Yangmingshan National Park is a volcanic massif spanning Taipei and New Taipei City.
The park features numerous hikes, including a steep 3-hour-return ascent of Qinxingshan, the highest peak in the park (see my guide to Yangmingshan).
If you’re looking for an easier and more relaxing way to experience the park, Qingtiangang Grassland (擎天崗草原) is the answer. It’s one of the best hikes for kids in Taiwan.
The grassland features quintessential Yangmingshan scenery, with rolling hills covered in carpets of grass, historic landmarks, grazing water buffalos, and on clear days, distant views of Taipei.
In this article, I’ll tell you how my two kids and I had a fantastic day doing the Qingtiangang Circular Trail, plus how we added a side hike to Juansi Waterfall and got back to Taipei.
I’ll also give you the option to add a traditional hot spring, more difficult hike, or volcanic fumaroles after your hike!
Qingtiangang Grassland Introduction
Qingtiangang Grassland is a grassy plateau formed by lava from a past eruption. It was originally a sika deer hunting ground for Ketagalan aboriginal people.
The Japanese first planted carpet grass here to raise cattle on the plateau. Today, some of the cattle remain and are fostered by local farmers.
After the Japanese period, the KMT government took over the cattle and called it Yangmingshan Ranch. They renamed the plateau Qingtiangang (擎天崗, literally “sky propping pillar”), after a KMT garrison stationed here to protect the city.
Qingtiangang is also sometimes called Sun Valley (太陽谷) because it is often sunny, with few trees to offer shade, in a national park that is otherwise known for its frequent fog.
Today, Qingtiangang is one of the most popular areas of Yangmingshan National Park.
The Qingtiangang Circular Trail is easy and only takes about 45 minutes, with the option to connect to other trails like Juansi Waterfall (which I will detail below).
Due to its stunning scenery, Qingtiangang is a popular wedding photo venue for local Taiwanese. We saw three different couples doing photo shoots there last time we went!
Heads up that most of the hike is totally exposed, with little shade. It can be extremely hot, even in spring or fall, while summer daytimes can be brutal. Make sure to bring water and protect your skin.
In November the hills of Qingtiangang are covered with swaying silvergrass (芒草), making it a very popular time to visit.
Getting to Qingtiangang Grassland
You can visit Qingtiangang on this Beitou & Yangmingshan guided tour on Klook or this one on KKday. You can also hire a private driver (Klook / KKday).
In my guide to getting to Yangmingshan, I describe how you can take bus S15 (小15 or “small 15”) from Jiantan or Shilin MRT to Qingtiangang bus stop. Board at Jiantan, the first stop, for the best chance to get seats.
Here’s a table I made of all the buses to Yangmingshan and their main stops.
If you do the Juansi Waterfall hike add-on I’ll describe below, you will ride the same bus (S15) from this bus stop at the bottom of Juansi Waterfall trail back to Jiantan or Shilin MRT.
If you want to visit Lengshuikeng (for hot springs) after Qingtiangang instead of Juansi Waterfall trail, you can walk to it (30 min) or take bus S15 (5 min).
If you want to add a difficult hike, you can climb from Lengshuikeng to the peak of Qinxingshan and down to Xiaoyoukeng volcanic fumaroles on the other side.
If you want to visit Xiaoyoukeng (for volcanic fumaroles) after Qingtiangang by bus, ride bus 108 from Qingtiangang to Yangmingshan bus stop, then transfer to bus 1717 to Xiaoyoukeng. Bus 1717 also goes from Xiaoyoukeng back to Shilin and Jiantan MRT.
Swipe EasyCard for all bus rides and be wary of crowds on weekends, national holidays, spring flower season, and November silvergrass season.
Doing the Qingtiangang Circular Trail
Qingtiangang Circular Trail is a loop trail that takes about 45 minutes to complete (with kids it took us an hour). It’s flat in parts but does have some stairs and some mild elevation gain. Here’s a map of the trail.
