Beidelaman Trail and Mt. Neiniaozui: Taiwan Beech, Giant Trees and Seeing Holy Ridgeline
Beidelaman Trail in Jianshi Township, Hsinchu, is one of the most popular trails to enjoy Giant Tree Park and the golden leaves of Taiwan Beech trees in autumn. In addition, you can hike further to Mt. Neiniaozui, aka Ptlaman Mountain, and see several 100 Peaks like Mt. Dabajian and Snow Mountain from the stunning Holy Ridgeline 聖稜線.
Table of Contents:
Trail Information
Trail Name: Beidelaman Trail and Mt. Neiniaozui 北得拉曼, 內鳥嘴山
Distance: 6 km (3.7 miles)
Route type: Out and back
Days/Hours Needed: 8-10 hours
Total Ascent/Descent: 731m/728m
Best Time to Go: All year round
Permits: Not required
Difficulty Level:
Peaks to Reach:
Distance: 6 km (3.7 miles)
Route type: Out and back
Days/Hours Needed: 8-10 hours
Total Ascent/Descent: 731m/728m
Best Time to Go: All year round
Permits: Not required
Difficulty Level:
Peaks to Reach:
- Mt. Neiniaozui, 內鳥嘴山, 1,749 meters (5,738 feet). Mt. Neiniaozui belongs to Snow Mountain Range. There is a Class 3 Triangulation Stone with gorgeous views.
Personal Enjoyment
Things I Enjoy:
- The fantastic views at Echo Valley. We were lucky to have great weather, and we could see very far from the boulder. Some hikers saw the sea of clouds there, and it looked amazing, too.
- The beautiful woods and gigantic trees, for sure. There are some steep sections and terrains intertwined with huge tree roots. Other than those, it's not too difficult to do this hike.
- When I first visited this place, we left Taipei in the early morning, and we didn't have enough time to check out those giant trees.
-
The striking autumn foliage of Taiwan Beech trees. Most people come here for the golden leaves every autumn.
Taiwan Beech trees. Photo by our hiking guide, VP He 何復忠.
The Thing I Don't Enjoy:
- It can be very crowded on the trail in autumn.
Suggestion: Stay One Night nearby Before Your Hike
If you plan to visit this trail, I suggest you stay at B&B nearby for one night. So, you can start the hike early in the morning and have enough time to visit Beidelaman Trail, all the Giant Trees, and Mt. Neiniaozui.
I did this hike in November 2019, and we left Taipei early in the morning. We didn't have enough time to visit all the giant trees at the park. I felt more relaxed and enjoyed myself more during my second visit. Therefore, please arrange an overnight stay if you can.
Map/GPX Data
Date of Hike: Group hike on January 16, 2022. This is our Day 2 hike. You can check our Day 1 hike to Mt. Dahun and Lidong Mountain Fort.
I did this hike with LOHAS and 2 of its excellent hiking guides, Ami Chen and VP He.
Ami is a dentist by day and a hiking guide in her spare time. She speaks fluent English, too, and she is based near the wonderful Alishan in Chiayi.
Route map for Beidelaman Trail And Mt. Neiniaozui by Anusha Lee on plotaroute.com
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How to Get There
There is no direct bus to the trailhead. It's better to drive or arrange a pickup service to do this hike.
My Itinerary
Brief itinerary: Beidelaman trailhead ➔ Echo Valley ➔ Mt. Neiniaozui ➔ Giant Tree Park ➔ Echo Valley ➔ trailhead
GPS coordinates of Beidelaman trailhead: 24.738799, 121.279760
GPS coordinates of Beidelaman trailhead: 24.738799, 121.279760
06:27 Left B&B.
06:58 Arrived at the trailhead of Beidelaman Trail.
07:20 Started hiking. You'll find millage posts along the trail.
07:52 Passed 0K+800 post.
07:58 Arrived at an enormous tree growing sideways, hanging on the slope. We took photos here.
08:08 Passed 1K+000 post.
Then, we saw an opening with a great view. So, we stopped again to take more photos.
08:29 We saw a small rock and went up there to check out the surroundings. The views there were awesome, so we took another small break.
Echo Valley with Stunning Views
08:40 Arrived at 1K+200 post, also known as Echo Valley.
This spot is easy to recognize. You'll see steps going down with huge boulders on the right. This is a must-stop place for everyone because the views are amazing! We were lucky to have great weather, and the boulders here are so unique.
I ended up being the photographer taking photos for everyone.
In between taking photos for my hiking mates, I grabbed some chances to enjoy those mountains in the distance.
After having enough fun at Echo Valley, we continued our hike and took the wooden steps down.
09:08 Reached the entrance of Giant Tree Park and the map at 1K+600 post. We took a break waiting for our hiking mates to catch up.
