NOTE: THE EXTENDED ROUTE STARTS HERE. We will start in Qingtiangang grassland with its water buffaloes. This flat area will serve as a warmup area to transition to our next section.

NOTE: THE STANDARD ROUTE STARTS HERE. Coming from Qingtiangang, we'll pass through another forest that includes the Lengshuikeng pond and the Jingshan suspension bridge. In the background we'll start to see our next section: Qixingshan mt.

Yangmingshan National Park is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and home to a big number of diverse fauna, flora and hiking trails which give access to several mountains. The most famous one and tallest in north Taiwan being Qixing mountain, with a height of 1,120 meters. In addition, Qixing mountain is the highest non-active (dormant) volcano in all of Taiwan. This national park, within the city limits, has an extension of more than 113 square kilometers. Due to this fact, it’s easy to find areas with geothermal activity, such as hot springs, steam columns that emerge from the ground and sulfur deposits while walking around the park. Its valleys, cherry blossom and numerous trails are also famous.

Coming down from Qixingshan mt. we'll finish the hike in Xiaoyoukeng, a post-volcanic geological landscape, famed for the fumaroles, sulfur crystals and spectacular landslide terrain. From here we'll take a 30 minute break while our hiking guide comes back with our private transport and refreshing drinks to go back to the city (and your hotel in Taipei).