You can do the loop in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. We liked doing it in a counterclockwise direction for reasons I’ll explain below.
From the bus stop, parking lot, and Qingtiangang Visitor’s Center (which stands where the original army barracks used to be), follow the signs to the circular trail.
Near the start of the trail, my daughter stopped to pray at Lingtouyan Tuigong Temple (嶺頭喦土地公廟 ). This is a small Tudi Gong (Earth God) temple.
Fish sellers walking from Jinshan on the coast to Taipei to sell their fish (we’ll get to their trail below) used to stop at this temple to pray to the Earth God and ask him where they should sell their fish in the city that day.
From there, we were naturally tempted to walk down the long, picturesque walkway before us, and that is why we chose to go counterclockwise on the loop.
This walkway goes straight for 200 meters and provides some of the best Qingtiangang views. There’s a good chance you’ll see grazing water buffalo along here like we did.
After a turnoff to the right (to Juansi Waterfall trail), when we reached the far southern end of the loop, we saw views down to Taipei City, which is only possible to see on a very clear day.
We also took a break from the sun in a stone rest house around here.
Next, the trail turns east and goes up a somewhat steep flight of stairs. When we reached the highest point, next to a round watchtower, we had an epic view looking down on the grassland and long walkway you just came from.
This is where I took some of the best photos of my kids, including the cover photo of this article.
From there, the trail descends into a forest. Once we passed through the forest section, we caught glimpses the path ahead, with another round watchtower visible.
After we passed the watchtower visible in the above photos, the next point of interest, at the northeastern corner of the loop, was Jinbaoli Gate (金包里大路城門).
The historic stone gate is the starting point of Jinbaoli Old Road (金包里大路), also called Old Fish Road (魚路古道), which fishermen used to hike from Jinshan on the coast to Taipei to sell fish, tea, and other products.
If you’d like to hike Jinbaoli trail, here’s a guide to it and AllTrails map.
From here, it’s only another 5-10 minutes over a hill and back to the start of the Qingtiangang Circular Trail.
See other great hikes in Taipei here.
What to Do After Qingtiangang
It would be a shame to go all the way to Yangmingshan and only visit Qingtiangang.
There are many options to extend your visit, whether you add another hike, hot springs, volcanic fumaroles, or flower viewing.
Juansi Waterfall Trail
If a 45-minute walk is too short for you, it’s very easy to double it it by adding Juansi Waterfall trail. Juansi Waterfall Trail also takes about 45 minutes, from top to bottom, so that will be 1.5 hours of hiking with Qingtiangang.
The Juansi Falls Trail starts at Qingtiangang parking lot or here at the west side of the Circular Trail. It descends through the jungle to a road at the bottom, where you can hop on bus S15 back to Taipei at this bus stop.
The jungle setting provides a nice contrast to the open grassland scenery of Qingtiangang, plus some much needed shade on hot days.
The waterfall itself, which is about halfway down, is a narrow stream plunging in the middle of the jungle. It’s a serene spot but it won’t blow you away.
Overall, do this hike for the lush forest vibes and not the waterfall alone.
It’s possible to do this in reverse (hike up Juansi Waterfall Trail first and then do Qingtiangang Circular loop) for a more difficult hike, because you’ll be doing the trail uphill.
This is actually what I did with my kids when we went (even though I described the more typical approach to Qingtiangang by bus above). It was challenging for them but they handled it fine.
That’s why you’ll notice my kids are actually walking uphill in the above photos!
To do this, we took bus S15 from Jiantan MRT to Juansi Waterfall stop.
We then hiked Juansi Falls uphill to where it meets Qingtiangang. This map on AllTrails will take you right to the Qingtiangang parking lot and start of the loop trail.
However, we took a little turnoff earlier, which took us up to the west side of the loop trail, then we did Qingtiangang Circular Trail in a clockwise direction from there.
If you look at the map I made above, showing the two blue lines of Juansi Waterfall trail, you’ll see what I mean!
