Bitoujiao Trail is a short, relatively easy hike with stunning coastal scenery. While there are several others like it, I personally feel this one offers maximum views for moderate effort.
The hike is on the north coast of Tawan, in Ruifang district of New Taipei City. It can easily be added to other Ruifang attractions, like Jiufen Old Street, or nearby Keelung, to round out a perfect day trip from Taipei.
To make this happen, you’ll need to tackle a few logistics, which I’ll cover in detail in this article.
I’m also going to share some tips for capturing people-free photos like the ones I’ve taken for this article, how to try some interesting local jelly drinks after your hike, and some other worthwhile spots to visit in the area, including another lovely coastal walk at Heping Island Geopark.
What Is Bitoujiao Trail?
Bitoujiao Trail (鼻頭角步道, or Bitou Cape Trail) is a 3.5-kilometer coastal trail in Bitoujiao Scenic Area (鼻頭角風景區, here).
Bitoujiao literally means “Nose Head Cape”, referring to the shape of the rocky promontory when viewed from above. It juts outs into the sea right at the point where the North Coast of Taiwan meets the Northeast Coast.
This is the second easternmost point in Taiwan, after Sandiao Cape just south of it. Its even further east than Green Island, which lies well of the east coast of Southern Taiwan.
The cape is known for its steep cliffs, wave-eroded rock formations, panoramic coastal views, and the Japanese-built (1897) Bitoujiao Lighthouse (鼻頭角燈塔), which unfortunately is no longer accessible.
While you can walk Bitoujiao Trail in either direction, I did it clockwise, starting at Bitou Fishing Harbor. From there, the trail goes up some steep stairs to the top of the coastal cliffs.
Next I reached the particularly photogenic undulating section between two ridges – this is what most people come for. It is roughly in the middle of the trail, so if you want to get to it as quickly as possible, it doesn’t matter which end you come from.
Next, I passed a café housed in an old military bunker, before rounding the cape and finishing at the incredibly scenic Bitou Elementary School (鼻頭國民小學).
Most people take 60 to 90 minutes to complete Bitoujiao Trail – I walked at an average pace, with no café stop, and did it in just over an hour.
Bitoujiao is on my list of favorite hikes in the greater Taipei region and one of the best easy hikes in Taiwan.
When to Hike Bitoujiao
If you’re like me, you probably want to take photos of Bitoujiao Trail with no people in them.
To beat the crowds, I spent the night in Keelung (see where I stayed) and rented a scooter the night before so I could leave very early.
It’s a 45-minute drive from Keelung to Bitoujiao.
I departed my hotel shortly after sunrise and stopped at Zhengbin Fishing Harbor on the way. The rising sun was lighting up the colorful houses along the harbor so beautifully that I had to stop and get some photos.
I reached Bitoujiao Trailhead at 7:45 AM – roughly two hours after sunrise at that time of year. This timing gave me perfect lighting for my photos, yet I only met a few people on the trail (and this was on a national holiday!)
As I finished the hike about an hour later, the masses of people were just beginning to arrive. If you come during the day (anytime from 9 AM to 5 PM), Bitoujiao unfortunately is going to have lots of people.
The café in the middle of the hike is only open from 9 AM to 4 PM (till 5 PM in summer, closed Tuesdays), so if you go super early like I did, you’ll probably miss it.
Getting to Bitoujiao
Driving a car or scooter is of course the easiest way to get to Bitoujiao, but there are also bus options from Jiufen or Keelung.
By Car or Scooter
Bitoujiao is a 25- / 45-minute drive from Jiufen Old Street / Keelung. If you come by car, you must park in the parking lot here on the highway.
The parking fee is TWD 30/hr on weekdays or 40/hr on weekends/holidays. However, there are only about 20 spaces and they fill up quickly – come early or expect to wait.
From the parking lot, if you plan to do the hike in the same direction I did (clockwise), cross the highway and walk down towards the harbor and fishing village to find the trailhead.
If you plan to do it in the opposite direction (counter-clockwise), take the overpass over the highway, which leads towards the Bitou Elementary School here, which is the other trailhead.
Coming by scooter is more convenient because you can drive right to the trailhead (here in the fishing village) like I did.
This is not an official parking lot, but with a scooter, you can park anywhere it fits without blocking anyone’s shop.
Please note, you’ll need an IDP with A stamp to rent a scooter in Keelung, while shops in Ruifang won’t rent to any foreigners. See where I usually get one in my guide to renting scooters in Taiwan.
