Caoling Historic Trail

The long trek is from Fulong through Taoyuan valley to Daxi (or the opposite direction), about 15K. You can cut it short and only walk between Fulong and Dali, but you'll miss the incredibly beautiful Taoyuan valley, which honestly should be the whole point of you being here. Walking up and down stairs all day gets a bit monotonous - especially after rain when the stairs are super slippery and you have to descend very slowly - but the views are worth it.

Caoling Historic Trail. There are a few ways to get to the top, most popular routes are either from Dali Station, or Fulong station. From Dali, it’s around 1hr from train station. You’ll pass by a temple and it’s stairs all the way up. If not, you can take the pavement. From Fulong, it’s around 4km walk from station to the start of the trail. Then, you’ll climb around 1.8km in height. Personally, I think climbing from Dali is more efficient. I personally went up from Dali, and hiked down to Fulong. Fulong trail takes 2hrs+ one way, and it’s really far from the station.

Mildly steep stairs on the way up but you're quickly rewarded with a view of the beach and Turtle Island. Ended up doing the Caoling Historical Trail back to Fulong station instead of the Dali-Daxi Trail as originally planned for the simple reason there was no food or water around the train station. NO convenience stores, NO vending machines, NO water fountains. Bring your snacks and enough water for the trail you plan on doing BEFORE you hop on the train to get here. There is cafe/maintenance station 20 minutes up, but it was closed on the day I went, so don't count on that either. Went from Dali to Fulong, took me 4 hours while carrying an 8kg pack in the heat. I'd recommend getting here much earlier than 8am if you plan to do the Taoyuan Valley grasslands, but it's fine for the Caoling Historical Trail. Many stairs on the way down but nothing steep, making Dali the best starting point imo. Enjoy the shade and the sounds of the gurgling stream next to the pathway.

Very beautiful . Awesome historical trail I ever visited. So relaxing. Worth every step to explore .

We (family with kids 8 and 11) absolutely *loved* this trail. We started at Dali. It was just long enough to be a bit challenging, but still much easier than most Taiwan hikes. Lots of fun stops and very well-marked (except the end, where it’s easy to end up on route 2 rather than at Fulong Station). We did it on a drizzly, overcast day and had the trail almost all to ourselves. I can imagine it might be much less fun when very crowded. Recommend getting a meal at Wow Cafe in Fulong afterwards!

A trail consists of countless steps and amazing views. Recommended only when the weather is good. Best time to visit would be mid-November when the hills are covered with silver grass.

Really lovely hike, you get the view of the sea and a lovely stream by the side with lots of fish. It takes around 3 hours to hike from 1 end to the other. We went the day after a typhoon so some parts were really slippery with lots of algae/moss on the rocks, so be careful when walking on those paths. It was relaxing but there are no vending machines/bins around the area, so stock up on food and snacks prior to the hike.

Famous trail from Yuanwangkeng (or Fulong or GongLiao) to Dali TianGong Temple (or the opposite direction). Whatever the direction, it's nice to have at least 5-6 hours to explore. It takes about 2 hours to reach the top of the trail. As a historic trail, the entire path is paved. It's never very steep and it's in the shade except the upper part. At the platform, near the Tiger Tablet, the view of the seaside is wonderful on clear days. And from there, you can take the Taoyuan Trail which has even better views as you can see both the Eastern Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Only the part between Fulong (or Gongliao) and the trailhead is questionable because you have to walk a long way on a regular road or be dropped off/picked up by taxi. Still, highly recommended trail when weather is good.