Located in Chiayi’s Zhongpu, the 石硦林場（Shinong Forest Field） is a low elevation broad-leaved forest, with a relaxing camping area at the entrance. The campground is bathed in the forest, making it very close to nature! In addition, the trails in the forest are also very suitable for a day trip, and on a clear day, you can see the changing light and shadow of the forest at any time, making it a good place to go on a holiday to take a break from the city.

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Shinong Forest Camping Area

Since this is a low altitude mountain area, I took advantage of the end of winter to meet some friends to come here for a walk. I accidentally found a free camping area (free at the time of this post) in the parking lot at the beginning, and the building in the photo below is his toilet, which is quite convenient, so I think I will find some friends to come here for a walk in the next winter.

The camp is surrounded by trees, and right above the camp is the information station of the Shikan forest. Apart from the fact that the summer is hot and mosquitoes are abundant, which is common in mountainous areas, I think this kind of ambience should be loved by many people.

The environment outside the information station is very cozy, with a transparent lighting cover overhead, and the tables and chairs are all perfect. If I had known about such an environment that day, I would have brought my cassette stove to cook Chinese food, and it’s hard to beat the nice forest scenery.

There is also a resting platform next to the camp, which is full of greenery and coziness.

石硦林場（Shinong Forest Field）

Not far from the campground is the entrance to the woodland trail, which starts with a very well-walked wooden trestle, even for those who don’t have the habit of hiking, it shouldn’t be too much of a burden, but of course you have to be aware of the unknown risks when you are in the outdoor area.

There are not many resting seats on the woodland trails, except for the Peak, there are only two or three as far as I can remember.

Unknown red flowers, really a little bit of red among the greenery.

It was a nice day, except for the summit, the sun didn’t shine during the walk, and the open sky like in the photo below was not everywhere, so the risk of tanning was relatively low.

This time I came with a friend and a newlywed couple. With no mosquitoes in the winter, no sunshine in the forest trails, and relatively smooth trails, I hope this one-day trip will leave them with pleasant memories!

The giant trees next to the trail are my favorite subjects to photograph. Compared to the small trees, they are particularly eye-catching, so I took a few pictures of them together before leaving (of course, I’ll keep the front photos for myself).

The trail goes in a circle around the forest, but there is a fork in the middle section, we didn’t take this one that day, the view might be similar I think, basically everyone goes straight to the summit, if you have more time you can walk around.

Down and up again, slightly undulating small slopes, every time you walk this terrain will be in the mind, as if more wasted some physical effort ah.

You can also see a few mountain cherry blossoms here.

The last uphill climb to the top of Barrel Head Mountain, the final road will be a little bit shaky, walk slowly basically no problem, to the top of the mountain is a large platform, walking tired of chairs can be a little rest.

There is a lookout platform on the left hand side of the building, but the visibility is worse in winter, because the air quality has been deteriorating over the years, and of course it’s much better in summer, but I still choose the cooler seasons to come here.

There is a 605 sign here, which basically means the elevation of Barrel Head Mountain is 605, and every group of tourists is lining up to take photos before going down!

After the hard climb, we were ready to start the recovery, and it was an easy and cool start with a gentle downhill.

Newlywed couple’s back, I used to walk behind my friends to take their backs, I joked to another tall friend that he was too much of an eyesore, blocking my shot of the couple ~ the following two photos are my favorites except for the unlisted front photo!

Once again, my tall friend came back in front of my camera ~ we were talking and laughing as we slowly wandered down the mountain, the weather was good all day long, the forest light and shadow all day long, I think it’s one of the best places for trekking and micro-hiking!