09:30 We resumed our hike and headed to Mt. Neiniaozui and Mt. Najie/Nashi 那結山/那是山. The slopes were much steeper now.
09:42 I reached a place with a great view. My PeakFinder app told me I could see Mt. Qixing 七星山 1,118 meters, the highest peak in Taipei City, from here.
09:45 Reached a sign pointing to Beidelaman Giant Trees, Trailhead to Shuitian Forest Road Branch, and Shuitian Tribe.
10:32 I reached a place with many Taiwan Beech trees, which indicated I was very close to the peak of Mt. Neiniaozui.
Took photos with our two doctors. If you haven't read my post on Mt. Dahun and Lidong Mountain Fort, I explained that one of our hiking guides, Ami Chen, and one of our hiking mates were doctors.
10:50 A sign told us that we were arriving at the peak of Mt. Neiniaozui soon.
Mt. Neiniaozui, Holy Ridgeline and Taiwan Beech Trees
10:52 Arrived at Mt. Neiniaozui, 1,749 meters (5,738 feet).
The views were incredible! I could see Mt. Dabajian, Snow Mountain, Mt. Nanhu, and other famous 100 Peaks.
I could also see Mt. Lidong, the peak we visited on the previous day.
We spent long-time taking photos and enjoying the fantastic weather and scenery.
Plus, more majestic Taiwan Beech trees.
Many hikers and tourists flood here to see the leaves of Taiwan Beech trees turning yellow.
To me, they are already stunning, with or without the golden leaves.
11:35 After spending almost one and a half hours here, we left Mt. Neiniaozui for our next destination. The trail was steeper than the previous section.
13:10 Arrived at Giant Tree Park after passing a slender waterfall.
13:29 Passed 2K+200 post.
Giant Tree Park
13:42 We saw more giant trees. There were 4 of them, but I'd already lost count of them.
14:17 We took a break on a massive boulder. Then, some of us went to explore those vast trees nearby.
Those trees were amazing. We took enough photos before taking the same trail back.
14:36 We returned to the map of Giant Tree Park. The weather went from sunny blue sky to gloomy mode, blocking the sun we enjoyed earlier.
14:55 We were back in Echo Valley. At this moment, the layers of mountains we saw in the morning were buried underneath the clouds.
15:17 Passed the particular tree growing sideways. It was finally my turn to take photos of this tree.
15:50 Exited the trailhead and headed back to Taipei.
Our Poor Driver with Pop and Poop
I've joined many group hikes with hired buses or vans, and the driver for this trip is the best I've ever had. The Volkswagen van was clean and spacious, and our driver didn't drive like being chased by Godzilla. I was impressed. Sorry I didn't take photos of our excellent driver.
However, several incidents could put most drivers on edge or even lost it, but ours was still as cool as a cucumber.
Incident 1:
When we finished our Mt. Dahun and Lidong Mountain Fort on Day 1, we went inside the van and smelled something terrible. It turned out one of our hiking mates stepped on poop without noticing it. When we got to our B&B, it took our driver a while to scrub the car floor mat.
When we finished our Mt. Dahun and Lidong Mountain Fort on Day 1, we went inside the van and smelled something terrible. It turned out one of our hiking mates stepped on poop without noticing it. When we got to our B&B, it took our driver a while to scrub the car floor mat.
Incident 2:
The next day when we finished our hike on Bedelaman Trail, our driver was already at the trailhead with several cokes and other soft drinks waiting for us. But then, one of my hiking mates spilled the coke…
The next day when we finished our hike on Bedelaman Trail, our driver was already at the trailhead with several cokes and other soft drinks waiting for us. But then, one of my hiking mates spilled the coke…
Incident 3:
Unfortunately, I also contributed something to make our driver's work more fun. While I finished my hike, I put my backpack against a dirt wall near the trailhead to pack my things. After I was done, I smelled something funny. I turned to our guide VP to check again. It was poop, again, on my backpack rain cover. Then, VP and I tried to pull water to clean it up as much as possible, remove the cover and seal it in a plastic bag.
Unfortunately, I also contributed something to make our driver's work more fun. While I finished my hike, I put my backpack against a dirt wall near the trailhead to pack my things. After I was done, I smelled something funny. I turned to our guide VP to check again. It was poop, again, on my backpack rain cover. Then, VP and I tried to pull water to clean it up as much as possible, remove the cover and seal it in a plastic bag.
Our driver maintained his cool without showing annoyance. I'm thankful for that.
If you want to hire a pickup service for your hiking, biking, or whenever you need a van with a driver, please check out CJ Explore 境界戶外探險 (the link is a messaging app).
The owner of this company, Xiao Qiu 小邱, is also an excellent and professional hiking guide whom I admire a lot. He is also the trainer for the guides of LOHAS.
Please note that I'm not affiliated with CJ Explore. Nevertheless, I have great personal experience working with them. That's why I recommend this company.
