By Wayne Hsu (taken from GATEPOST, October 1997)

There is a bus from the Taipei Railway Station to Wulai which makes various stops along the way. To drive or take a taxi, follow Roosevelt Road south. There are no turns until you reach the mountain road leading to Wulai. Soon past the Taiwan National University, the road links to Pei Hsin Road; keep going straight. Soon, past the end of the Hsintein MRT construction site, turn right on Hsin Wu Road; you will see a 7-11 at the intersection as you turn; this is the road to Wulai. If you wish to drive directly to the waterfall, turn right across the red bridge right before reaching the Wulai bus station (entrance fee collected here); otherwise, stay on this road until you reach the Wulai bus station and the parking lot.

1 I usually begin my hike at the parking lot because I typically take the bus. From the parking lot, you cross the bridge and walk through a small alley. You will reach a second, longer bridge where an entrance fee is collected after 8:00 in the morning. Once you cross that bridge, you have two options: walk to the waterfall or ride the "rail carts." Even though the first part of the walk before the waterfall is nice, I prefer to take the ride to save time and energy.

2 Once you reach the waterfall, you will suddenly find yourself among restaurants, shops, and hotels. There is also a cable car that carries you to an amusement park built high above the waterfall. However, we have just come to the beginning of the best section of the walk. Continue ahead on the same road, walk pass the parking lot, and you will find yourself on a quiet mountain road surrounded by green mountain slopes with little traces of development and a clear stream running below.

3 You will pass a short tunnel and will then arrive at a suspension bridge. The bridge is an ideal place to search for bird life in the stream. Here, you may see a pair of brown dippers that has been using a large rock below the bridge as their nesting site; you can observe them returning to their nest in early spring, their breeding season. Cross the bridge and you will find yourself on a smaller paved trail which brings you much closer to the forest than you were before. Several small waterfalls along the side of the trail are nice rest stops.

4 At the end of the trail, there is a school with a public restroom. This is a good stop for a picnic lunch before you head back; or, you may want to head further into a forest recreation area which has hiking trails, picnic grounds, and a picturesque waterfall.

Be sure to bring along a pair of binoculars! Wulai a wonderful place for bird and butterfly watching; I have seen over 60 species of birds at Wulai! Look carefully in the stream, because you may see a colorful kingfisher dive for its meal or a dipper swimming in the currents. Scan the horizon occasionally and you may find eagles soaring. Check the treetops and the undergrowth, and you may find yourself surrounded by large noisy flocks of babblers. Minivets are also common; the males are bright red and the females are golden yellow; they form a marvelous sight as huge flocks of red and yellow flit from tree to tree. If you are lucky, the splendid Formosan blue magpie may also put on a show, or you may even catch sight of a family of Formosan rock monkeys. Along the riverbank and on flower blossoms, all kinds of butterflies flutter and dance. If you stay past nightfall, you can enjoy the nocturnal creatures perform their symphony in the dark as owls hoot, crickets chirp, frogs burp, katydids rustle, moths flutter, flying squirrels glide, and snakes slither.