Tefuye Historical Trail and Mt. Zhizhong: A Trail That Lets You Get A Glimpse of Highest Peak in Northeast Asia


Disclaimer: Please note some of the following are based on my
personal condition, and I will try to provide the latest and
correct information as possible as I can. Please feel free to let
me know if I make any mistake and thank you for reading. Please
also note that your safety is your own responsibility.
How to Get There
Zhizhong is in Nantou County, but much closer to Jiayi County where
Mt. Ali is. There’s only one bus to get here,
Yuanlin Bus 6739. Bus 6739 runs between Sun Moon Lake and Mt. Ali. If you plan to
visit Sun Moon Lake and have some extra days, it will be great to
put Tefuye and Mt. Ali in your itinerary.

After getting off at Zhizhong stop, you will find the trailhead of
Tefuye and public toilets. Some hikers camp near the old police station building so they can see the sunrise or start the hike to Mt. Zhizhong early.
Peaks to Reach
Mt. Zhizhong: 自忠山, Zhizhong Shan,
2,606m (8,550 ft). Views are very good on the summit.
Mt. Beixia: 北霞山, Beixia Shan, 2,472 m (8,110 ft). No views.
Mt. Dongsui: 東水山, Dongsui Shan, 2,611 m (8,566 ft). No views.
Mt. Beixia: 北霞山, Beixia Shan, 2,472 m (8,110 ft). No views.
Mt. Dongsui: 東水山, Dongsui Shan, 2,611 m (8,566 ft). No views.
Take the Challenging Part to See the Highest Peak in Northeast Asia
Tefuye trail locates in
Alishan National Scenic Area Administration
in south Taiwan, and Mt. Ali or Alisha is one of the most beautiful
attractions in Taiwan. If you arrange this hike, you probably head
south to Chiayi from Taipei and stay there overnight.
The first thing caught my eye was the layers of mountains in the
valley. Our guide told us this was a great spot to see the beautiful
sunrise if you camp nearby. If the clear sky and the mountains we
witnessed at that moment was already astonishing, I can’t imagine
how stunning it will be if I get a chance to see the sunrise.
The entrance of Tefuye trail is very obvious on Zhizhong side and
there is an old railway. All you have to do is just follow the
railway track. There are many cedar trees and the trail is very
flat.
After a few meters, our happy time was over, because we had to go uphill here to start our journey. To demonstrate its authority, the trail
gave us a very sharp steep beginning. A little warning before you
decide to take this trail. This trail is considered as a high
altitude one, and the high altitude will make the breathing a little
bit more difficult if you aren't used to it.
I learned this lesson in the hard way during this hike. Our group left
Taipei late on the previous evening, and by the time we got to our B&B, it was 1 am already.
We had to get up at 5 am, which means we only had less than 4 hours
to sleep. But sometimes your sacrifice will pay off. When we were
about to leave our B&B, i realized we were surrounded by mountains
and Mt. Yu was one of them.
I wasn’t feeling well on that week already. So, those things
together made my hike even more miserable.
Our first peak was Mt. Zhizhong or Mt. Eryu, 2,606 meters (8,550
feet). The trail condition was quite good because some parts were
covered by pine needles. We reached a place that was big enough for
all of us to take a rest, and left our backpacks here before
climbing up to Mt. Zhizhong.
Just when I thought the previous sections of trail were steep
enough, it was even steeper on the way to Mt. Zhizhong. Luckily, it
didn’t take us long to get there.
I looked the other side from the summit and our guide told us that
that was the highest mountain in Taiwan, Mt. Yu, 3,952 meters (12,966 feet).
The stunning view made me feel instantly better for a few minutes.