By Bus
From Jiufen Old Street, bus 856 (the Taiwan Tourism-operated “Gold Fulong Shuttle Bus”) departs from this bus stop 3/5 times per day (weekday/weekend) and arrives at Bitoujiao Bus Stop (here) in about 30 minutes.
You can find the times here. Scroll down to the map, click “New Taipei City”, “Gold Fulong Shuttle”, scroll down and click “Fare & Timetable”, then check “Daily Timetable” for weekdays or “Holiday Timetable” for weekends/holidays.
The bus also stops at Jinguashi Gold Museum and Golden Waterfall on the way. But heads up – Golden Waterfall only takes 5 minutes to visit, so only get off the bus if there’s another one coming soon.
Swipe your EasyCard to ride the bus. This shuttle is also included on the Taipei Unlimited Fun Pass (see my guide to the Fun Pass).
If the 856 isn’t coming soon, don’t worry – there are other options involving one transfer. Just use GoogleMaps directions to find the best route.
From Keelung, bus 791 is your best bet. Board the bus at Keelung Bus Station (here) and ride it for 50 minutes to Bitoujiao. Swipe EasyCard.
I can’t find a reliable schedule online, but it comes about once per hour. Again, just use GoogleMaps directions to find the times.
If you use AllTrails, you can find the clockwise version of Bitoujiao Trail here (the way I’ll be going) or a counter-clockwise version with more reviews here.
My Experience Hiking Bitoujiao Trail
Here’s my personal experience driving to and hiking Bitoujiao Trail.
Driving to Bitoujiao
As I mentioned above, I left Keelung city by scooter shortly after sunrise.
On the drive to Bitoujiao, I made a brief stop at Zhengbin Fishing Harbor Color Houses (正濱漁港-彩色街屋, here), which were vibrantly lit up by the early morning rays of sun.
On the way back, I would visit the colorful houses again, along with Heping Island Geopark nearby. But for now, I wanted to get to Bitoujiao ASAP to beat the crowds.
Next, I passed by Badouzi Station, a beautiful Taiwan Railways station overlooking the sea and starting point of Shen’ao Railbike – read my guide to find out what that’s all about!
Shortly after, I also couldn’t help but stop and take some photos of Shuinandong Smelter Ruins (水湳洞選煉廠遺址, here), as they also looked particularly impressive in the early morning sun.
If you have the time and interest, you could drive up past the ruins to see Golden Waterfall or even up to Jinguashi and Jiufen before proceeding to Bitoujiao, or perhaps save this for the way back.
This is also the location of Yinyang Sea (陰陽海, here), where mineral-rich yellow-brown waters from the old gold and copper mines at Jiufen and Jinguashi meet the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, staying separate some time, hence the “yin yang” effect.
This is best viewed from above, such as at Jinguashi or Tea Pot Mountain Trail, but I could also see it as I was driving by, as in the above photo.
Arriving at Bitou Harbor
Because I was on scooter, I was able to turn off the highway (left side of above photo) and drive right down Bitou Road (鼻頭路, right side of above photo) to Bitou Harbor (鼻頭漁港). In a car, you won’t find any parking down there.
There I saw fishing boats with their lights for attracting squid and some men fishing at the harbor-side the early morning.
Before driving to the trailhead, I drove as far as I could towards Bitou Seashore Park (here) to visit Fuling Temple (福靈宮, here).
This small Tudigong (Earth God) temple is built into the cliff and has a lovely view looking down on the harbor, coast, and out towards the sea, with Keelung Islet visible in the distance.
From here, I could also see many local fishermen on the rocky shelf just off the cape. I would soon be looking down on the same fishermen from the top of the sea cliffs.
Next, I returned to my scooter and drove to the Bitoujiao Trailhead (here), parking a mere couple meters from the staircase at the start of the trail.
There are a few local shops here, but they weren’t open yet (we’ll buy some interesting local jelly drinks from them at the end of the article).
Hiking up Bitoujiao
The small road with shops on either side ends at Bitoujiao Trailhead. The trail begins with a staircase up through the jungle, following a small stream on the side.
After only a few minutes, I had already gained enough elevation to enjoy a nice view looking through the trees down at Bitou Fishing Village and down the coast.
The trail continued to go up, with dramatic views of the hills opening up behind me.
I also saw some pretty flowers and butterflies on this part of the walk.
After 10 minutes of uphill stairs (the hardest part of the whole hike), I reached the first lookout platform, called Bitou Cape Observation Pavilion (鼻頭角觀景涼亭, here).
This pavilion actually faces inland, with a stunning view looking back at the coast and Bitou Fishing Harbor.
From here, I could also see some of those fishermen I had seen before I started the hike.
