Hiking Elephant Mountain (象山)

When travelling, I love to see the cultural sites. In contrast, my photographer prefers hiking up mountains (humans can be quite strange). To make the most of our time in Taipei, we decided to combine both activities. The spring weather was sunny but not too humid (in comparison to Singapore). After waking up early and having breakfast in my room, I decided to go hiking before the midday heat became too intense. To hike Elephant Mountain, we followed the route in the Taiwan Tales and Trails blog, as it is really simple.

I took the red line from Da’an Park to the final stop, Xiangshan, which took just 8 minutes to transport me from the city into nature. My photographer was planning to hike up a well-known trail, while I was focused on not melting in the heat. The Xiangshan MRT station marks the entrance to the park, which is also the starting point for the hike to Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan). In Mandarin, 象 (xiàng) means “elephant” and 山 (shān) means “mountain” or “hill”. I was eager to see if Elephant Mountain resembled an elephant, as its name suggested.

One of my favourite things about Taiwan is how lush and green it is; the vibrant nature enhances the suburbs of Taipei. The hike is well-signposted with an elephant statue and a map, featuring information in both Mandarin and English.

The hike is a 2.2 km round trip and is completely flat in the park and on the street until you reach the second elephant statue, which marks the beginning of the mountain trail. From this point onward, the trail becomes a steep staircase rather than a traditional hike. I enjoyed the climb to the top, mainly because I appreciated the view from my backpack whilst my photographer did all the walking. However, I wouldn’t recommend attempting this hike during the hotter parts of the day, as it can be challenging.

After about 10 minutes of climbing the stairs, you’ll find a viewing platform that offers the first glimpse of Taipei 101. During my visit, several groups reached this point and then chose to descend the hill. While the view was lovely, I decided to persevere and continue climbing the seemingly endless staircase, which rewarded me with even better views. There are two paths you can choose from at this point. I opted for the more challenging route whenever the paths diverged, mostly because I felt my photographer needed more exercise. However, there is also a flat route leading to a pagoda.

Along the staircase, there are seats shaped like elephants or featuring the Chinese characters for Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan), perfect for a mid-hike break.

There are a total of only 600 steps to the top of the mountain. But these become progressively steeper as you ascend the trail. I found the section marked by a white stone with a red carving of Xiangshan to be the most challenging. However, the stunning views from the other side made it worthwhile (my photographer’s legs disagree). Some adventurous humans climbed on boulders to take photos that made them look as tall as Taipei 101. It’s no surprise to read that I was too chicken to attempt that and instead continued further up the path.

I noticed a small path diverging to the left, leading to a viewpoint with some seats in a sheltered pavilion. I decided to stop here and enjoy the view of Taipei, with the Datun (大屯山 ) and Qixing (七星山) mountains visible in the distance. From this pavilion, the shape of the mountainside below resembles an elephant.

After a short break, I continued my ascent. From this point, the path became a more gradual incline compared to the mid-portion of the hike. It didn’t take long to reach an exercise area on the right side of the path (no prizes for guessing which dinosaur did not exercise).

On the left side, a wooden post marked the top of the hike. Additionally, there was a photogenic seat that I thought resembled an elephant, whilst my photographer believed it looked like a wonky heart. Regardless, it offered great views of Taipei 101, Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, and the city below. It felt high up, as all the buildings appeared tiny, even though I had only ascended about 200 meters. There are several opportunities to extend this hike and venture further into the hills. However, I decided to save that for a future adventure.

We took a different path down the mountain, which was so steep that we focused solely on the ground beneath us. About two-thirds of the way down, however, we spotted a large female golden orb-weaver spider chasing a butterfly for lunch. The entire Xiangshan trail has many species of large butterflies flitting about. I had never imagined that a spider would want to eat one for lunch!

Further down the trail, I saw a lizard jumping across the branches of a tree. Even though the hike down didn’t seem to take long, I think I might have taken a shortcut because I missed the Thread of Sky passageway (Yixiantian – 一线天). Nevertheless, my route was circular, and I ended up back where I started, next to the Lingyun Temple.

The hike lasted about 90 minutes in total, but would have taken less without my photographer stopping to take pictures. I started hiking at 10am to avoid the midday heat and crowds, although the trail was already fairly busy when I arrived.

While I was in the area, I decided to explore the park, which was alive with people enjoying the spring sunshine and practising tai chi. The park is relatively small, and I was surprised to discover a small red temple called San Chang (三長廟), featuring beautifully ornate dragons on the roof. The trees in the park provided some much-needed shade as the sun began to heat up. After a while, I decided to conclude my outdoor adventure and look for an indoor activity for the afternoon.