The view from the opposite side of Mt. Yu was also spectacular. I
stood there for a while to admire the landscape around me.
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The Hike Became More Difficult
We still had several peaks to go. Our next stop was Mt. Dongshui. The
trail became steeper again, and my excitement soon was replaced by
fatigue again. I managed to notice the higher altitude we hiked, the
more amazing trees we saw. Our guide reminded us that logging was
the main business in Tefuye many decades ago.
I’m no expert of vegetation, but you still can tell the woods is
mixed with pines and subtropical trees, which was amazing. They just
blended together so well.
While hiking on the trail and enjoying the beautiful trees, I noticed
some big trees were brutally chopped down and there were signs on
them. I went up close to check out those signs. The signs said those
trees were the victims of illegal logging, and those crimes were
under investigation. This wasn't my first time seeing this. Illegal
logging is still a serious issue in Taiwan. The government promises
they will relax the restrictions on hiking in Taiwan and encourage
hikers to report poachers if seeing them. I truly hope this will help reduce illegal logging.
I also noticed there were many acorns on the trail. Our guide told
us those were acorns of Ring-cupped Oak trees 青剛櫟. Those seeds
are one of
Formosan Black Bears'
favorite foods. But you don't need to worry that you will run into those bears. Formosan Black Bears are endangered species
in Taiwan. It's very difficult to see them on the trails. Seeing
those also reminded me of Scrat in the movie, Ice Age.
It took us around one hour to reach Mt. Dongshui 東水山, 2,611
meters (8,566 feet), but there was no view near the triangulation stone, so we headed to our next peak, Mt. Beixia, 北霞山. After Mt. Beixia, we had to take the same route back to Mt. Donshui again.
Mt. Beixia, 北霞山, 2,472 meters (8,110 feet), was lower than Mt.
Dongshui, and the round trip from Mt. Dongshui to Mt. Beixia took me
4 hours to finish. This section wasn't an exciting hike without many beautiful views, and my pace was getting slower and slower, especially during the ascending.
Before my first arrive at Mt. Dongshui, I already found myself
huffing and puffing, and I had to stop almost every few meters to
catch my breath. A very friendly guide, Fion, was very kind to keep
company with me. I even asked Fion whether there was an early exit
on the trail so I could retreat. Unfortunately, no.
On the way back to Mt. Dongshui, I was so exhausted that I had
to stop every three steps. I did difficult hikes
before, but i never experienced things like this. I was dead tired.
I got disoriented sometimes that I missed the trail. So, Fion
decided to take the lead.
Fion was in a much better condition than mine, and I felt so
terrible for her that she had to slow down for me. I remember I even
fell asleep within seconds during a break when I leaned on my
backpack. When opening my eyes again, I was amazed by the beautiful
sunshines dancing in the woods. So, I took this picture.
There was still a long way to go and we had to move fast, so I didn't take many photos afterwards. By the time we finally left
the rugged terrains, it was already dark. Luckily, we also reached
Tefuye Trail again and it was easier. It was pity that I
didn’t get to see this part of the trail in the broad daylight, but
it didn’t matter at that moment. It started raining and we just
wanted to get back to our bus.

We put on our headlamps and continued to hike. We still had the
final 2 km (1.2 miles) to reach the trailhead. It was almost pitch
dark and the only thing I could see was the rain drops through my
headlamp.

This final section took me almost one hour to finish, but it felt
like forever. Although I was very slow, I wasn’t the last one to
finish our first-day hike. There were around 7 people behind us, and
it took them another two hours to finish the hike. For me, I was
glad that I could call it a day.
The Easier Part of Tefuye Trail
It's a shame that I didn't get to see those trees on the easy part
of the trail. From the photos taken by my hiking mates, those trees
were gorgeous. For those who just want to enjoy strolling without
too much stress, you can find some information at
Tefuye Historical Trail from Forestry Bureau website.
Some Thoughts about How to Make This Hike More Enjoyable
I will do this hike again, but I will also change the
route to make the hike more enjoyable.
First, I will leave Taipei earlier if possible. We left Taipei
around 8 pm and we arrived at our B&B around 1 am, which took us
around 6 hours to Mt. Ali area.
Second, I will camp at old Zhizhong Police Station, a red building next to the Tefuye trailhead, to reduce the
commuting time. Sorry I didn't take the photo. The policemen no long station here. Some hikers camp here to save time. It took us almost 2 hours from our B&B to Tefuye
Trail. If we could camp there, we could have slept
more and even seen the sunrise. Our guides arranged B&B for us hoping that we
could sleep better, but we could only sleep around 4 hours, which
didn’t help much.
Third, I probably will skip Mt. Beixia, make it a point-to-point
route, and take the same route back to where we stared, and spend
more time to enjoy part of the railway trail.
Fourth, during our hike, I saw many maple leaves on the trail, and
the color was still amazing. If you want to see fall foliage, I
think you can arrange the hike when the timing is right.
I still highly recommend this trail, as long you can avoid my
mistakes, or just take the easy one and enjoy the unique landscapes
and the history behind the trail. After this, you can also visit
Mt. Ali and
see more spectacular views over there.
Here's
my second day hike
from this trip.
Map and Itinerary
Group Hike or Solo Hike: Group hike with
Taiwan Mountain LOHAS Association (LOHAS)
Date of Hike: November 30, 2019
Date of Hike: November 30, 2019
Route map for Tefuye Old Trail, Mt. Zhizhong by Anusha Lee on plotaroute.com
Click Menu in the map to download,
print or share the map.
Click
to change the speed to meet your condition.
Note:
Due to GPS accuracy setting, there may be some difference between my GPS tracking and the exact distance. Please check the infographic above for the more accurate data.
Click

Note:
Due to GPS accuracy setting, there may be some difference between my GPS tracking and the exact distance. Please check the infographic above for the more accurate data.
Based on my hike on November 30, 2019
05:30
Got up, had dinner and took the bus at 6:30 to the
trailhead.
08:00
Arrived at the trailhead in Zhizhong, took group photos and
got ready
08:18
Started the hike
08:21
Started the steep slope
09:05
Reached the rest area before hiking up to Mt. Zhizhong. We
left our backpacks there.
09:20
Reached Mt. Zhizhong and took photos
10:23
Reached Mt. Dongsui
11:55
Reached the tree that was hacked down by illegal logging. Had
lunch somewhere.
13:14
Arrived at Mt. Beixia
14:55
Back to Mt. Dongsui. I wasn't feeling okay so I didn't make
many notes from here.
18:16
Back to Tefuye Old Trail
18:56
Finished the hike and got back to our bus
Total time:
10 hours 56 minutes, including breaks
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