Taiwan Chiayi 塔塔加（Tataga） trail，located in the Yushan National Park, is an alpine grassland landscape, rich in plant species and wildlife is one of the characteristics of this place, among which Lin-toe Mountain and Deer Forest Mountain are good choices for walking on the trails near Tataga ~ even if you don’t have any hiking experience, it is very suitable for people who want to come to this place for trekking~.

Table of Contents

Route Map

Stop at the kiosk in Sheung Tung Po first (position 1)
Go to the entrance opposite to the Visitor Center and you can walk to the “大鐵杉”.
Take the No. 2 direction to “麟趾山鞍部”.
Take Route 3 to 麟趾山, then take Route 4 back to Anbe (you’ll pass through the Black Forest).
Take Route 5 to “鹿林山”, then take Route 6 to “Deerwood Lodge”, and finally take Route 7 back to the parking lot.

It is recommended to start walking in the morning. If you start walking near noon, you can choose either “Lin-toe Mountain” (Route 1.2.3.4) or “Lulin Mountain” (Route 1.2.5.6.7).

(There will be signs at the intersections! Follow the signs and you won’t get lost!)

塔塔加大鐵杉

Walking up to the entrance opposite to the kiosk, you will pass the police station and Pai Wan Mountaineering Service Center, and the asphalt road is very easy to walk to the big fir.

There are many hemlock clusters in the Tataga area, and the 800-year-old grand hemlock in this area is the most conspicuous, and a must-photograph spot for many tourists! The left hand side of the Hemlock is the road that leads to the Tamayama trailhead, and the right hand side is the road that leads to Lin-toe Mountain and Lulin Mountain.

After passing through the hemlock, there are a lot of big pines on the way, most of them are dipterocarpus and Huashan Pine, but I can’t tell the difference myself…

Linzhishan Saddle

This is the entrance to the saddle of Mount Linto, which can be reached by walking a few dozen meters along the path in front of you.

Walking on the right hand side of the entrance, you can reach Deer Forest Villa, it is written on the signage ～This section is Route No. 7 mentioned on the route map, the pine trees in this section are thick, the shadow from the sunlight is quite beautiful! (I will take this route back from Deer Forest Villa on the return trip)

After going straight from the entrance, you will be ready to reach the saddle of Mount Lun-Toi!

To the saddle of Lin-toe Mountain, the scenery is completely different, there are four directions you can go, one out of the right hand side of the Deer Forest Mountain Trail, the left hand side of the Lin-toe Mountain Trail, the front cut down through the Black Forest can also lead to Lin-toe Mountain (Route 4 of the route map), the back of the needless to say is the entrance to the walk over.

Linzhishan Trail

Turn left at the saddle and head for the Lin-toe Mountain Trail, which is mostly rocky or dirt, and is fairly flat and easy to walk along.

The landscape is mostly a large grassland with pine forests, basically not much shade (Deer Forest Mountain is also), it is recommended to bring a hat and sunglasses.

Tatagas are very foggy in the late afternoon, and the clouds and mists are very beautiful – you feel like you’re in a landscape painting.

This alpine pool, formed by rainwater, is the most important water source for wildlife, and a large number of animal footprints can be found in the mud next to the water!

There are a lot of red pine needles underneath the pine trees, so it’s very healing to step on them.

Looking in the direction of Mt. Lin-toe, you can see the peaks of Jade Mountain. The photo below was taken in February, and you can still see that the snow on the top of the mountain hasn’t receded yet.

After passing the elevated rocks of Lin-toe Mountain, you can see a fork in the road going back (Route 4). This section of the road is also known as the old Yushan Road, with cliffs along the roadside, so it’s not too much of a problem to walk carefully, and this section of the road passes through the Black Forest, which is a group of forests made up of large hemlocks, and it’s well worth going to see!

Lulinshan Trail

After returning to the Linto Mountain saddle, head in the other direction (right hand side of the saddle) up the Deerwood Mountain Trail, which is also stone steps or land sections, and is just as easy to follow (both trails are among the best of the trails near Tataga).

The photos of Mt. Deerwood and Mt. Lin-toe were taken at different times, and the climates were different. When I came to Deerwood, there was almost no fog, so I was able to sit on the bench and enjoy the sunshine class on the mountain range!

A tree isolated from the pine forest stands out.

The road is full of beautiful scenery, including mountain ranges and prairies.

Small pools are also occasionally seen on Deerwood Hill.

About halfway to the high point of Deerwood Mountain, there is a pine forest in the middle of the road, and the ground is colored orange.

After passing through the pine forest, you can see the witnesses of the forest fire, referring to these burned trees, known as the white wood forest, caused by a forest fire long ago, whether it is man-made or natural formation is not known.

After the Whitewood Forest, there will be a long uphill section, which is one of the rare long uphill sections of the Lulin Mountain Trail ~, after walking uphill from this section of the elevation will not be far away!

Lulinshan mountain house

When you get to the high point of Deerwood Hill, the road behind you cuts down to Deerwood Lodge.

The road is about half stone and half asphalt.

On the way back, we will pass by Deer Forest Villa, so you can take a look at it as well. The Japanese-style garden landscape matches with the pine trees, but it is a pity that it is not open to the public, otherwise I would like to spend a night in such a beautiful place again.

Wild Animals

The Kiang & Kiwi monkeys are the most common mammals here and can be seen every time you visit. There are also a lot of birds here, but most of them are small mountain birds that hide among the trees and are not easy to photograph, and the ones that show their faces most often are the Star Crow, the Golden-winged White-eyebrow, and the Crow.

Kiang: I most often find him in the parking lot on the tarmac road from the car park to the saddle of Lin Tze Shan ~ too much noise will scare him away, so I just crouch down and take photos quietly until he leaves by himself.