Shaolai Trail,Verdant Maple Tree Trail in Spring.
The Shaolai Trail is an outpost of the Taniguchi Shichio Botsuga Mountain, and the forest is mainly composed of three-leaf maples, two-leaf pines, and five-leaf pines, which are full of greenery in the spring here! The green leaves of the maples are visually appealing, while the tall pines are impressive. If you don’t want to climb Shichio or other exhausting routes, the 1.5-kilometer Pikurai Trail is a good choice.
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Shaolai Trail
There are two entrances and exits to the Pik Lai Trail. On that day, I started from the East Entrance with my friends, which is more suitable for drivers – there are a lot of parking spaces along the roadside, while the West Entrance is located in the busy area of Guguan, where it is difficult to find a parking space.

At the beginning of the East Entrance, the trail is a hand-built elevated walkway that passes under a maple forest, and I think it will be different in the fall! Of course, the greenery in spring and summer is also great.


After climbing a short distance, there is an observation deck where visitors pass by and stop for a while.

The new young leaves are a light reddish brown color.


I like to take photos of the backs of my friends who are walking in the opposite direction to me, so that I can express their direction on one hand, and avoid taking photos of their clear faces on the other hand.


As the pace rises, the towering maple trees, all of which are full of big ones, gradually fall out of sight!

Leaving the well-traveled elevated walkway, the stone steps require more attention to the pace, and while I was taking this photo, I was already very far away from my traveling companion, who was probably near the top of the walkway at the time…. I was probably already near the top of the trail…, but I kept walking at my own pace.

With the curved tree trunks and dense foliage, this place has the atmosphere of a primitive forest. Unfortunately, there is no place to sit and enjoy the view, and due to the narrow width of the trail, taking pictures for too long will block the way of other mountaineers, which is really not a good idea.


Favorite photo in this small area!

The forest and the sky are always intertwined, so if you want to see the sky or take a cool ride in the shadow, just move your pace a little bit, and the good weather will bring you a nice contrast of light and shadow, so it’s worth being a little bit hotter.

The sign at the entrance of the trail says, “Fear of heights should be measured.” I realized that I’m a little bit shaky…. I’m also afraid of heights. The stairs look like they’re at a 45-degree angle, right?

Walking through the big leaning tree, looking back at the scenery behind me, making sure I won’t accidentally roll down, and then starting to climb….


This should be the steepest part of the trail, because of the weight of the backpack behind me, I was so nervous that I was afraid of being dragged down by the heavy backpack, so I basically walked up the trail by holding the wooden handrail.


There was a pavilion at the top of the Pik Lai Trail, two of my companions had already rested for a long time, and this is actually the entrance to the trail of the fourth of the Seven Heroes of the Valley, Mt.


I can’t tell from the outside whether the leaves surrounding the pavilion are two-leafed or five-leafed pines, but I have to look closely to see if the leaves are in bunches of two or five.



We ate some biscuits and got ready to go back downhill. We started from the east entrance and then went out from the top of the trail to the west entrance, and there were quite a lot of mountaineers going in the same direction as us.



A partner who has climbed several rounds of the Seven Heroes.

The middle section is a bit steeper and has more gravel, but the S-shaped route down makes the cut less steep. If the S could be a bit bigger, the photo would be very linear!

Tall pines isolated in the gravel area, I wonder if this counts as one or two? At the west entrance, the maple forest is mostly replaced by pine trees, and the forest looks very different after crossing the hill.


While walking and taking photos, I couldn’t see my partner’s taillights again. In terms of the forest’s appearance, although it doesn’t feel as straight as the cedar forests in the middle and high altitudes, the ever-changing appearance is a characteristic of this altitude.


Straight giant pine trees face the straight staircase, and after descending this staircase, it is relatively gentle, and it is only the beginning of the climb for visitors coming from the West Entrance.

The sun was always shining, and there were still a lot of people walking up near noon, with a much larger crowd at the West Entrance, most of whom returned by way of the top pavilion ~ if you’re like us you’ll have to circle around the busy area of Valley Pass to haul a car.


In addition to the tall trees, the small plants lit up by the sunlight are also eye-catching, a common sight in the wild, but rare for people living in the city.


The number of tourists at the west entrance is much more than expected ~ many people just hang out at the entrance and leave, otherwise this small mountain trail will be really jammed…. The 1.5km trail is not too long, so if you just want to take a short walk, the Pik Lai Trail is a very good trail in Guguan!


In the afternoon, after leaving the west entrance, you can quickly get to the visitor center. This is my second time to visit Gokyo, both times I camped and climbed the mountain, and I will come back to experience the famous hot springs hotel here again!

Route Map

Google Map:
Taiwan car rental

(high speed railway station pick up the car)