Lushui Wenshan Trail

Gorgeous view, but need to be careful. The path is narrow. Suggest to hike from Wenshan down to Lushui and someone pick up at Lushui. Wearing nice sneakers and carrying a water bottle. Better hiking accompany with a friend 😘

What an incredible hike! Starts in the tunnel. Make sure to start on the Wenshan side. Since that is the hardest bit (the first 1/3) and then after that taxing start it gets much easier and finally around 200 steps down on the Lushui side - which I can’t imagine you want to go up(!!)

Hike took me 3hrs. Drank 1.5 liters of water. Carry nuts and fruit. But not so that animals can get to it.

Hike was totally gorgeous and I can to recommend it enough! I saw some fear mongering in the comments saying: “this hike is so difficult and be careful!” Wrong. It’s not technically difficult at all. No major cliffs. Occasional use ropes. I’d say anyone who exercises with medium fitness can do this hike, under the age of 65.

Main challenge is the first 1/3 of Wenshan side which has a lot of ups and downs. Terrain is rough. And it will consume a lot of your energy. But don’t loose faith. The second 1/3 of the hike is flat and gorgeous!! And the last 1/3 is downhill mostly.

Good luck!

This trail was fantastic- beautiful and quite an adventure. The trail mostly follows steep cliff sides and ridge lines with some spots that feel pretty exposed. Luckily there always seemed to be a chain bolted to the rock or sturdy looking rope whenever it felt sketchy. The trail was also extremely well marked at very regular intervals. While you don’t cover a huge distance, it was very slow going so make sure you leave enough time to make it to the other end.

We accessed the trail by taking the bus in to the end of the road and then walking a couple of kilometers along the road, which thankfully didn’t have a lot of traffic.

I'm from Europe and I never seen trail like that. So exciting and demanding, ropes, chains, 75 degree climbing. I'm usually good at walking long distance and mountains, I couldn't make it. 1.4km got me so sweat and I realized I don't have enough water, I had to go back. Really prepare a lot of water, good clothes and shoes.

Early 30s couple with good fitness but no serious hiking experience. We wore tennis shoes and completed the hike in 3.5 hours on a cool, dry day. We started at Wenshan, which I highly recommend to make the hike easier. The first 30% was challenging with lots of ups and downs, then it became easier with a flat portion and a long decline down stairs.
Overall, a hard trail but not crazy. We loved it and highly recommend!!

my favourite trail in taroko park. very peaceful, not as busy as the other ones. I only saw two people the entire journey. goes through some lovely forest, calm streams, historical ruins of tribal villages and japanese-era infrastructure, and offers some spectacular views of taroko canyon closer to lushui.

the trail can get pretty steep at times, and there are a lot of steps closer to lushui, so it is probably easier to start at wenshan, as I did. note that the wenshan entrance is a bit hard to find, in the middle of a tunnel, not at the same place as the (currently closed) wenshan hot springs trail.

the length isn't very long, it took me about 2.5 hours. then if you're lucky, as I was, you can find a ride back to the start, or take the bus and walk along the road.

A bit technical at the beginning, demanding during the first hour but really nice, good diversity in terms of place you will cross.
2.5 hours 1 way (it's not a loop, you arrive on the road, 5km far away).

Short trail and easy to complete. You have the longer and harder option as well. Mine is 4km and 2 hours only.
Near a camping site and parking lot. The shuttle bus stops here as well.

Difficult hike at both ends, quite relaxing in the middle. Took me about 3 hours to hike up, 1-1.5 hours to walk back down along the road to my scooter.

Beautiful but very short trail (the one that goes downhill at the entrance of the tunnel) as it's closed because of rock falling. Still, very nice views. Seems there are hot springs as a number of people went through the closed (and very dangerous) path and we're bathing.

Now the other trail is open but you enter from the middle of the tunnel. It says it's 5 hours long, steep and close to precipices, so not suitable for families.

Very nice small trail!
Not difficult but really feels natural, no concrete path on the ground, small dark tunnel, indications about the flora/fauna, and gorgeous view on the valley.

My pictures are just thumbnails of the real thing

By far the most beautiful trail. Somewhat difficult but worth it.

This isn’t a beginner trail, but the views are so nice…

Great trail, quite sportive, steep, but never dangerous and no vertigo. Be fit indeed and take water and some snack. I made the whole thing in 2 hours and half, I think 5 hours is way too much. The trail actually starts 30-mn walking on the road after the last bus stop, called Tianxiang. Maybe you can find a car to drive you there, but take this into account.

Très bon trail, comptez entre 3 et 5h pour le parcourir. Peut se faire de Lushui à Wenshan et inversement. Nécessite une habilité à grimper car la montée est raide dans un sens comme dans l'autre, usage de corde, passages escarpés. Belles vues, contact avec la faune et la flore, et traces de la colonisation japonaise bien présentes...

青山綠水，有輕鬆有堅難，有山景有峽谷溪流，有綠樹叢林。路途對我這個小白來說，有意志上的難度，最好有伴同行，必竟不是計程車到的了的，安全第一，不勉強。重點是享受大自然。祝平安喜樂

從綠水到文山爬坡的程度較陡，從文山到綠水較沒有那麼累；這是是從綠水出發，前面較多陡升的階梯跟攀爬的部分，走到2公里左右就比較還好了，輕鬆走來回大約5小時，可以簡單帶一支登山杖，下山的時候較陡時可以輔助，有些路段有片岩要注意落石，許多路段較窄旁邊就是山谷，要注意腳步與濕滑，也有少部分要攀走岩石的路段，有些陡升路段是泥地，儘量穿止滑的鞋子較安全。
有強度但不算太難的步道，慢慢走調整好呼吸很重要，山谷旁窄小的路段需特別注意安全，挑選的鞋子儘量要止滑 防止受傷，雖然沒有大山有大景可以看，這個步道有非常多的歷史，也有它美的角落跟地方，很大適合初學者平時當作訓練的步道。

從文山開走，一路上有幾處路徑不明顯，有斷木倒在路上，讓人看不清路在哪裡，希望太魯閣管理處的巡山員能在路徑不明顯的地方綁上指示條，實際走過才發現步道在路徑明顯處都有指示牌，但在叉路或是路徑不明地方都沒指引，幸好有安裝軌跡地圖，才不至於迷路，希望能改善，降低發生危險

自7月起可以不用在申請入山證，路程有些難度，要有準備才來走。可體驗原住民舊社的滄桑。走完還有體力的話，可順泡文山溫泉。要安排接駁，否則要走2K多的公路回天祥。

天祥搭往梨山方向的公車在文山站下車，或從天祥踢公路過去大約3公里，最好是車停在綠水遊客服務中心再搭公車文山登山口起登到綠水取車，步道一開始就陡上驟下是有難度的步道闊葉樹林休息喘氣時別忘遠眺一下洛韶、西寶，中橫公路，過綠水吊橋時往遠處可看到白楊瀑布，青年活動中心、天主教堂，過吊橋後也進入戰備道與駐在所，日據時代為奪取臺灣資源所設置的古道，綠水文山步道是天祥地區的至高點，這裡可以看到整個天祥地區的動靜⋯⋯