Lengshuikeng Hot Spring
Add Lengshuikeng if you’d like to see a suspension bridge, some cool ponds, and soak your feet in hot spring water or take a traditional nude bath.
After Qingtiangang, you can walk (30 minutes) or take the bus to Lengshukeng (5 minutes). There tends to be a long line for the bus leaving Qingtiangang, so walk if you can!
You could walk along the highway, but it’s nicer to go via the network of walking trails to it, which are visible on GoogleMaps. You can also follow the orange line in the map I made above.
When you’re close to Lengshuikeng, you’ll pass Lengshuikeng Ecological Pond, cross Jingshan Suspension Bridge, and see Milk Pond from here.
That will bring you to Lengshuikeng Visitor’s Center, which has some interesting displays and washrooms inside.
Lengshuikeng (冷水坑) literally means “cold water pit”. It refers to the fact that the hot springs are not so hot, coming out of the ground at “only” 40°C.
The actual bathhouse is here. From the Visitior’s Center, you’ll need to cross the highway then walk up it for a few minutes.
You can soak your feet in the warm pools out front for free. If you don’t mind to bathe nude, there is a small fee to enter the traditional, sex-segregated bathhouse, which is popular among local elderly.
Note that the bathhouse closes every 2.5 hours for cleaning.
Hiking Qinxingshan
If you’d like to add a more challenging hike to your day, you can hike up Qinxingshan (七星山 or “Seven Star Mountain”). At 1120 meters, it is the tallest peak in Yangmingshan National Park.
From Lengshuikeng, just behind the bathhouses, the trail goes up, up, and up many stairs to the peak. On my map, you’ll notice there are two possible trails in purple. They soon meet up.
The peak is often enshrouded in fog, which is exactly what happened last time I climbed it. I couldn’t see anything from the summit.
Then you can hike down, down and down more stairs on the other side to Xiaoyoukeng. In total, this hike takes 2-3 hours.
I had to really watch my knees going down, as the stairs are quite steep in parts.
At Xiaoyoukeng, don’t miss the epic view of the volcanic fumaroles (see below) at the end of the parking lot before you ride bus 1717 back to Taipei.
Xiaoyoukeng Volcanic Fumaroles
Xiaoyoukeng Fumaroles (小油坑硫氣孔) is one of the most impressive sights in Yangmingshan National Park. This is where volcanic gases are emitted from holes in the mountain.
If you want to see the volcanic fumaroles without hiking for hours to them, take bus 108 from Qingtiangang to Yangmingshan bus stop, then transfer to bus 1717 to Xiaoyoukeng.
You only need to walk a couple minutes from the bus stop to the viewpoint of the fumaroles.
An alternative that avoids the bus transfer is to do Xiaoyoukeng Fumaroles first. Take bus 1717 from Shilin or Jiantan to Xiaoyoukeng, see the fumaroles, then take bus 108 from Xiaoyoukeng to Qingtiangang.
Flower Viewing
If you’re visiting Yangmingshan from February to early March, expect serious crowds and lines for buses, as people flock there to see cherry blossoms.
The best place to see cherry blossoms in Yangmingshan is Flower Clock area. From Qingtiangang, ride bus 108 to Yangmingshan bus stop then walk (25 min uphill) or ride bus S8 or S9 to Flower Clock.
Find the exact blooming dates and other cherry blossom locations in my Taiwan cherry blossoms guide.
From mid-March to mid-April, it’s all about the calla lilies at Zhuzihu. From mid-May to mid-June, these are replaced in the same spot with beautiful hydrangeas.
To get from Qingtiangang from Zhuzihu, ride bus 108 to Yangmingshan bus stop then bus S8 or S9 to Zhuzihu.
Use GoogleMaps directions to find the bus stop locations and times.
Back in Taipei
Returning to Taipei, we got off the bus at Shilin stop, where I treated my kids to delicious bubble tea snowflake ice (雪花冰) at Shilin Night Market to congratulate the for an big day of hiking
The Shilin branch of Modern Toilet restaurant is also nearby – we would save that for another day!