If you want a breathtaking view of Taipei, you’ve gotta do the Xiangshan Trail (also known as Elephant Mountain).
Bonus: it’s right in the middle of the city and easily accessible via the subway, so it’s a very low-effort hike to get to.
Of course, if you’re me, you can still get lost getting there. I guess I wasn’t looking at my map as much as I should have, and I somehow wound up at the complete wrong place. I just assumed it was the trail.
I mean, that looks like the start of a hiking trail, doesn’t it? Sort of?
I did think the crumbling, overgrown stairs were a bit odd for a popular hiking trail. I also found it weird that no one else was around on a Sunday morning.
I eventually wound up at a cemetery overlooking the city, at which point it finally dawned on me that I was in the wrong place. Whoops.
I backtracked a bit and found it; okay fine, this looks much more like the entrance to a trail. And yes, the crowds I was expecting were there.
It’s mostly just a lot of stairs going up.
So many stairs.
More stairs.
What’s this? Oh, just what I was hoping for: more stairs.
Here’s a workout area, just in case you wanted to work on your upper body strength to go with all of that leg exercise you’re getting.
And then some more stairs.
Eventually, you get to this view of the city, and yeah, I guess it was worth all of those stairs.
It’s pretty amazing.
Then you start heading back down. I did notice this path, which apparently leads to an even longer hike that culminates in some actual mountain climbing. I don’t particularly want to fall off a mountain, so I skipped this part.
You can get back to the city without backtracking, which is nice as it allows you to see all-new scenery the whole time. Plus, there are very clear signposts all along the trail, so it’s basically impossible to get lost (though if anyone is up to the task, it would be me).
Address: Alley 342, Lane 150, Section 5, Xinyi Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110
How to get there: Yes, I did manage to get lost, but it’s actually quite easy to find, with lots of signs pointing the way.