Taoshan Waterfall

A few days ago I hiked to Taoshan Waterfall (桃山瀑布) in Wuling National Forest Recreation Area, which itself is inside Shei-Pa National Park (雪霸國家公園). The trail, 4.3km long, rises gradually to 2,245m above sea level. Getting to the waterfall and back takes around two-and-a-half hours; the path is shaded by pine trees and surfaced with concrete. In other words, it's a good hike for people who don't normally wander off into the wilderness. Because I was well ahead of the mid-morning crowds, I saw a lot of birds.

A fence (not visible in the photo on the left) blocks tourists from getting too close. Judging by this blog, the barrier is a fairly recent addition to the landscape. It's a necessary one, in my opinion, as the consequences of slipping by the pool's edge could be very nasty. The waterfall is about 80m high and was quite impressive when I reached it - not surprising, as it had rained throughout the night.

Within 100m of the trailhead, those hiking to the waterfall cross the Qijiawan Creek (shown right), habitat of the Formosan landlocked salmon. This endemic fish species doesn't migrate to the ocean because it can't tolerate water temperatures above 17 degrees Celsius. It almost went extinct in the 1980s, but in recent years numbers have rebounded thanks to a major conservation effort.