Nantou Songbolun Trail ,In the nature park next to Sun Moon Lake, the Pine and Cedar Forest Trail has a primitive forest atmosphere, and even in summer you can feel the coolness of the dense forest, and there is also a scenic terrace set up to view the lake, a glimpse of Sun Moon Lake, and a complete planning of the trail is comfortable and easy to walk, and it is a good option for a walk during the whole daytime!

Table of Contents

Pedestrian Route Map

Take the route indicated by Green 1 to the Observation Deck (there are two entrances, the one indicated by the white arrow in the pink circle is the entrance).
Next, go to the viewing platform marked in red #2.
Finally, take the route marked with yellow number 3, go to the end, and finally go back by the green line.

Front part of the trail (before the observation deck)

There are two entrances to the Pinecrest Park Trail, and there is a parking lot next to the nearby lakeshore road (across from the entrance), so park your car and see the sign and walk in ~, less than 1 kilometer before the observation deck, a very relaxing walk, considered a walk in the park level.

When I came here in early January, a cold front hit and the temperature was only 6.7 degrees Celsius on a cloudy and rainy day. The plum blossoms beside the trail bloomed quietly, with rainwater hanging on the blossoms, which was very pretty.

The two entrances and exits will meet here at the Chiang Kung Bronze Statue area, which is the most open area on the whole trail, and then you will be walking on the forest path.

Large ferns cover the entire roadside.

There are about five of these pavilions along the Cedar Grove Trail.

The first part of the road is tarmac, which is for bicycles, and it is slightly downhill until the viewpoint, so you shouldn’t be too tired when you turn back, but you just have to pay attention to the excessive leaves to avoid slipping.

Walking down this stone staircase, you will reach the observation deck.

You can see the Sun Moon Lake through the gaps between the trees, and from time to time you can see egrets flying low in the sky, and the opposite shore is full of floating plants.

At this time, many fallen maple leaves were found on the ground.

From asphalt road to wooden trestle, you have to pay special attention on rainy days, the wooden boards are very slippery, my friends and I almost slipped more than once… The wooden planks are very slippery, and my friend and I almost slipped once.

Scenic View Terrace

At the end of the wooden trestle, there are two forked paths, either way is the same, it’s just a small circle, so feel free to pick one to go to.

The view from the observation deck is vast, and on a rainy day with a cold front, clouds covered the mountains and the lake on the other side.

The lake is still very busy.

Walking back to the wooden trestle, I watched the last boat sail away and my friend and I left with it.

There is a fork in the road next to the observation deck to continue inside, but eventually you will come across private land and have to turn back.

There is a tall maple tree at the entrance to the fork, and all the maple leaves on the floor nearby fall from this one, beautifully red, and it would be nice if there were more of them!

I picked up a piece on the ground and hung it on a tree branch.

Rear section of the trail (behind the observation deck)

Past the maple trees, this section almost always follows the shore of the lake, listening to the sound of the lake lapping against the shore.

The right hand side on the way there has become a small mountain wall, adding to the already tall fern foliage’s oppressive appearance.

A tall tree that snapped in the middle of the road.

I especially like this small climbing plant, I don’t know the name of it, but it grows all over the rock wall because of the humidity.

Bamboo forests have also begun to appear here, with large bamboo leaves covering the roadside slopes and the middle of the road, turning the asphalt road into a bamboo leaf road.

Bamboo forests and ferns combined.

At some point along with the earth and rocks sliding down the big tree, the lightward side is full of parasitic climbing plants, it should be a while, a little lower to continue to move forward.

The only observation deck in this section, the dense forest has blocked the view of the lake, stone chairs and wooden chairs are available, can rest for a moment.

The S-shaped land bridge as a guide line is quite suitable for taking photos ~ Unfortunately, with the rainy weather and the poor light in the evening, this bridge is at the end of the road, so I am ready to turn back.

This is another entrance, the whole walk slowly, I estimate that about an hour or so, I myself is to take a lot of pictures took almost three hours ~

On the way back to the parking lot, we came across a group of monkeys, interestingly enough, most of them were cuddled together in a group, and with the 6.7 degree cold front, they needed to keep each other warm, with the baby monkeys even being protected in their arms.