Taiwan, Cycling, Expat life, Photography, Spicy Food
Location: Yunlin Distance: 54km Elevation gain: 1,900m I would propose this as the best cycling area in Taiwan, the spider web maze of roads that connect the three counties of Yunlin, Nantou, and Chiayi could be combined to make multiple stages of a Grand Tour.…
Location: Hualien/ Taitung Distance: 180km Elevation Gain: 1,600m In our series, we have decided to cover two roads that connect Hualien to Taitung: The Rift Valley, County Rd. No. 193, (#048 in our series) and in this installment Provincial Highway No. 11, which follows the coast and is known…
Location: Hualien Distance: 110km Elevation gain 894m When asked to choose their favorite part of Taiwan it was no surprise that Taiwanese picked the Rift Valley. I would be inclined to agree with this opinion. In this post we cover County Road No. 193 in…
Location: Taichung Distance: 130 km Elevation Gain: 1,360m This might be regarded as one of our more obscure inclusions in the ‘Top 100’ rides of Taiwan, however, it has been included for the reward of a distinctive feature in a picturesque environment. As the title…
Location: Nantou Distance: 23km Elevation Gain: 600m+ If you’re looking for a scenic cycling route in Nantou County with a mix of nature, a bit of a challenge, and a true escape from the city, the Huisun Forest Recreational Area is one to check out.…
Location: Nantou – Dirty Formosa 100 Distance: 45km Elevation Gain: 1,400m+ Located in the center of Taiwan and the only land-locked county, Nantou is a cyclists and hikers’ paradise. As such, it should be no surprise that more of our rides are focused on this…
Location: Kaohsiung Distance: 140km Elevation: 1200m Regardless of which county in Taiwan you live in, every rider has their go-to loop. For Kaohsiung Duona is arguably one of the best rides to get out of the city for a few hours. Naturally there are multiple…
Location: Changhua Distance: 65km Elevation Gain: 900m Nestled in the heart of Taiwan, the Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area stretches across Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, and Nantou, with stunning landscapes named after the mountains that define it. About 13 years ago, I stumbled upon No. 139…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 85km Elevation Gain: 800m Pingtung, the most southern county of Taiwan, is one of the less mountainous parts of the country, but despite this, there is no shortage of great rides on undulating terrain that will give the rider a good workout.…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 131 km Elevation Gain: 1500m Pingtung, the most southern county of Taiwan, is one of the less mountainous parts of the country, but despite this, there is no shortage of great rides on undulating terrain that will give the rider a good…
Location: Taoyuan Distance: 12km Elevation Gain: 900m In this post, I’ll share my experience climbing Dongyanshan, a challenging yet rewarding route in northern Taiwan. This route is slightly off the beaten path but still easily reachable if you’re in the vicinity of Taipei or Taoyuan.…
Location: Chiayi City/Chiayi County Distance: 45km Elevation Gain: 1,400m In previous posts, we have stated that Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi counties have some of the best riding in the country. A virtual spiderweb of never-ending interconnecting roads that will take the rider deep into the…
Location: Hualien Distance: 55km Elevation Gain: 1,000m This is our series’s third and final episode covering the roads connecting the East Coast and the Rift Valley in Hualien and Taitung. The logical place to start this ride would be from Hualien city, however, the nearest…
Location: Hualien/Taitung Distance: 150km Elevation Gain: 2,000m The East Coast and the Rift Valley of Taiwan are often touted as the premier riding locations in the country and that is why we have included 3 rides that form loops to connect the two. The first…
Location: Hualien/Taitung Distance: 150km Elevation Gain: 2,000m If you happen to be in Taitung this is one of the best loop rides in the county. It has been named ‘Double 23 Loop’ as the two main roads involved are numbered ‘23’. The first is Tung…
Location: Yilan Distance: 40km Elevation Gain: 1,600m There are a total of 19 NFRAs in Taiwan and the roads leading up to some of them are spectacular for mountain scenery. Alishan in Chiayi County at 2,100m is the most famous of these and is covered…
