Taroko Gorge

Introducing Taroko Gorge

Just 15km north of Hualien, inside Taroko National Park, lies Taroko Gorge (Tàilǔgé), Taiwan’s top tourist destination. With its marble­-­­walled canyons, lush vegetation and cliffs so outsized they block out the sky, Taroko Gorge puts the ‘Formosa’ in Ilha Formosa.

Taroko contains almost half of all the animal species in Taiwan, including the Formosan black bear and wild boar. It’s unlikely travellers will come across these larger animals but it’s not hard to spot a Taiwan macaque or two. The park covers over 120, 000 hectares and rises from sea level in the east to over 3700m further west. The blue-green Liwu River cuts through the centre, forging deep slitted valleys and ravines before emptying into the sea.

Some people get immense satisfaction just touring the park in a bus, car or taxi, while taking in the majestic scenery. For the more active, there are numerous hiking trails and some lovely spots for swimming and river tracing. (Just do these activities out of sight of regular tourists as many Taiwanese can’t swim, but for some reason think water is safe when they see others in it. Summer drownings are in the hundreds every year as a result.)

You can visit the park any time of year, but be warned (with an extra stern look) that during weekends and holidays the place is a madhouse, especially on the road. Occasionally you may get stuck in traffic for a considerable length of time as two tour buses try to figure out a way to get past each other in some narrow, twisting tunnel. On the other hand, if you go on any of the longer trails, you will soon leave the crowds behind.

Quite a few visitors take a bus to Tienhsiang and walk the 19km back down to the National Park Headquarters. While this is a great way to take in all of the scenery, as increased traffic in the gorge has spoiled a once enjoyable walk. If you do walk, wear reflective clothing and bring a torch for the tunnels. Try leaving as early in the morning as possible to avoid traffic. Mid-morning, mid-week, mid-winter would be an ideal time to go.

Summer is obviously the best time to do any river tracing or swimming; unless a typhoon is coming, the weather is usually sunny. Winters are chilly and there’s often drizzle, but that keeps the crowds away. May and June are the rainy season.

Last updated: Apr 21, 2009