Last but Not Least: Wildflowers
Those are the lovely flowers I saw on the trail.
For more wildflowers I saw on the trails, please check out my Flowers on the Trails page.
About Beidelaman, Mt. Neiniaozui, and Taiwan Beech Trees
Beidelaman/Ptlaman
Ptlaman (Beidelaman) is the traditional hunting ground and is deemed the Holy Land by the Indigenous Atayal people.
The giant trees are Formosan Cypress, and Beidelaman is the lowest altitude where those trees can be found in Taiwan. Ironically, they escaped the logging industry's saws because they weren't straight enough to have commercial value.
After those beautiful Formosan Cypress trees were discovered, the local Atayal people were worried that those trees would be destroyed, so they wanted to close this area. Later, the Forestry Bureau took over building and maintaining the trails.
According to the Atayal people, the Beidelaman area is called Bugin-gsa. "bugin" means roots in the Atayal language, and "gsa" means water. This name vividly depicts the Beidelaman as a place with huge tree roots that can let wild animals survive and thrive.
The trailhead is within Slag Shuitian 水田部落, an Atayal tribe in remote Jianshi Township of Hsinchu County, Taiwan. It is said that the tribal elders would ask the adolescents to the distant mountains without bringing anything to test their strength and skills. Surviving this test meant they had passed the rite of passage and become adults. If they needed any help, they could yell at Echo Valley. The tribe people could pick their asking for help, and they would come to their rescue.
Three Mountains Called Bird Beaks (Niaozui) in Hsinchu
Three mountains contain Bird Beak in their names, and they are:
- Mt. Niaozui of Jianshi Township 尖石鳥嘴山, aka Mt. Neiniaozui 內鳥嘴山, 1,749 meters (5,738 feet), and is near the famous old trees near Beidelaman Trail 北得拉曼神木區.
- Mt. Niaozui of Guanxi Township 關西鳥嘴山, aka Mt. Wainiaozui 外鳥嘴山, 1,350 meters (4,429 feet), and is near Mawudu Discovery Forest 馬武督探索森林.
- Mt. Niaozui of Wufeng Township 五峰鳥嘴山, 1,550 meters (5,085 feet).
So far, I've done Mt. Niaozui along with Mt. Egongji and Mt. Neiniaozui. Now, Mt. Wainiaozui is waiting for me.
Taiwan Beech Trees (Fagus hayatae) 台灣山毛欅 (台灣水青岡): the Relic from the Ice Age
According to Forestry Bureau, Taiwan Beech is a relic from the Ice Age, mainly distributed at elevations between 1,600 and 1,800 meters. Moreover, Taiwan Beech is the only beech species native to Taiwan.
Taiwan Beech is also listed as one of the 4 rare plants by Cultural Heritage Preservation Act 文化資產保存法 to preserve. The other 3 rare plants are Amentotaxus formosana 台灣穗花杉, Epilobium nankotaizanense 南湖柳葉菜, and Juniperus chinensis var. taiwanensis 清水圓柏.
There are several Taiwan Beech Trails in Taiwan, Beichatian Mountain in Sanxia, New Taipei City, Mt. Neiniaozui in Jianshi, Hsinchu, and Taipingshan in Datong, Yilan. The Taiwan Beech Trail at Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area is the most famous and easiest to access.
Overtourism: the Conflicts between Tourists and the Local People
Autumn is the most popular season to visit Beidelaman Trail because of the Taiwan Beech tree foliage. However, the congested traffic and crowds have put the local people on edge. As a result, Beidelaman has become a popular tourist spot in autumn every year, and there is also a huge business opportunity behind it.
The conflicts between visitors (aka outsiders) and the local tribes in remote destinations are not new in Taiwan. Still, those have become more intense after tourists are stranded in Taiwan because of the Covid 19. Moreover, some local Indigenous people demand extra fees if visitors want to visit those areas because those are Indigenous peoples' regions.
I'm not going to discuss those conflicts or any details about the law. Without a doubt, the Taiwan Beech tree foliage is stunning. I've tried to witness its beauty over the years, but most of my attempts ended up in vain.
However, suppose I must choose between the crowd and no foliage. In that case, I'll choose to visit Beidelaman during off-seasons for sure because Taiwan Beech trees are already majestic, even without leaves.
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All content provided is for inspirational and informational purposes only. Creating, using, hiking, or traveling with Taiwan Hikes' suggested services or itineraries is at your own risk. Please use your best judgment and follow all safety precautions, as Taiwan Hikes and Anusha Lee are not liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from using this information.
Please also note that Taiwanese government agencies tend to change their URLs without bothering to redirect to the new ones. As a result, you will find some external sites on the Taiwan Hikes website are not working from time to time. Taiwan Hikes will try to update those URLs if possible.
Taiwan Hikes is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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