We're near the hot spring town of Jiaosi (礁溪) in Ilan (宜蘭) County, which has been an extremely popular destination for weekend breaks for many years, even before the new freeway bought this area of northeast Taiwan within an hour's ride of Taipei.

Aside from the hot spring resorts, Wufengchi Waterfall is Jiaosi's most famous attraction, and with good reason, as this set of three waterfalls is among the finest in northern Taiwan. It's just a short walk from the car park to the tiny but photogenic lowest fall, and a short climb from there to the much higher and more impressive middle fall.

Although surprising missed by many visitors (perhaps because of the stiff climb up from the middle waterfall), it's the uppermost fall that makes a visit to Wufengchi so thoroughly worth it. One of the tallest waterfalls in northern Taiwan, plummeting free of the cliff for fifty meters, it's a truly breathtaking sight.

Moving on from Wufenchi after a brief visit, our main objective is the very little-visited yet quite spectacular Yuemeikang Waterfall (月眉坑瀑布). It's thanks to a solitary source that we've found that the waterfall even exists, as there's next to nothing about it online, even in Chinese. Certainly upon asking local people, we're constantly directed to either Wufenchi Waterfalls, the pretty but small Shipan Waterfall (石盤瀑布), or other better-known waterfalls in this part of Ilan County.

Early on in the hike we have to ford a stream, and rather than taking off my shoes and socks and braving the hard, rough stones in the riverbed, I accept the fact that my feet will be wet for the remainder of the day and plunge in, shoes and all. I needn't have worried: we'll be wading across and up streams for much of the way to the waterfall, and shoes or river tracing booties are an essential piece of equipment.

We're soon climbing a steep hillside. The trail splits, both branches climb the forested mountainside above Jiaosi, and eventually we come close to giving up. Then, trying an inconspicuous trail that branches off the main path, we're finally heading downhill once more.

Before long, the unmistakable sound of rushing water is heard in the gorge below, and the path has soon dropped to the stream's edge, where spying some deep, clear pools, we give into temptation and have a quick dip in the icy, refreshing waters.

The way to go is obviously up from here, but a landslide, which has brought several trees and a mass of dead wood down across the stream, makes the going tricky at first, but once through the obstruction, the trail, although narrow, is clear, crossing the stream before lying along its steep opposite bank, with fixed ropes to hold onto during the crumbliest bits.

Presently, the gorge ahead closes in like pincers, a small cascade issuing from the dark cleft above and falling into a deep, round pool of inviting, crystal-clear water. Squeezed between the sheer rock face which now rises on the left, and a drop into the stream below, the roped trail climbs over the rock beside the little waterfall, and enters the narrow, dark cleft beyond. It's a thrilling moment as the atmosphere changes instantly, becoming wilder and more rugged as the walls of the narrow gorge blot out the sun.

The stream is quite high today and the only way upstream is to wade. A minute further and the waterfall appears ahead, although half hidden behind a rocky bluff that sticks out in front. Ropes scale several steep banks to the left of the stream as the water plunges over small falls, and then, suddenly we're around the rocky bluff that so effectively hides the waterfall, and it's finally revealed in all its glory.

Plunging clear of the cliff in a wide curtain of snow-white water, maybe fifty meters high, the waterfall is a fantastic sight, especially as the late morning sun shines into the canyon, turning the falling water into a snow-white curtain.

Bowled over by the beauty of the scene, we finally begin to understand why the waterfall is so little-known, and why no one seems willing to describe the route. The crowds at Wufengchi Waterfall, not so far away from this spot, is warning enough of the harm that can befall magical places when 'discovered' by the masses. Thank goodness that fate hasn't befallen this marvelous, secret place, and long may it remain one of Taiwan's hidden wonders!