Nantou’s twin Dragon Phoenix Waterfalls: One gentle and graceful, the other dramatic and powerful

A favorite short excursion for locals from Nantou City (at least for those with their own wheels: public transport isn’t that comprehensive out here) is to the twin Dragon Phoenix Waterfalls (龍鳳瀑布), named after their very different characters and sizes—one gentle and graceful, the other much higher, more dramatic and powerful. Cascading waters are almost as ubiquitous as scooters in Taiwan, but these two beauties are definitely worth a few hours of your time.

Leaving the noise and clutter of Nantou City behind, take route 14 north towards Changhua, and in a kilometer or so turn east onto local route 22, a wide and meandering country lane winding pleasantly through the low, forested hills of one of Nantou County’s gentlest landscapes. It’s an easy fifteen kilometer drive to the trailhead for Dragon Phoenix Waterfalls, well-signposted and marked by a parking area next to a rushing stream.

After parking, take the raised wooden footpath that follows the right bank of the stream up into the wooded valley above, protecting the fragile ecosystem of the gorge from the many feet that pass this way at weekends. Later the path turns into a long series of stone steps (watch out: they’re covered with a thin film of algae and are extremely slippery when wet!), and about 10 minutes after leaving the car park, the path crosses the white-water stream by a footbridge at the point where it is created by the meeting of two tributaries.

Here, beside an ornamental resting pavilion, the path splits as well. First take the path up the tributary on the right. It’s a short, gentle climb of only a couple of minutes to the base of the Phoenix waterfall, plunging a graceful thirty meters into the lush glen over a cliff covered in a green carpet of creeping plants.

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email