Alishan National Forest is one of the most visited areas in Taiwan. At an altitude of 2200 meters it’s about 10 degrees colder in temperature than the rest of Taiwan. Don’t forget to bring a sweater!
Chiayi
The starting point to Alishan is Chiayi, a medium-sized city where I spend the late afternoon and evening. Visitors plan to just stay the night in Chiayi to get an early start towards Alishan. The sights in Chiayi worth visiting are:
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Hinoki village: a preserved historical sight with more than 30 Japanese-era style buildings.
Alishan Forest Railway Garage Park: close to Hinoki village is the garage park of the famous railway train to Alishan, where you find a selection of various train cars.
Wenhua Road Night Market: the main night market in Chiayi with stalls and shops selling different food, clothing and accessories.
How to get to Alishan National Forest Recreation Area?
If you have your own set of wheels, you can drive the winding road to the National Forest. When traveling through Taiwan with public transportation, it needs a bit more planning. There are 2 options from Chiayi to Alishan; by bus (multiple times per day) or at 10 AM with the famous Alishan Forest Railway.
Alishan Forest Railway
The Alishan Forest Railway opened back up in 2024, after being closed for 15 years, making this train ride extremely highly in-demand. The scenic ride takes 5 hours through the forest, from an altitude of 30 meters in Chiayi, up to 2215 meters in Alishan, where you arrive at 3 PM.
Tickets for the railway are limited and can be difficult to obtain. The tickets can be booked online two weeks in advance, but sell out within seconds. I was exceptionally lucky to obtain a last-minute ticket the day before at the counter in Chiayi.
Stop at Fenqihu
Midway the journey, the train makes a stop in the town Fenqihu for exactly 65 minutes! (be back on board at 13:21). Most passengers use this time to buy one of the well-known Bento boxes and enjoy lunch. I took this opportunity to hike the Fenqi trail on the North side of town, walking through the bamboo forest. As I felt pressured for time, I rushed through the trail within 25 minutes, having time to spare to walk through the town too.
Hiking Alishan National Forest
Alishan Sunrise at Zhushan
Upon arrival in Alishan, I immediately bought the Zhushan train ticket at the station counter to catch the sunrise train in the morning. In October the sunrise was at 6:19 AM and the train departed at 5 AM, taking about 30 minutes to reach Zhushan station. I was surprised how crowded the train was in the early morning, hence it’s important to buy a ticket immediately upon arrival in Alishan.
To watch the sunrise there are 3 viewing platforms, and I of course visited all of them 🙂 Starting at the top is Xialiyuanshan Lookout (Mt. Ogasawara), a 15 minute walk uphill from the station with the highest elevation and best views of the valley below.
The most visited viewpoint is Zhushan Sunrise Observation Deck, right in front of the station, although I was the least impressed with this one, I took a quick photo and moved on to the third.
Just after sunrise I arrived at Duigaoyue Sunrise Platform, the lookout that almost nobody visits and where you have the area almost all to yourself. With the sun rising just above the mountains, I was able to take another bunch of magnificent photos.
Shuishan Trail
Coming from Duigaoyue platform, it’s a 20 minute walk along the road to start the Shuishan Trail. Walking it in this order is perfect as it’s all slowly downhill from here. The Shuishan trail is an easy hike through the immense forest and along the railroad tracks. Finishing the trail at Zhaoping, the main area of Alishan National Forest.
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Alishan Main Area
By now it was still only 8 AM and I had all the time to explore the main area of Alishan. Starting from Zhaoping Station to Sister Pond, Shouzhen Temple, Alishan drawbridge, Thousand Years Cypress boardwalk with 2000 year old cypress trees, and the lookout from Ciyun Temple. At the very end you can take the train from Shenmu station back to Alishan Main Station. Since I had time to spare, I slowly walked back before catching my next bus.
Where to stay
Hotels within Alishan National Forest are scarce. It’s important to book well in advanced for an overnight stay. All the hotels in general receive a poor rating. I stayed at Maria Hotel and even though it was dated and I was expecting the worst, I had a very decent stay.
