Paozilun Waterfall, Shenkeng, New Taipei
This particular site has been on the Hidden Taiwan Map for many years. It's well-known among Taiwanese hiking groups but I think less known otherwise. It has served as a little morning escape spot for many years as it's a fairly easy bike ride from the city. My general feeling is that the sort of people who read this blog are the kind of people I'd be quite happy to run into here, so why not share it?
Paozilun is in the foothills south of Shenkeng. It's not a super easy place to reach via public transport; the only bus that stops at the main road turn-off is bus 923 between Pinglin and Xindian. This bus does not seem particularly frequent and there's still a 20-minute walk to the trailhead from there.
Shenkeng in the morning. There’s a bike path on the left bank of the river, though it doesn’t quite reach the bridge across the river you need
The Paozilun turn off
The alternative is to drive or cycle. The Ubike stations around Taipei Zoo would be a good option. I don't really use Ubike often so I'm not sure what sort of cost a couple of hours' rental incurs. The ride is easy until the very last part where there is a steep hill. I usually just walk my bike up in about 3 to 4 minutes.
Paozilun (炮子崙) seems to translate directly as ‘cannon’ or ‘cannonball’. However paozi is actually an old word for pomelo, which were grown here, and the lun means edge of the mountains. The waterfall is sometimes know as Silong too (四龍) which means ‘four dragons’. Apparently after very heavy rain the waterfall has four columns, though I’ve only ever seen a couple.
The trail entrance is unmarked but can be found by either matching the photos here or taking a quick look at Google Maps or the Hidden Taiwan Map. Look out for the trail of tires on the left just before the road crosses the stream.
The trail follows a shaded valley and is surprisingly verdant and pretty. Within about ten minutes you'll see the waterfall framed perfectly between the trees.
A curious skink next to the waterfall pool
A trail heading off somewhere
Paozilun is a single straight cascade that, at first appearance, seems quite weak. Frequent visitors have set up a wooden pallet at the base, which you can use to climb under the waterfall. Some days, the waterfall is a trickle, but often it's strong enough to make sitting underneath it for a while quite painful. It is an excellent back massage, though!
After a week of heavy rain the waterfall was too strong to stand under for long on this day
Around the waterfall is a hut and seating area. There's a basic shower room that you can use to change in too. It's a little unfortunate that people got carried away with concrete here; the area immediately in front of the falls should have been left more natural. A little further downstream there's sometimes a sort of shrine and another small pool that, after heavy rain, is full enough to chill out in.
Hopefully this ugly concrete mess will be removed one day
A hiking trail runs through the site, though I've yet to follow it in either direction. If you enjoyed this post check out the other points on the Hidden Taiwan Map and have a look at my gallery for a lot of Taiwan-related art