Location: Taoyuan Distance: Each climb 5-7km Elevation Gain: 300-400m Here is an 8-minute chat that covers these hills. The following write-up is an edited transcript of the chat. I hope you dig it. Let me introduce you to the 405, a notable climb in Northern…
Location: Hualien Distance: 10km Elevation Gain: 900m 60 Stone Mountain is 1 of 3 areas in Taiwan that have become popular for the lilies that bloom between July and September each year (Taimali, Chike, and 60 Stone). Similar to Taimali Mountain, climb #22 on this…
Location: Nantou/Yunlin/Chiayi Distance: 41km Elevation Gain: 800m The No. 149 road is interesting to riders for several reasons. For one it’s an excellent access point to some of the best roads in the country that we have covered in other posts in our series. The…
Location: Chiayi County Distance: 82km Elevation Gain: 1,200m There are only two county roads in Taiwan that travel from sea level to over 1,000m. The first is covered in #018, Guanwu, of our series which is in Hsinchu, north Taiwan. The only other road which…
Location: Hsinchu/Taoyuan Distance: 48km Elevation Gain: 1,800m There are now several rides in Taiwan that we have covered in the Top 100 which have been given specific names to alert riders to their prominence. The ‘Taiwan KOM’ #001 is our series, the ‘Hand of Buddha’…
Location: New Taipei Distance: 13km Elevation Gain: 900m In this post, I’m going to talk about a climb in Northern Taiwan. The name of this climb is Balaka. It is definitely a well-known climb that a lot of people who live in Taipei will undoubtedly…
Location: Chiayi Distance: 25km Elevation Gain: 900m The Stelvio Pass, Alpe d’Huez, Sa Calobra, Trollstigen…These are what most cyclists would talk about when discussing roads famous for hairpin turns. Ask a Taiwan cyclist, they would think of the Meishan 36 Bends. Similar to Alpe d’Huez,…
Location: Hualien/Yilan Distance: 108km Elevation Gain: 1,200m The Su-Hua Highway is arguably the best section of coast road in Taiwan. Although not a continuous climb there is enough ascent in it to justify its inclusion in our series of the Top 100 Climbs of Taiwan.…
Location: Taipei/ New Taipei Distance: 145km Elevation Gain: 3,400m Buddha’s Hand, The Palm of Tathagata, The Taipei Hand ride…regardless of what you call it, this is a massive effort and over recent years has become a rite of passage for any cyclist living in Taiwan.…
In the heart of Taiwan’s mountainous terrain, a stark reality stands tall, much like the peaks themselves. To those who dare to climb, it’s a known fact that this island boasts an astounding 270 summits, all of them defiantly breaching the 3,000-meter mark, a veritable…
Location: Kaohsiung (Qishan)/Tainan/Kaohsiung Distance: 117km Elevation Gain: 1,000m Provincial Highway No. 3 is one of the longest roads in Taiwan and is 435km end to end. It starts in Taipei and ends in Pingtung. Also known as the Inner-Mountain Highway the road travels through mountainous towns in Western Taiwan. Doing the…
Location: Chiayi/Tainan/Kaohsiung Distance: 170km Elevation Gain: 1,900m Provincial Highway 3 is one of the longest roads in Taiwan and is 435km end to end. It starts in Taipei and ends in Pingtung. Also known as the Inner-Mountain Highway the road travels through mountainous towns in Western Taiwan. Doing the road from…
Location: Nantou Distance: Each climb 9-12km Elevation Gain: 600-800m In this post, I’d like to discuss the various climbs leading up to Sun Moon Lake, focusing on four popular routes that cyclists often take. Two of these routes start in Puli, while the other two…
Location: Taitung Distance: 22km Elevation Gain: 1,400m As the name Daylily Mountain (金針山) suggests, this area is known for the lilies which cover the hillside during the Spring and Summer. Visitors from all over Taiwan come to see the white lilies which bloom from April…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 30km Elevation Gain: 1,600m The rider should be aware that the following is actually two different rides. From the bottom, it’s approx 17km ascent to the village of Jiufawan. (This is a historically significant village of slate houses that has guesthouse options)…
Location: Hsinchu Distance: 35km Elevation Gain: 1,500m For any cyclists living in the Hsinchu or Taoyuan areas, this climb needs no introduction. Road #60 to the Yulao Lookout is one of the most popular training climbs on the island. With a peak elevation of 1460m,…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 27km Elevation Gain: 1,600m Jinshuiying is unusual to include in this series since the road is far more well-known as a cross-island hiking trail and arguably the best downhill ride in the country. It has a fascinating history dating back to the…
