Maolin Entrance Trail – Pt 1 (Weiliao Mountain Trail – 尾寮山步道)

Ride Info

This is the first part of a two or more part ride. I started the ride on the other side, near Lover’s Gorge waterfall. But I would recommend starting where I finished, at the trail head of Weiliao Mountain Trail (尾寮山步道).

As you travel up you’ll first come to a fork here 22.874828 120.648072. There’s a pavilion nearby that everyone seems to like. For some reason I didn’t go, but I would recommend taking a look. From here take the trail to the right. You’ll zigzag up for a while and eventually come to the gates of someone’s house here 22.871856 120.651297 Take the road to the right that goes around the house and you’ll end up at a nice lookout point with some seating. Beyond this point it didn’t look too motorcycle friendly so I turned back.

Head back down to the fork and take the other trail. This one didn’t have any hikers and was in slight disrepair. You’ll find a great view of the Maolin visitor center before you cross to the other side. It gets a little sketchy in places, so best have decent offroad tires. The trail splits here 22.876579, 120.662112. The trail to the right takes you to a dead end. It looks like farmers use it to run PVC to get water. If I remember right, there was a path you could take by foot. Could be a waterfall beyond, but don’t quote me.

When you exit, I’d highly recommend a visit to Lover’s Valley Waterfall. You can drive right up to this waterfall. The upper falls, Lovers’ Gorge, take maybe 10 ~ 15 min of stair walking at a leisure pace. More info here: Lovers’ Gorge.

Ride Start:

22.879630, 120.645413

Date:

2015 July 15

Notes

I went on a Wednesday and there were a fair amount of hikers and mountain bikers in the beginning. Please be aware of them and try not to piss them off.

Click here for Part 2 of this ride

GPX Track Download Instructions: Click the track on the map to see the download link

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