The Famous Section
From the above pavilion, the trail continues relatively flat to the first of two ridges.
The section of trail between these two ridges, which goes down one and then up the other, is the most famous section of Bitoujiao.
If you’ve seen shots of Bitoujiao on social media, this is where they were most likely taken.
Due to the direction of the sun in the early morning, I couldn’t take nice photos while going down the first ridge. I was looking into the sun.
Therefore, all the photos you see here here were taken from the top of the second ridge, looking back toward the first ridge and the Bitou Cape Observation Pavilion behind it.
If you come in the afternoon, it will be the opposite. Your best-lit photos will be looking forward from the first ridge towards the second one, which also has a nice pavilion behind it.
I met a few local trekkers on the second ridge, but luckily it was only me and them, so I was able to get as many shots as I wanted with no one in them.
If you visit any later in the day, you may have to wait here for a long time, or you may find it impossible, to capture this view with no one in it.
After the second ridge and pavilion (here), I got my first view looking down on the collection of military bunkers with camouflage colors.
These date to the period of high China-Taiwan tension in the 1950s to 70s but have since fallen out of use.
Bitoujiao Lighthouse is just around the corner from the bunkers, but with some ridges blocking it, unfortunately you can’t see the lighthouse at any point during this hike.
The Return Journey
After passing the two main ridges, which are the highest points of the hike, I reached a third ridge with unnamed pavilion and view looking south down the coast.
After that, the trail descends towards Bitou Cape Viewing Platform (鼻頭角觀景平台, here), the small lookout point and military station pictured below.
At that point, a turnoff and staircase to the left leads down to Tingtao Café (聽濤café, here), which is housed in a larger bunker. The cafe has indoor and outdoor seating plus all kinds of cute cat paraphernalia inside.
Since I was there too early (the café opens at 9 AM), I didn’t take the turnoff and instead followed the main trail to the right.
From there, the trail turns back towards the mainland, with sweeping views looking down the cape and coast.
Shortly after, I passes a gate, which in the past would have been the turnoff for the side trail out of Bitoujiao Lighthouse.
This trail has been closed since 2020 due to the fragile and eroding landscape, with danger of further landslides.
For the next 10 minutes of the trail, I was looking down on rocky shelves (海蝕平台) by the sea with cool formations created by waves. There were several fishermen standing out on these shelves.
There are a few different viewing platforms for admiring these scenes, including this one, as seen in the below photo.
Soon, Bitou Elementary School (鼻頭國民小學, here) came into view, with an impressive traditional Taiwanese cemetery on the hill behind it.
Students at this school must enjoy impressive views looking down the coast from some of the classroom windows!
I followed the trail past the outer wall of the school, after which it descends some stairs and meets a car road and small café (here, opens 10 AM).
If you were doing the hike in a counter-clockwise direction, the point where the path meets the road would be the trailhead for you.
I followed the car road steeply downhill (if you started from this end, this would be the hardest part of your hike) and soon saw the overpass over the highway to the car parking lot.
Since I had to return to my scooter in the fishing village, I didn’t take the overpass, but rather followed the road back down to Bitou Fishing Harbor, as you can see on the right side of the below photo.
Jelly Drinks at the Trailhead
Arriving back at my scooter in the small fishing village, the small shops were now open. I was most interested in the variety of colorful jelly drinks they were selling, especially at this shop right next to the trailhead.
Here are some of the drinks the shop owner was selling:
- Seaweed Jelly (石花凍): Jelly drink made with local Eucheuma seaweed
- Sea Bird’s Nest (海燕窩): Made not from bird’s saliva like regular Bird’s Nest but from a red sea algae
- Grass Jelly Tea (青草茶): A black herbal jelly drink, herbal and sweet
- Roselle Tea (洛神花茶): Red, fruity/sour drink made from a kind of hibiscus
I enjoyed a bottle of the seaweed jelly from a shop near the harbor, then sea bird’s nest from the above-mentioned shop.
I find these kinds of drinks incredibly refreshing. They are usually ice cold, not too sweet, and really hit the spot after doing Bitoujiao Trail!
The same shop also has a few snacks and light meals, including braised pork noodles (滷肉麵), stewed tofu and eggs (魯豆乾/蛋), and thick meat soup (肉焿湯).
On the drive back to Keelung, I stopped to visit Zhengbin Color Houses again, plus I paid a visit to Heping Island Geopark.
Awesome and detailed article, as always!
If I plan on catching the sunset here, I assume going counterclockwise is better?
It would be fine either way, but sure, maybe slightly better clockwise. You’d be looking somewhat towards the sunset for parts of the hike, while looking backwards would have nice staircase views.