Location: Hsinchu Distance: 55km Elevation Gain: 2,000m The climb to Guanwu National Forest Recreation Area may not be as famous as some of the other high mountain climbs in Taiwan, but it certainly should be. Reaching a height of 2100m in elevation, this is a…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 21km Elevation Gain: 1,200m The name Beidawu will be familiar to most hikers as it is one of Top 100 Climbs (Bai Yue) with the peak at 3,092m, it is only peak over 3,000m in Pingtung. For cyclists it is also a…
Location: Kaohsiung Distance: 42km Elevation Gain: 1,500m There are a total of 18 NFRAs in Taiwan and the roads leading up to some of them are spectacular for mountain scenery. Alishan in Chiayi County at 2,100m is the most famous of these and is covered…
If a rider hasn’t got transport in the form of a car or van using the train is an excellent way to travel around Taiwan with a bike. The system isn’t perfect and it can involve a learning process to understand how Taiwan Railway Administration…
Location: Pingtung Distance: 28km Elevation Gain: 1.300m For people living in the Kaohsiung/Pingtung area, one of the most iconic rides is to Wutai Village in Pingtung. As an area that gets a lot of tourist traffic, it’s definitely the best-surfaced road in a mountain area.…
Location: Kaohsiung Distance: 29km Elevation Gain: 2,000m Xiaoguan Mt. was, and to some extent, still is one of the best MTB routes in Kaohsiung. Located in Baolai Village, Kaohsiung it’s not so easy to access without your own transport. I was denied access to the…
Location: Nantou Distance: 55km Elevation Gain: 2,700m A 50km ride to a lake at 3,000m is the highest off-road route in Taiwan. By far the most remote and difficult to access of the Top 100 climbs by bicycle has to be the Danda Forest Road.…
Location: Taichung Distance: 14km Elevation Gain: 600m If you have spent any time cycling in Taichung, no doubt you have ridden 136. It is a heart-in-mouth experience, a true litmus test of fitness, and indeed one of the most popular climbs in Taichung. This 14.5km…
Location: Nantou Distance: 34km Elevation Gain: 1,600m Xitou and Shanlinxi or Sun Link Sea are both Forest Recreation Areas (FRA) but not National Forest Recreation Areas (NFRA) The two closest train stations would be Ershui if traveling from north Taiwan and Linnei if traveling from…
Location: Nantou Distance: 64km Elevation Gain: 2,300m For most of the Top 100 Climbs, the focus has been on those accessible by road bike, but there are several off-road routes that ascend over 2,000m which should be included. The Taiwan KOM (road bike) is covered…
Location: Taoyuan/Yilan Distance: 120km Elevation Gain: 1,700m In this post, we will look at the North Cross-Island Highway (Provincial Highway N0.7), which starts in Sanxia and finishes in Yilan. The main focus is the actual climb which is 64 kilometers and the entire ride accumulates…
Location: Yilan/Taichung Distance: 130km Elevation Gain: 3,500m This is one of the best rides in Taiwan because of the variety of scenery. Starting in Yilan at the 0km marker on the North Cross-Island Highway (Provincial Highway No. 7). There are actually 3 roads combined in…
Location: Nantou Distance: 70km Elevation Gain: 2,500m If you have found yourself with the opportunity to do this climb you are really in for a great experience. This road offers some superb scenery, the gradients are not knee-breaking insane, and given the number of switchbacks…
Location: Chiayi Distance: 97km Elevation Gain: 2,800m Provincial Highway No. 18 (also known as ‘The New Central Cross-Island Highway or the Alishan Road’ starts at 0km in the center of Chiayi City – 10 to 15mins. ride from the train station. After the initial 10km…
Location: Tainan & Kaohsiung Distance: 140km Elevation Gain: 3,000m There are four Cross-Island Highways in Taiwan, three of which traverse the island from west to east, the fourth, ‘the New Central Cross-Island Highway, is a north-to-south traverse that skirts the Central Mountain Range. Of the…
Location: Nantou Distance: 58km Elevation Gain: 1,800m The Nantou No. 89, also known as the Li Sying Industrial Road, is arguably one of the toughest rides for a road bike in Taiwan. It has gained prominence in recent years because of its inclusion in the…
Location: Taitung Distance: 54km Elevation Gain: 2,500m There are four Cross-Island Highways in Taiwan, three of which traverse the island from west to east, the fourth, ‘the New Central Cross-Island Highway, is a north-to-south traverse that skirts the Central Mountain Range. Of the four it…