Taiwan’s Taroko National Park

Located in Hualien County is the natural mountainous river gorge of Taroko National Park.
Another wonderful aspect about Taiwan is no entrance fees into the national parks, and well organized flow of tourist traffic.
For more scenery, there is also nearby Tongmen, a natural reserve that limits the amount of traffic that’s allowed in each day.

Traveling with public transportation in Taiwan is so easy, and everyone is extremely helpful.
We took the local tourist bus from the orange building across from the train station to Taroko gorge. Nearby is the tourism office with multiple maps and resources on the area for reference and help in a multitude of languages.
With the maps, you can pick which area that best suits your desire. We chose the Swallow Grotto, Yanzikou Trail and walked the road along the canyon walls to the Tunnel of Nine Turns Trail.
The walls of the canyon drop steeply to the clear blue waters below, awe inspiring!

A picnic lunch is necessary at the rest stop on Jincu Bridge. We went to a local market and picked up ham, crackers, canned herring, juice, and cookies. Oh, don’t forget your asparagus juice with modern marketing too!

Check out the products and make your way down the road, watch out for crazy foreigners!

Pure nature, so wonderful.
Farther into the park you can stay the night. If you aren’t there on a big holiday weekend, no reservations are required. Wonder if you can stay in this temple? Talk about zen.

Want to know more about Taroko? Search for a recent National Geographic story on the area.