Take the high road to Maliguang Waterfall

It remains narrow, rough and tricky to negotiate in parts, but those who travel this road less taken are treated to some exceptionally impressive scenery.

The best plan when coming all the way out here from Taipei or Taoyuan is probably to allow a whole day and drive its whole length, making a broad, scenic loop through the mountains of Taoyuan and Hsinchu counties. Start by taking the North Cross-island highway from the town of Dasi in Taoyuan (just off Freeway 3). It’s no secret that this thoroughfare offers some magnificent views, so take a little time to stop the car and savor the wild countryside.

Route 60 is a narrow lane turning off the highway near the settlement of Sia Baling (下巴陵), shortly after crossing the canyon of the Dahan River over an impressive new bridge.

Follow the lane for a kilometer, turn right at the fork and follow it past the small aboriginal villages of Yieheng and Tieliku. Beyond this second tiny place, the landscape becomes more impressive still, though at the same time the road also deteriorates. A couple of kilometers after Tieliku, keep right at the unsignposted fork, cross a small bridge, and in another three kilometers or so there’s another fork beside a large wooden map board.

For route 60 fork right, but before continuing, take a short detour by following the road on the left, uphill, for a look at the spectacular Maliguang Waterfall (馬里光瀑布), secreted in a deep ravine nearby. Less than a kilometer up this left fork a wooden signpost marks the trailhead for the waterfall. At first the trail is a wide track commanding wonderful views over the deep gorge of the Dahan River far below, but in about 10 minutes the route narrows to a dirt path as it enters the ravine of a tributary gorge on which the waterfall lies.

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