welcome, leave a comment.
The name Batongguan (八通關) refers to many places on this trail: a mountain, a grassland, the trail itself. The name derives from the Tsou "Patungkuonʉ", which referred to Yushan (玉山), the highest peak in Taiwan. During Qing rule, various Mandarin transliterations (八通關, 八童關, 八同關) of the Tsou word were used to refer to the mountain range surrounding Yushan, and a traverse was built to connect east and western Taiwan and to "control" the indigenous people. When the Japanese took over in 1985, they built a different traverse (for similar reasons) in the same area which overlaps more with the current trail today. Remnants of Japanese police stations can be found along the trail.
For the peaks, I have attempted to refer to them by their original indigenous names, though this can be complicated. What I call Mt. Mahudas is commonly referred to as 秀姑巒山 (Pinyin: xiùgūluánshān). Originally, it was called "Mahudas" (meaning "old greyhair") by the local Bunun. The Amis called it "Ci'poran" (meaning "at the river's mouth"). The Japanese used the Kanji characters 秀枯栾山 (Hsiu-ku-luan, which transliterates the Amis name in Mandarin) but Katakana characters マホラス山 (Mahorasu-san, which transliterates the Bunun name in Japanese) for the mountain in a 1896 survey. For some reason or another, the Amis/Kanji name ended up sticking, thus 秀姑巒山.
Confusingly a nearby mountain I am calling Mt. Ulamun ended up getting a Mandarin transliteration 馬博拉斯山 (Pinyin: măbólāsī) of the Bunun/Katakana name for Mt. Mahudas. This peak was originally called "Ulamun" by the local Bunun, and sometimes get written 烏拉孟山 (Pinyin: wūlāmèng), a Mandarin transliteration of the Bunun name. The name 烏拉孟斷崖 is still used to refer to the cliffs to the east of the peak/cabin on Mt. Ulamun.
Even more confusingly, the Japanese ended up naming a different peak about 10 km to the north 裏門山 (read "uramon" in Japanese) by transliterating the Bunun name. This name is now read in Mandarin via the Kanji characters (Pinyin: lǐménshān).
As for Mt. Dashuiku 大水堀, as far as I can tell this name has Chinese origin; the name means "big watering hole". It's named after a water source on the saddle of the Batongguan Traverse from the late Qing era.
The river (and valley) that the first part of the hike traverses to the southeast is called 陳有蘭溪 (Taiwanese: Tân-ū-lân, Mandarin: Chényǒulán), which I have called the Kunhukan River after the Bunun name (note the dictionary translates 溪 to "creek" but this is not what most English speakers would think of as a creek) but often gets transliterated from Mandarin as Chenyoulan River. It appears on Qing maps as 丹柳蘭溪 (in Taiwanese, Tan-liú-lân). The Taiwanese readings almost feel like a transliteration of the Bunun name.
The second half, which traverses to the east, is called 荖濃溪 (Taiwanese: Ló-lông, Mandarin: Lǎonóng) and which I've written as Laku Laku River after the Bunun name. According to Wikipedia, this means "unceasingly ferocious river." Some sources have this river starting at Yushan 玉山, but others have it starting at the saddle between Mt. Mahudas and Mt. Dashuiku. Either way, this is a major river that eventually forms the boundary between Kaohsiung and Pingtung. I couldn't get much name on the etymology here. It's not to be confused with the 樂樂溪 (Taiwanese: Lo̍k-lo̍k, Mandarin: Lèlè), which I will call the Laklak River from the Bunun name. The characters are a transliteration of the Bunun name when read in Taiwanese, but these days it's often read in Mandarin; for example, the Lele Cabin is named after it (despite being on the other side of the divide; this is because it is at the site of an old Japanese police station that took on the same name).
The Laklak River is the main tributary river of 秀姑巒溪, which I will call the Siwkolan A Tarawadaw River, from the Amis name (but whose Chinese characters are the same as Mt. Mahudas above). This is a major river which flows into the East Rift Valley between Hualien and Taitung just south of Yuli 玉里 (whose name has an interesting origin too... but let me stop here), then flows north through the valley before cutting east through the coastal mountain range to Fengbin 豐濱. A major tributary of the Laklak River is the 米亞桑溪 (Taiwanese: Bí-a-sng, Mandarin: Mǐyǎsāng), which I will call the Miasang River after the Bunun name, which flows southeast from Mt. Mahudas. The Chinese characters here feel a bit more like a transliteration via the Mandarin reading.
Future: Would be nice to do the whole traverse someday. The cabin on the Dashuiku Plains looks like an amazing place to hang out.
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