Emerald Valley (翡翠谷) is a beautiful river trekking area near Hualien, Taiwan – perfect for hiking and swimming all year round.
Over December, we wanted to head to Hualien to get out of the city and go river trekking. In the past I’ve gone to Taroko Gorge and The Golden Grotto, but it required a little bit more travel. We were a bit short on time so we wanted to stay close to the city.
Pre-planning
- Stay at the Kindness Hotel in Hualien. It’s walking distance from the train station, a bike rental shop, and includes food!
- Figure out your train schedule to Hualien Station. Make sure to take the express train from Taipei
- Rent bikes from Giant Bicycles, also next to Hualien Station. You don’t need to book in advance as they have plenty of supply
- Download Hualien on Google Maps offline
The Trip
Once we rented our bikes, we effectively used Google Maps to bike to Emerald Valley. It’s about 15km one way and the path will take you on the main road for a bit, before splitting off into more remote countryside. We biked fairly carefully on the main road just cause there were so many cars and moving trucks around.
Once we got to the more remote area, biking was a breeze! The path does get a little narrow as it winds around into the valley but not too difficult. Once you cross the bridge, you’re going to want to bike straight until you see a sign and a trail splitting off.
A small trail will take you to the Emerald Valley lookout, which is a man made waterfall. It’s not super impressive IMO but that’s also not why you are here! Once you reach the waterfall, you need to trace your steps back towards the trail and pass the falls. The trail will take you above and on top of the falls.
From there, there are no trails 🙂 You’ll be river trekking all the way down. We generally found the right side of the river easier to navigate, but did have to zig zag around a few times. Your final destination is Zimu Falls, so keep winding around until you get there.
The best part of the trek was that we didn’t pass anyone once we left Emerald Valley! It was super beautiful, the water was refreshing, and I only got maybe 3-4 bug bites (I didn’t put any spray on). Would definitely recommend this hike as a nice way to get outside in Hualien, without having to do extra travel to Taroko! We were in and out in 24 hours.
Such a fun trip!